Town hall to discuss homelessness, effects of Prop. 36 on Long Beach set for Friday
Proposition 36 could increase punishment for certain theft and drug crimes that were reduced to a misdemeanor under Proposition 47.
With less than two months to go before the Nov. 5 election Long Beach officials are hosting a town hall Friday morning to discuss a proposition on the California ballot that could peel back elements of Proposition 47, which reduced some felonies to misdemeanors.
Long Beach City Prosecutor Doug Haubert and Long Beach City Councilmember Mary Zendejas, who represents Downtown, will co-host the event.
The event will include discussions of crime, how the recent Supreme Court ruling affects homelessness response in the city, and Proposition 36, which could increase penalties for drug and theft offenses if approved by voters.
Last month, Haubert asked a City Council committee to refer the issue to the full council for a vote of support, which would throw the city’s name in with a list of other mayors, county supervisors and chambers of commerce across California who are supporting Prop. 36.
But Democrats have been split on the issue with some big city mayors supporting the changes the proposition would bring while others have not. Long Beach has not taken a side on the issue but the City Council is scheduled to vote on it at its Sept. 17 meeting.
Should voters approve Prop. 36 it would increase punishments for repeat offenders for both drug and theft charges that had been reduced to misdemeanors under Prop. 47 a decade ago.
Currently, a person who doesn’t steal more than $950 of goods is charged with a misdemeanor and typically doesn’t serve jail time. But Prop. 36 would upgrade future thefts to a felony if a person has two prior convictions for things like shoplifting, burglary or carjacking.
Prop. 36 would also increase penalties for drug-related crimes by creating a “treatment-mandate felony” for people with two or more drug charges that would require them to go into a treatment program in order to get the charges reduced.
Haubert told the council committee in August that he supported the proposition in part because of the ability to get repeat drug offenders into treatment, not to put them in jail.
It would also require courts to warn people that they can be charged with murder if they sell or provide illegal drugs to someone and they die from using them.
The proposition is projected to add tens of millions to hundreds of millions of dollars in criminal justice system costs to the state if it’s adopted because more people would end up in jails and prisons in California and because felonies take longer to process, meaning more work for district attorneys and court houses across the state.
Another fiscal effect would be a reduction in the money that goes toward programs like mental health services, drug treatment, dropout prevention and victim services. That funding came from the savings of not having so many people in the criminal justice system because of the changes brought about by Prop. 47.
According to an impartial analysis of the proposition, the state saved $95 million last year but it’s expected the savings will decrease under Prop. 36.
The town hall is scheduled for 8 a.m. at Altar Society in Downtown Long Beach. Altar Society is located at 230 Pine Ave. You can RSVP for the event here.
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