“Drug squalor is not good for anyone,” he said. “For the good of everyone involved the homeless need to go to shelters, the long-term mentally ill need to go to institutions, and the unhoused drug addicts need to go to rehab or, if necessary and appropriate, in jail.”
“We have a problem. It’s a big problem. How do you handle these hundreds of thousands of people getting worse all the time? … Open up large parcels of inexpensive land in the outer reaches of the cities – bringing medical professionals including doctors, psychiatrists, psychologists, drug rehab specialists, build permanent bathrooms and other facilities make them good. But build them fast and create thousands and thousands of high-quality tents, which can be done in one day. …
“Some people say that's a horrible [idea.] No, what's horrible is what's happening now,” he insisted. “We have to do it because you can put up a tent in one day. It'd be two, three years, a long time if you're going to build housing. It will be the best ambition of these people and all of us to get their lives back on track. Leave the tent city and be back to the mainstream of society.”