Salinas to ban homeless from camping on public and private properties

On Tuesday, the Salinas City Council voted 6 to 1 to ban the homeless from camping on public and private property but it won’t take effect until October 1 in order to give people time to clean up and leave.

Still many homeless people and advocates spoke at the meeting, asking for more time.

“I used to be homeless in 2013. I know how it feels to be homeless, seeing people out here, especially the kids,” Janet May said.

Without shelters in place, May and others worry for the homeless.

“Throughout the entire county, there are only 333 emergency shelter beds and 575 transitional shelter beds, most of which are already occupied,” said lawyer and Dorothy’s Place volunteer Daniel Griffee.

But the city attorney’s office, which brought the ordinance, says city employees don’t feel safe.

“Encampment have specifically affected city employees. City employees have reported that they’ve witnessed screaming, yelling, and erotic behaviors as they enter and leave their places of employment,” Sr. Deputy City Attorney Michael Mutalipassi said.

And they say there are also health concerns.

“Just for the council’s information, fecal coliform, E. coli are direct results of untreated sewage, and this untreated sewage has been introduced as a result of unauthorized encampment,” Mutalipassi said.

The city has spent more than a million dollars on efforts to help the homeless, but it says a lot of work still needs to be done.

“We are not without compassion, we are not without caring, and this continues to be the most difficult thing that we wrestle with,” said public works director Gary Petersen.

The city says it’s in the process of opening more warming shelters, and will make the locations available soon.