Homeless residents decry Vallejo encampment sweeps during storms

VALLEJO - People living without shelter in Vallejo say that once again the city evicted people from public spaces without offering refuge this week, this time while multiple storms slammed the Bay Area. 

A group of homeless residents who are members of the Vallejo chapter of the National Union of the Homeless gathered Wednesday on the steps of downtown Vallejo’s John F. Kennedy Library to decry how the city treats homeless residents. They said that recent operations removing people from tents in the middle of rainstorms were “inhumane” and designed to further disperse vulnerable people. 

Advocates provided photos of notices which the Vallejo Police Department posted on various parked vehicles – such as in the areas of Lincoln Road, Monterey Street and Sonoma Boulevard – giving 72 hours to move the vehicle or be towed. Several unhoused people said their vehicles were towed and belongings removed while the Bay Area experienced several major rainstorms during the first week of February.

Kathryn Salm, a homeless resident who said she’s been moved by city workers countless times since 1991, said that removing people from their encampments during a downpour is an “unjust” method of enforcing city ordinances against public camping. She and several advocates said that such sweeps force vulnerable people into desperate situations, separated from shelter such as their tent or vehicle and often losing valuable belongings in the process. 

“You’re taking children and elderly leaving them out there without their coat, their blankets. No food, no heat, no nothing,” Salm said. 

City officials have not responded to Vallejo Sun’s requests for information about these sweeps or the decision to carry out sweep operations during stormy weather. 

The homeless union filed a federal lawsuit in September accusing the city and Caltrans of confiscating possessions and vehicles used for shelter. They cited the city’s attempt to remove vehicles and belongings from a secluded parking lot next to an abandoned building on Mare Island, saying they had nowhere else to go.The lawsuit contained personal accounts from a series of encampment closures since 2023 which left many people with fewer locations to safely camp without being fined or cited.

City officials have said they coordinate homeless camp removals with  county outreach workers such as through contractor Abode Services to access services and sign up for programs such as CalFresh or Medicare.

But Salm said she and other homeless residents rarely get visits from county case workers and are told to go to Solano Dream Center, formerly the Christian Help Center, which frequently has no room for women. 

Homeless union advocate Eli Smith told Vallejo Sun on Wednesday that homeless people used to have some measure of protection when it came to using items for shelter, such as a tent or blanket, to protect themselves from the elements under the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals 2019 ruling in Martin v. Boise. 

However, since 2024, Vallejo officials have had more flexibility to enforce anti-camping ordinances after the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that Eighth Amendment protections against cruel and unusual punishment do not bar cities and counties from enforcing prohibitions against camping even when no local shelter space is available. 

Despite the ruling, Smith said the union’s position is that this ruling doesn’t justify a city removing people’s shelters during periods of inclement weather, especially if they can’t immediately retrieve their belongings. 

Since the Supreme Court decision, Vallejo, like many California cities, has stepped up efforts to remove people sleeping in public spaces. In 2024, the city and Caltrans conducted one of the largest sweeps of a long-running encampment in the White Slough area, removing around 50 people. At the same time, the city has the largest proportion of unsheltered people in Solano County and last year struggled to open more supportive housing, having stopped work on a planned 47-unit project on Broadway which the City Council had to bail out. City officials do not expect it to open until the spring.

Salm said Wednesday that the long list of encampment sweeps must cease if the city cannot offer people adequate resources. While she said she doesn’t expect a small protest to make city officials immediately change their policies, Salm said, “We gotta start somewhere. Apparently, it’s the only way to get their attention.”

She said that if given the chance, she would say to Vallejo’s City Council members, “Why don’t you come out here and spend a month with nothing, and see how you like it?”