VALLEJO – Homeless Vallejo residents who live at the city’s municipal boat launch are scrambling to find new places to park their RVs, trailers and vehicles after the city posted notice that they will be removed beginning Monday. But with much of the space at encampments across the city already taken up by tents and trailers, many boat launch residents don’t know where to go.  

On Jan. 8, just days after the city workers used hydraulic loaders and large trucks to scoop up the belongings of encampment residents along Enterprise Street to clear the area for bike path construction, city officials posted another set of towing and debris removal notices at Vallejo’s boat launch at 139 Curtola Parkway. 

According to Councilmember Cristina Arriola, the boat launch has to be cleared because PG&E is close to finishing gas plant cleanup and remediation that is taking place next to it. Part of the clean-up project involves paving the boat launch parking lot.

But with no alternative shelters to send people, encampment residents will likely be spread throughout the city. Homeless advocates have argued that the city clearing the encampment without offering alternative shelter could violate a federal appellate court ruling, but city officials have argued that they can order people to move if they are blocking a construction project.

One posted notice states that vehicles will be towed and stored on Feb. 5, citing a catch-all list of parking violations, including vehicles with registration that is six months out of date and vehicles parked for more than four hours on a freeway.  

Mackie Kent said that he was one of the first people to begin living in the boat launch parking lot. “My RV broke down here over a year ago and nobody told me to leave,” he said.

Kent said that when other encampments across the city were cleared, groups of people would show up at the boat launch. He said that newcomers often told him that they had been directed to go to the boat launch by people involved in closing their previous camp. 

“Now there is a mass amount of people with nowhere to go,” Kent said.

A few residents began leaving after the notice was posted. But this week, there were still 29 RVs and trailers in the lot. There are also many people camping in vehicles and makeshift shelters. 

For many residents, the boat launch has offered some consistency and stability, like for Christina Quint, who lives with her husband Duvond Quint in an airstream trailer. “This place has been a blessing," Christina Quint said. “We have shelter here and there is a community of people that look out for each other.” 

The Quints said they don’t have a vehicle but they plan to have a friend tow their trailer to another camp if they can find room.

Nowhere to go

There is access to city water at the boat launch and city workers have regularly removed the pile of garbage that accumulates near the entryway of the parking lot. Kent and others said that the encampment residents are not the only ones who contribute to the pile. “People come by regularly in cars or trucks and leave trash bags, bulky items or whole pick-up loads,” he said.

“Residents in the area complain a lot about the garbage and the drugs,” Kent said.” But if they break this camp up it's gonna send everybody all through the streets of Vallejo and what are the residents gonna do then when people have to park their RV’s right on their street?”

Some residents asked if the city is required to have a place for people to go if they are removed from an encampment, referring to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling in Martin v. Boise, which prohibited cities and counties from removing encampments unless there are enough shelter beds available. 

Assistant to the City Manager Natalie Peterson said that Martin v. Boise does not apply when an encampment is in the way of a construction project that may put the safety of those in the area at risk.

Civil rights attorney Osha Neumann, who has advocated for homeless clients for over 25 years, said he disagrees. 

“If they are threatening people with citations or arrest for being there, that's not okay,” Neumann said. “What they would need to do is have an alternative location where they could legally be and shelter. If they don't have an alternative, then they can't use the threat of citation or arrest in order to kick people out.”   

But, Neumann said that vehicles can be impounded if the registration is 6 months out of date, even if they serve as a primary residence. 

The city of Vallejo did not answer questions from the Vallejo Sun about whether they are offering alternative locations for boat launch residents. 

Two housing projects intended for Vallejo’s homeless population remain overdue and incomplete. A planned 47-unit permanent supportive housing project on Broadway which the city said would be open in August remains incomplete.  Construction began on the  project in December 2022. Peterson said that grants for the project require it to be completed by September 2024. She said there is a possibility that it may be completed sooner.   

Next week, the  City Council will vote on whether to approve an $8 million bid to build a planned navigation center, which has been mired in delays for years. Grant funds for construction have a deadline of June 2026.

Representatives from the county Health and Social Services Department visited the Enterprise Street encampment during the weeks before it was removed. The workers said that they were only able to sign residents up for MediCal, Cal-Fresh or general assistance, which is a short term monthly cash benefit of approximately $400 available to those who qualify.

