Caltrans begins sweeps of Vallejo homeless encampments

VALLEJO – The California Department of Transportation has begun evicting people experiencing homelessness who are living on the agency’s property in six areas of Vallejo, which is expected to continue throughout the week.

In its announcement of the sweeps last week, Caltrans said that people living in the following locations would be removed this week:

• Eastbound Highway 29 at Lewis Brown Drive
• Interchange of I-80 and Tennessee Street
• Northbound Highways 29 and 37 interchange
• Magazine Street Park and Ride lot
• Northbound Highway 29 at Lewis Brown Drive
• Eastbound Highway 37 at Sage Street

Caltrans said it alerted residents of these camps to the impending sweeps on Sept. 21.

As of Monday, crews from Caltrans, the city of Vallejo and Solano County had already cleared the area of Tennessee Street at Interstate Highway 80.

Caltrans’ notices indicate that the sweeps will continue through Wednesday. One notice to vacate posted at the interchange of Highways 29 and 37 said all residents needed to be gone from the area by 7:30 a.m. Tuesday, citing state laws against illegal camping and littering. A section at the bottom said that residents could avail themselves of assistance at a “local law enforcement substation or neighborhood office.”

Another notice left at Highway 37 and Lewis Brown Drive instructed residents to vacate by 7:30 a.m. Wednesday. In that notice, the instructions for accessing assistance were covered with black tape.

Caltrans’ announcement said it would be coordinating with Solano County officials to “make residents of these camps aware of services and potential relocation options.”

Asked about specifics regarding what services would be made available, Caltrans spokesperson Pedro Quintana referred the Sun to county and city employees tasked with providing those services.

“Caltrans’ responsibility is to ensure the safety of the traveling public and to protect and maintain California’s highway infrastructure,” Quintana said in an email. “In addressing encampment cleanups, Caltrans collaborates with cities, counties and local social service providers that connect people experiencing homelessness with available housing and health services.”

Emails to officials with Solano County and the city of Vallejo were not returned Monday.

Anthony Prince, the lead organizer and general legal counsel for the California Homeless Union — part of a national network of organized homeless people that he says has thousands of members across the state — visited Vallejo on Saturday to speak to residents. He told the Sun that he believes the sweeps by Caltrans are unlawful under the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals decision in Martin v. Boise, which found that cities could not evict homeless people from public property without making alternative shelter available.

“They should not clear these areas until such time as they've provided alternative indoor housing,” Prince said. He said that Caltrans has become part of a “civil conspiracy” among local and state agencies to push homeless people out of where they’ve settled rather than provide services as cities compete against one another to attract businesses and investment.

Solano County only has three shelters available to people with housing needs: One each in Fairfield, Vacaville and Vallejo. The shelter in Vallejo has fewer than 100 beds.

Neither Caltrans, Solano County nor Vallejo officials responded to a question about how many people were expected to be impacted by the latest sweeps. The county’s most recent point in time count, which tallies the number of people experiencing homelessness in a given area, was done in 2019 and found there were 1,151 people who were experiencing homelessness in the county at that time and more than 900 of them lacked shelter.

According to Prince, under Martin v. Boise, cities cannot clear homeless camps unless there is shelter space available for all unsheltered homeless people. Typically, he said that cities would rely on the point in time count to make that determination.

Solano County still has not released the results from a point in time count conducted earlier this year. Late last month, Solano County spokesperson Matthew Davis told the Sun that county officials had still not seen the data collected, but expected to release the information by the end of the summer.

Vallejo has also failed to make shelter space available as its attempt to build a new navigation center has been beset by delays and is badly over budget. Last year the city revealed the project had a $2.3 million funding gap and that the proposed location was unfit for human habitation. The city has not yet picked a new location.

Caltrans’ eviction notice left at the encampments this week said any property left at the sites would be considered abandoned, but “any property not disposed of” would be stored for 90 days.

The agency was the subject of a class action lawsuit brought by the East Bay Community Law Center regarding encampment sweeps in Oakland and Berkeley where Caltrans workers routinely trashed people’s belongings. Caltrans settled the lawsuit last year and committed to reimbursing homeless people for their destroyed possessions and to storing property during future sweeps across the state.

The sweeps in Vallejo come at the same time as Caltrans crews clearing a longtime encampment on Wood Street in Oakland of about 200 residents.

Prince, the homeless union attorney, points out that residents in homeless encampments in Vallejo, Solano County and across the state have frequently previously had jobs, housing and contributed to building the region’s wealth before bad luck — such as losing a job, developing health issues, or escaping domestic violence — forced them onto the streets.

In encampments, Prince said, people have a community of support and can better access services, but by removing them while offering few or no alternatives, Caltrans, the city and the county remove the safety and support offered by the encampments.

"Whatever their justification is for removing people, they are pushing people from a situation of relative safety to one that is more dangerous," Prince said. "That's called state-created danger and Caltrans is definitely responsible for that."

John Glidden contributed to this report.