San Benito to conduct census of homeless encampments
SAN BENITO, Calif. (KION) The San Benito Sheriff’s Office is conducting a census of the homeless encampments along the San Benito River.
“We, as a city and the county are trying to work together to try to get the homeless, to our shelter to get the services and the help that they need,” said Hollister Mayor Ignacio Velazquez.
According to Velazquez, during the pandemic, it was very tough to move people back to shelters especially with the limited amount of beds available. This caused little communities to be created along rivers and alleys. But Velazquez says vaccines are the solution.
“We can start moving more people back into the shelter," said Velazquez. "One of the ideas we're working with the county on is adding more beds at the shelter. So, we can get more people in there, and then later, we're working on a larger project to increase the number of beds in the entire county. So we can address the entire homeless population, and not just segments of it.”
San Benito Officers scoped the area to determine how many people and encampments are along the river. There is a sense of urgency based on the number of individuals and structures being built, said Captain Eric Taylor.
“We sent a team of four Deputy Sheriffs," said Taylor. "We went from Hospital Road all the way to Hwy 156 and the entire San Benito River bottom. "We were able to identify about 55 encampments down there, we contacted about 75 people and there are about 30 or 35 cars.”
A major concern with these encampments is the hazards and threat to public safety. A recent fire took place that damaged communication lines and part of the bridge along Hwy 156. Supervisor Kosmickz referred to this fire as a real wake-up call.
"Especially with the dry season coming," said San Benito County Supervisor Kollin Kosmicki. "An example of what can happen, much, much worse. So really, it's a public safety emergency and it's a potential environmental disaster. Having homeless people and camped and living in these conditions in a riverbed, which is a sensitive habitat that leads out to the Monterey Bay region."
The census is expected to be followed by a cleanup operation with HHSA next week.