Riana Gonzalez came to the boat launch after the city cleared her camp on Enterprise Street.

“Now I don’t even have a tent,” she said. Gonzalez said that there is a possibility she may be able to receive additional benefits so she could purchase another tent or transition to more permanent housing. She said that she went to a social security office in Vallejo but she was told she needed to go to the office in Suisun and she has not been able to make the trip yet.

Others living at the boat launch relayed similar experiences of attempting to access services or benefits but getting stuck at barriers such as transportation or missing application documents. 

Cody Simmons is caring for his girlfriend Jessica Gonzales, who suffered a stroke that paralyzed the left side of her body. During the four months they have been living at the boat launch, Gonzalez has been recovering from a craniotomy surgery for the stroke. Simmons rebuilt portions of their trailer so Gonzalez could use the shower and bathroom. 

Although Simmons receives payments through In-Home Supportive Services as Gonzalez’s caregiver, he said that Gonzalez’s application for disability benefits was denied. “I need to find somebody who can help her because I really don’t know how to do that part,” Simmons said.

Simmons’s mother and father live in an RV that is parked next to them. Simmons’s father Jack Simmons is a Vietnam-era veteran and is scheduled to go to the hospital for open heart surgery on the same day that the city plans to clear the boat launch parking lot. Cody Simmons said that he has been incredibly stressed with everything happening at once.

Cody Simmons said that they could afford rent for an apartment with the family’s combined income but he said he has struggled to find a place.

Residents face hardships and challenges

There are a number of seniors who live at the boat launch. Jim Nelson, 71, lives with his wife Pam in an RV in a tidy corner of the parking lot. His son Eric lives next to them in another RV. Eric recently got a new job and the family’s long-term plan is to buy a piece of land to live on once they can afford it. 

Jim Nelson said that he and Pam were robbed of all their rent money while they were in a park. “That’s when we got evicted,” he said. “We are retired. When you are only getting so much money you can't make up $1,000 in a month's time.” 

Nelson said that he has been grateful for the city trash pick-ups and that Solano County Animal Control treated them with respect and kindness when they came out to provide food and shots for their two small dogs. He said the boat launch has been great because nobody has hassled them – until now.

“We don’t have a plan for where to go.” Nelson said. “We will just have to find another place where we can get by with staying for a while.”

Harvey Kenny is another senior who lives at the boat launch. His friend Doreann Lions said she does not live at the boat launch but visits Kenny often. Kenny had difficulty speaking clearly but Lions said she could understand and relayed that Kenny would have been left sooner but his truck broke down. 

Doreann said that social service workers were supposed to pick her up to take her to a new supportive residential program but they did not show up when they had planned to meet.

Although some of the residents have faced similar problems, there is a broad range of personal experiences at the camp. 

A Venezuelan couple, a man and a woman who asked not to be identified, are refugees who live at the boat launch. The man was part owner of a business that imported Russian food products to Venezuela, but says he was beaten and tortured by police because of a political rivalry. The two fled to Colombia and then traveled north crossing to Central America by foot through the Darién Gap.

The man is a musician and the skill had served him well as a way to earn just enough money to keep traveling north. The woman said that the scariest part of the journey was riding the famous “La Bestia” freight train through Mexico. She said that if you ride on top of the cars, you have to worry about falling off and if you ride inside the cars, you risk getting locked in.

The two were granted entry to the U.S. while their asylum case is underway but they crossed the border with no money. They were staying at a refugee camp in El Paso when a religious organization from Florida offered them and several others at the camp seats on a private plane to Sacramento. 

Their asylum case has still not concluded so they don’t have papers to work in the U.S. They said that they were lucky to find a place to stay at the boat launch because they cannot afford to pay rent.

Several residents expressed dismay and confusion as to why the city is closing the boat launch. 

“This is an ideal location.” said Gary, a boat launch resident who preferred not to give his full name out of concern that he would be harassed by police. “What have we done that is wrong? Why would you want to take this away from us? We don’t have jobs, I’m 65 years old. There is nobody that is going to hire me.” 

Gary said that he has been out of prison for 10 years and he has stayed away from crime but he is no longer able to work as a mechanic because he has problems with his back and can’t bend over to work on vehicle engines. 

“This was a God's gift because it gave people an opportunity to get their motorhome off the street and got people out of tents,” Gary said.

Editor's note: This story has been updated to protect the identities of two vulnerable sources.