Homelessness in one of America’s “Happiest Seaside Towns”

Earlier this month, Coastal Living Magazine named Monterey as one of the “Happiest Seaside Towns” in America. However, some residents wonder how long that title will last in the aftermath of a deadly fight between several homeless men.

Monterey Police said several men were setting up camp on the patio outside of the Monterey Library early Friday morning. A fight broke out and two men were stabbed. A 40-year-old man died at the scene and a 22-year-old man was taken to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries. Police have named Jesse Quiming, 32, as a suspect, saying he should be considered armed and dangerous.

“Devastated that could happen around here,” longtime resident Jenny Woods said. “Supposed to be such a friendly, cheerful town. It’s not going to be that way much any longer, I think.”

While police can’t confirm any hard numbers, Woods feels like the homeless population is growing. She’s even tried to help them out.

“Sometimes I give them food,” Woods said. “Sometimes I give them a ride. Sometimes I buy their dogs food. It’s very sad.”

She even took in a German Shepherd puppy after her original owner couldn’t keep her any longer. She says she has spent $1,000 of her own money to make sure nine month old Daisy was healthy.

The city has addressed homeless issues recently. They are looking at possibly designating parking lots that people could sleep in their cars overnight. There’s also the “sit and lie” ordinance, which keeps transients from hanging out on sidewalks and public places too long. Interim Police Chief Dave Hober says no citations have been issued, though warnings have been handed out.

“The first thing is we want to make sure people feel safe,” Hober said. “And this community is a very safe community.”

Interim Chief Hober says the department is trying to hire more officers and become fully staffed.

“We have what’s called a “Community Action Team” or CAT Team that when we get fully staffed will be out there in all areas of the city.” Hober said. “We’ve also developed a program that outreaches to the homeless because we certainly can’t just arrest homeless and hope that that rectifies the problem.”

Officers are also being trained in Crisis Intervention Training to help homeless people who may have behavioral or mental issues. Hober said another training session is coming up in October, and he plans to send more of his officers to the exercise.