Visalia Mayor Jesus Gamboa appealed to his fellow council members this week to install portable toilets at a homeless encampment on the city's north border.
Gamboa visited the encampment and said 120 people are living in tents with no bathroom facilities."I see some health hazards," Gamboa said, adding that he'd like the city to bring in a trash container and maybe clean water.Gamboa failed to get approval for the toilets, but council members held a discussion that left open the door for other action.Council Member Don Landers said he opposes installing toilets because the homeless camp is outside city limits."This is a county issue," Landers said. "This is not our problem. That is the problem of the county and the state. We don't have the resources to take care of every homeless person in Tulare County.""Technically, Don, you're right, but it spills into our city," Council Member Amy Shuklian responded. "I'm not saying I agree we should put Porta Potties out there. It's not our responsibility, but it's our problem."The camp is spread out along on the north side of the St. Johns River channel, a few yards outside city limits."It's a county issue, but it's also a compassion issue," said Council Member Bob Link. He'd like city staff to meet with homeless advocates and county officials to talk about helping the homeless.Council Member Greg Collins said he's been getting phone calls and has been told 200 people live there. He said he'd like the council to hold a study session with people who work with the homeless. After the meeting, Collins said he could support Gamboa's call for portable toilets and a garbage container, and maybe even a water wagon with a spigot, "but nothing more."After the meeting, city housing and economic development director Ricardo Noguera said the city could legally spend a few thousand dollars on portable toilets, but he worries that it would draw more homeless to the area.For now, "there's no mandate" from the council to install them, he said.RECORD YEAR: The newly remodeled Recreation Park stadium in Visalia broke its all-time attendance record for the baseball season, said Visalia Rawhide General Manager Tom Seidler.Season attendance reached 105,405, topping the previous record of 104,311 reached in 1947.It was the last game of the season that put it over, with attendance of 1,469."It was a good way to finish the year," Seidler said.