Vallejo halts encampment sweeps while crafting new homelessness strategy

VALLEJO - The Vallejo City Council placed a freeze on all encampment sweeps for two weeks on Tuesday as they mull a plan to craft a comprehensive strategy for managing homelessness more effectively. 

The City Council delayed taking action on approving hiring a contractor to strategize managing homelessness by unanimous agreement on Tuesday after listening to public comment for more than two hours. The council will further discuss the $175,000 strategy during a special meeting on April 1 – and until then, no encampment sweeps can take place. 

The council allocated the $175,000 last week to hire a consultant to craft a plan for managing homelessness, who is likely to be hired by May. That consultant will develop recommendations for how the city should transition unhoused people into stable housing.

The number of unhoused people has grown in Vallejo more than anywhere in Solano County. According to the January 2024 count of homeless people, there were 1,725 unhoused people in the county, with 682 in Vallejo. City officials argued Tuesday that  aggressive enforcement is necessary after having spent millions of dollars on resources. But homeless residents say those resources have scarcely aided them in their search for stable housing.

Vallejo’s assistant to the city manager Natalie Peterson presented a report Tuesday finding that different programs designed to address homelessness have made “little progress.” She said the current available federal funds through the Department of Housing and Urban Development are not enough for the county and nonprofit organizations to meet the needs of all unhoused people.

Peterson pointed to the city’s efforts to build affordable housing facilities, including the 74-unit permanent supportive facility Blue Oak Landing and the long-delayed 47-unit project on Broadway that was found to be mismanaged by city staff and is still under construction. 

The city has also struggled to build a navigation center at 1937 Broadway that will offer 125 emergency shelter beds and case management. Peterson said the city is working on a contract with an anticipated operator, which must be done by May.

Peterson added that the city council has previously rejected other alternatives such as safe parking and camping sites and tiny homes or pallet shelters. That leaves many unhoused people camped in vehicles or makeshift structures lacking potable water, sewer connections, heat and other necessities, which violates the city’s municipal code outlawing camping and storage of personal property on public property.

When the U.S. Supreme Court ruled last year in Grants Pass v. Johnson that enforcement of anti-camping ordinances does not constitute cruel and unusual punishment, Peterson said Vallejo and other cities began removing more encampments from public spaces. The city currently has over 50 reports of tent encampments and more than 80 reports of vehicle encampments. Peterson said that city staff try to provide more than 72 hours of notice before removing encampments, and that staff provide a list of services available in Vallejo and the larger Solano County area.

“As many cities are now enforcing their public camping ordinances, there is a fear that any city that does not aggressively enforce its ordinance will become a safe haven and magnet for unhoused individuals,” Peterson said. 

Peterson reported that since spring 2024, the city has conducted four to five encampment removals each month, spending about $360,000. She acknowledged that during this winter, the city did not open warming shelters for people living outside on some stormy days that, while uncomfortable, didn’t meet the current criteria. She said city staff is currently drafting a new policy to improve when shelters are opened during storms. 

Mayor Andrea Sorce decided to continue the item to let the council and staff reflect on all the options before them, although she said that the city must do better to handle the situation. 

“We have a situation that has come about that maybe the people up here would have [handled] differently, and we need to assess our steps going forward,” Sorce said. She added that staff must be prudent in avoiding sweeps while the council considers its options, saying “What is the city going to do, make some massive sweep tomorrow right in the middle of this with our conversation pending? And then that’s on us.”

Councilmember Tonia Lediju agreed that taking swift action is needed to remain transparent with the public. 

“It’s very unfair to the public because they are expecting some type of direction to go forward,” Lediju said. 

Sorce, noticing how many people arrived at City Hall to comment, asked residents to avoid blaming city officials. For more than two hours, the divisions between residents who commented grew more pronounced, as some people criticized homeless neighbors and blamed them for fires and crime. 

Some demanded that the city remove unhoused people who are near them for good and accused nonprofits of misusing state funds for homelessness programs. Resident Paula Conley said that the city must take responsibility for the large number of encampments in the downtown and waterfront areas. 

Another resident, who identified herself as Cynthia H., said she lives a block away from the railroad by Florida Street and sees a constant flow of people being removed and then later returning to the area. She said that unhoused people have caused fires in the area, and must be permanently moved.

“Give them somewhere to go,” she said. “The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.”

Others accused the city of ruthlessly removing people without considering the toll on people who don’t have stable shelter. Members of Common Ground joined the Vallejo Homeless Union, Vallejo Together and other organizations demanding that the city stop evicting people from their camps, and suggested that staff consider new policies such as a just cause eviction ordinance, rent stabilization and a community land trust.

Others said that Vallejo has endangered the lives of unhoused people through recklessness. Eli Smith, an organizer with the homeless union, described how 58-year-old James Oakley was found dead on Dec. 24 when city workers tasked with cleaning up an illegal dump site on the 2300 block of Broadway Street noticed his body among construction debris that they were moving with a hydraulic loader, according to city staff. The Solano County Coroner’s office autopsy determined that his death was caused by “blunt force trauma likely sustained accidentally by heavy equipment.” 

Kathryn Salm, who’s been unhoused in Vallejo for decades, also accused city staff of running over her kittens while removing her encampment, killing or injuring them.

“These sweeps have got to stop, man,” Salm said. “They kill not only humans, animals, but the planet. Give us a seat at the table. We’re the ones out here and may have some surprises for you as to how to solve these situations.”

Kathy McNeil said that as an elderly and disabled person, her options for getting to shelter are limited. She said she’s spent more than a year waiting for help from a Solano County case worker.

“Nobody from the city has ever talked to me - I’ve only had police talk to me,” McNeil said. “Volunteers are the only ones who’ve helped me. I never wanted to be unhoused. I used to live in an RV, but you took it and now I live in a pickup truck. There’s got to be a better way.” 

Ahead of the April 1 meeting, Sorce said the council will hold a closed session to discuss litigation related to homelessness. She said that includes a case involving suing private property owners “over sweeps” and another involving the city’s attempts to remove the encampment of an unhoused woman, Evelyn “Brown Sugar” Alfred.