Santa Clara River bottom cleanup exposes bigger problem
No easy solution to area homelessness
By Shane Cohn 03/03/2011
For now, the homeless who have been finding shelter along the Santa Clara River bottom have moved elsewhere.
Last Tuesday, the city of Ventura ordered a clearing out of the area. Three teams comprising city staff, social services and volunteers scoured the river’s adjacent encampments, removing debris and assisting folks in packing their belongings and vacating the area.
“People were cooperative. It was an emotional day,” said Peter Brown, the city’s community services manager. “There was a great humanitarian feel to it.”
Many of the estimated 40 inhabitants had left the area prior to the day’s relocation project, but a few requiring supportive and mental health services remained. Social services successfully placed into motels those needing additional care.
Teams spent the majority of the day removing leftover debris.
“There was a lot of trash,” said Beth Sutherland, a volunteer, whose team spent six hours cleaning one of encampments. “We were taking good care of the land, but you couldn’t help but wonder what is wrong with this picture” because those displaced are still without care.
Those forced out of the encampments have been encouraged to relocate to the winter warming shelter at the Oxnard National Guard Armory. The armory, however, will shut its doors for the year on March 31, leaving the homeless in Ventura without an emergency shelter until next winter.
So the question is, where will they go next?
“The city is giving people the idea that they’re doing something about homelessness, but it’s a shell game,” said the Rev. Jan Christian, pastor of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Ventura. “What we know is, people are planning to be away for a few days before they seek to go back out there because they don’t have another option.”
Christian estimated that the city spent $18,000-$30,000 of taxpayer money during the river bottom clearing.
“They’re exacerbating the problem created by not having basic services like a 24-hour, year-round shelter or a sobering center,” she said. “We don’t have anything like that, and the city is not showing urgency about it.”
Brown couldn’t confirm or deny the amount spent on the clearing but noted that the amount of debris found throughout the encampments is an ecological and environmental hazard. Brown figured that the river bottom clearing efforts hauled about 15 tons of debris. The city, he said, is at risk of being slapped with fines of $25,000 per day because of a rising bacteria level in local waterways.
Last July, the California Regional Water Quality Control Board adopted a total maximum daily load (TMDL) for bacteria levels in the Santa Clara River. Once the TMDL is established, said Ray Olson, environmental services manager, local agencies can be subject to fines.
“The bottom line is we know this contributes to decreasing the quality of water in that river,” Olson said. “It’s not only detrimental to people, but animals and plants also suffer from this.”
Despite the potential environmental risks posed from river bottom encampments, the fact remains that the homeless are still without shelter.
“The story is that we need a 24/7 shelter in our community,” said Brown.
A 2010 study found 601 people experiencing homelessness in the city of Ventura. One of the goals in Ventura County’s 10-Year Strategy to End Homelessness, implemented in 2007, was to reduce the number of homeless by 50 percent during the first five years. While the homeless count for the city has decreased from 2009 to 2010, there are few options for help. Ventura has lost shelter beds since the 10-year strategy began, Brown said. The only year-round shelter in Ventura is Our Place Shelter operated by Turning Point Foundation, but it has 10 beds available only for the mentally ill that are homeless.
One project to alleviate the city’s homeless epidemic is currently working its way toward review in Ventura: the Gateway Project, a shelter combining a sobering station, transitional housing, drop-in and supportive services in one location. For more information, visit www.vsstf.org.
Photo By Matthew Hill
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