DRIVING THE DAY: Wildfires are devastating the Hawaiian island of Maui and displacing thousands of residents and tourists — including one notable California politician. San Francisco Mayor London Breed on Wednesday was transported from Maui to Honolulu, a person familiar confirmed to POLITICO’s Chris Cadelago. More on Breed’s evacuation here. THE BUZZ — Long running efforts to address the homelessness crisis in the shadow of the state Capitol took a turn this week when a federal judge prohibited the City of Sacramento from moving homeless people during a heat wave. But below the surface, a standoff between city and county officials is laying bare the political — and legal — difficulties of handling the seemingly intractable problem. Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg and District Attorney Thien Ho are waging a war of words over the enforcement of laws prohibiting camping on sidewalks. But the fight could end up in the courts. Ho is accusing the city of refusing to enforce the statutes and threatening to sue if leaders don’t enact a list of demands he sent Monday, including a daytime camping ban. Steinberg is accusing Ho of playing politics and “not doing his part.” As in many corners of the state, the disagreements over homelessness have involved a lot of finger-pointing. "It's difficult to play a baseball game when the other team won't come out of the dugout and onto the field,” Ho said in an interview. The spat comes as city and county leaders try to find ways to care for the thousands of residents who sleep on the streets every night. Efforts to take a tougher stance on encampments — in spite of pushback from advocacy groups — were intended to quell the frustration from Sacramentans who say the problem is affecting their quality of life. But some say it’s still not enough. Across the state, Democrats are under intensifying pressure to make tough choices on homelessness as encampments grow and public patience wears thin. The crisis has put liberal leaders in the uncomfortable position of favoring tougher enforcement to move people indoors. Gov. Gavin Newsom has directed Caltrans to clear encampments from under state highways and demanded better progress from local leaders who rely on state money. Homelessness has also been the singular focus of Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass. Earlier this summer, she reported the city had moved more than 14,000 people into shelters through her “Inside Safe” program. Steinberg has faced criticism for not taking a harder line on the issue — an accusation that could follow him if he seeks higher office in the coming years. The mayor has been vetted for a judicial appointment and said he’s considering running for California attorney general. Steve Maviglio, a longtime Democratic consultant who has lambasted Steinberg on Twitter for not doing more, said calls from the left for tougher enforcement have been borne out of frustration. “It tears at the hearts of most Democrats because we’re compassionate and want to see the problem solved,” he said. “But we’re moving the other way.”
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