California governor kicks off $1B statewide cleanup plan

Gov. Gavin Newsom has kicked off California's $1.1 billion plan to clean trash and graffiti from California’s highways, roads and other public spaces

SAN FRANCISCO -- Gov. Gavin Newsom on Wednesday kicked off California's $1.1 billion plan to clean trash and graffiti from California’s highways, roads and other public spaces, an effort he said will beautify the state and create up to 11,000 jobs. “This is an unprecedented effort to acknowledge what all of us recognize as we drive around this state: It’s too damn dirty!” Newsom said from the side of a San Francisco Bay Area highway. At-risk youth and people who were formerly homeless or formerly incarcerated will be given priority for the jobs created by the three-year program. In the last week, he said 400 people have already been hired or offered a job, Newsom said. The cleanup comes amid growing frustration with homeless encampments that have sprouted under highway overpasses and near freeway exit and entry ramps throughout California in the last few years. The encampments have grown during the pandemic, and many are crammed with discarded sofas, mattresses, and other trash.