Vallejo pauses encampment sweeps during count of unhoused residents

VALLEJO - The Vallejo City Council voted Tuesday to stop clearing encampments of unhoused people for a month, while staff and volunteers conduct the county’s biennial Point in Time count of homeless residents.

The city will also open an adults-only warming center for 75 days at the city’s new navigation center, per a new agreement with Five Keys Schools and Programs. The city has not yet opened a warming center this winter, despite recent rain and cold weather.

The council voted 4-3 Tuesday – with Mayor Andrea Sorce, Vice Mayor Peter Bregenzer and Councilmember Charles Palmares opposed – to pause encampment sweeps while organizations conduct the Point in Time count. 

The Point in Time count takes place every other year to determine how many people in a city are living unhoused. The 2024 count found 727 people experiencing homelessness in Vallejo out of the county’s total of 1,725.

Assistant to the city manager Natalie Peterson said that the count will take place later this month, and will be handled by the Solano County Continuum of Care and other organizations. 

Two city staff members, including Peterson, are signed up to handle the count alongside 31 volunteers. Peterson said she needs about 75 volunteers in total to conduct the count properly. 

She said that with approval for a pause, organization members will handle trash pickups at encampment sites without removing people. However, they will need Continuum of Care support to handle outreach with residents, she said. 

Resident Anne Carr said the city should only pause encampment sweeps for two weeks.

“I’m very much alarmed by the idea that you would pause any encampment sweeps after that count, with the excuse that we need outreach to these people,’” Carr said. 

Sorce said the pause is not a substitute for a more permanent policy change to provide people places to shelter rather than being displaced. She called the current strategy a “whack a mole” approach.

“For every person we get off the street, we’re losing somebody,” Source said. “This is going to be a losing battle until we do something differently.”

Bregenzer said he didn't understand why the city and organizations can’t do the outreach work that is necessary and pointed out that other cities are not calling an enforcement pause to do a count.

“People are suffering now, and we shouldn’t wait until the end of the month to provide those services,” Bregenzer said. “It isn’t fair to the businesses and having to see the litter and trash around the city, it looks terrible.”

City Manager Andrew Murray said the city does not currently coordinate trash pickup at encampments where cleanups are not already planned. Peterson said there are about 80-100 known encampments in the city, which would require more resources to coordinate trash pickups for. She said she will meet with the organizations weekly to discuss how things are being handled and report back to the council by early February. 

Vallejo Homeless Union member Eli Smith said in public comment that the accuracy of the count impacts how much funding the city can get to handle homelessness.

“We need to do everything we can to get an accurate count,” Smith said. “We’re already beginning at an abysmal time.”

The council also voted unanimously Tuesday to amend the Vallejo Navigation Center’s operating agreement, allowing Five Keys Schools and Programs to operate a warming center there.

Assistant City Manager Nalungo Conley said that Five Keys said it could begin operating a 75-day warming shelter available on a first-come, first-serve basis this week, with 20 mats and additional shelter beds allowing people to bring pets and some belongings. Participants 18 and up will be able to enter between 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. It will cost about $40,000 from a fund already allocated in the city’s budget. 

Resident Melvin Cohen said the amendment is responding to a known gap in communication about why shelters weren’t open. He said it has not been clear when and how warming centers would open and how they will be accessible for unhoused people. 

“The warming center is only effective if people can safely reach it without other transportation,” Cohen added. “People are often left having to walk long distances … including families and seniors. When warming center options aren't clearly communicated, people don't wait for activation thresholds, they improvise survival.”

Conley said that SolTrans is considering offering free bus rides to the warming centers during the 75-day period. That plan has not yet been approved, she added.