Newsom Touts Plan To Beautify CA, Add 11,000 Jobs

CALIFORNIA — California unveiled a $1.1 billion initiative to beautify the state on Wednesday and add up to 11,000 jobs, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced from Richmond on Wednesday.

The effort looks to "transform" the state's streets and employ residents to clear out litter, along with a slew of other cleanup projects.

Caltrans led the "Clean California Day" Wednesday, offering residents an opportunity to dump trash at their maintenance yards around the state at no cost. The agency also hosted mass litter abatement hiring events across the state on Wednesday.

"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.

Caltrans, the agency responsible for maintaining the state's roadways, collected 270,000 cubic yards of litter in 2020, enough to fill 18,000 garbage trucks, Newsom's office said.

To help the agency and bolster litter abatement, officials aim to employ at-risk youth, those who have experienced homelessness or those who were formally incarcerated over the next three years. This week, more than 400 people have been hired or offered a job, Newsom said.

The initiative is also meant to complement a $12 billion plan to mitigate homelessness in the state, but the California Clean project is not meant to displace anyone, officials said.

An estimated 161,000 people are experiencing homelessness in the nation's most populous state, more than in any other. Advocates say they can’t house people quickly enough with a shortage of housing units and high rents.

"This program will create thousands of jobs to support people exiting homelessness, at-risk youth, formerly incarcerated individuals and others getting back on their feet," Newsom said in a statement.

The statewide cleanup program would bring projects to all 58 counties, where a third of the funds would be injected back into cities, counties, tribes and transit agencies to "enhance" local spaces, Newsom said.

"Those dollars will be leveraged well beyond a billion-dollar state investment because we’re going to leverage local dollars with a matching program," he said.

The Clean California project kicks off as the Democratic governor faces a gubernatorial recall election, set for Sept. 14. Many of Newsom's challengers have criticized the governor for the growing number of homeless encampments in the state and the influx of trash under freeway overpasses.

One of Newsom's opponents, John Cox, has gone as far to lug an 8-foot ball of trash along on his campaign trail to tout his homelessness plan. Cox said he would require that homeless people enter into mental health or addiction programs before being given housing.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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