A zeitgeist shift over laissez-faire homelessness, or “vibe shift” per the current colloquialism, is playing out in a longtime epicenter of the American epidemic: San Jose, California. The only way in which the Bay Area could reasonably be described as pathologically free-market is on this matter, right down to the “homesteading” of unoccupied land by REI tents and ipso facto “privatization” of public parks by hot plates and pit bulls.

The issue is causing political tension in the Golden State’s third-largest city, with just under 1 million people and a major Silicon Valley tech hub, located about 49 miles south of San Francisco. That’s because in California, all meaningful political action takes place among Democrats. Republicans haven’t won a statewide race since 2006, have only scant minorities in both legislative chambers, and hold just nine of California’s 52 House seats.