Some applaud Fresno camping ban. The homeless say it’s little more than pack, unpack, repeat

Cruel.

That’s what 62-year-old Madison Allen called the city of Fresno’s Unhealthy and Hazardous Camping Act.

“ ’Round and ’round we go,” he said. “No matter where you go, you’re being run off.”

The law, passed by Fresno City Council in August, makes camping on public or private property without the owner’s permission a misdemeanor punishable by a $1,000 fine or up to six months in jail. People camping illegally can have their belongings confiscated and be booked into jail. They also can allow police to take them to MAP Point, a clearinghouse for housing, shelter, health and social services based at Poverello House.

A 2017 survey estimated 1,572 people were living without permanent homes in Fresno – an increase of about 20 percent from 2016 numbers. Volunteers with Fresno Madera Continuum of Care took to the streets last week to conduct an annual tally of people living homeless. The two-night, one-day “point in time” tally will give the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development an estimate so funds can be distributed to the nonprofit agencies that serve homeless people.

Businesses say the law is working in that it has reduced nuisances and cleaned up the streets. Although the ordinance doesn’t directly target people who live on the streets, many of those without permanent housing said their lives changed dramatically after the ordinance was passed.

For Allen, what he hears most from Fresno police officers who enforce the law is “don’t stop here” and “you’ve been here too long.”

Allen, who has been homeless for two years, says he sleeps “here and there” in downtown Fresno. He wakes up at 5:30 a.m. to move on, mostly to protect two carts piled high with his belongings. He’ll check in for social service appointments, perhaps “hustle” a bit of recyclables, then get to drawing portraits of people he sees on the streets.

All the while, he thinks about how to keep his belongings safe.

Last week, on a day when Fresno’s high was 60 degrees, Allen layered a button-up shirt, jersey, windbreaker and fleece jacket while resting under a tree in Eaton Plaza across from Fresno County Public Library.

“It’s about surviving,” he said. “If the truck hauls my stuff off I’ll be up at 3 a.m. freezing.”

Since the ordinance went into effect, Nona Manning, 45, and a small group of friends constantly are on the move. The group travels along Blackstone Avenue from Herndon to Ashlan avenues. On a Wednesday afternoon, they were in an alley behind an eyewear office, repairing their bikes and carts. Manning’s partner gave her a quick kiss before heading to the intersection of Blackstone and Shaw with her two dogs to “fly” a sign that asks for help.

Manning already has been issued “a whole bunch of tickets” under the new law.

“There’s nowhere to go, nowhere to hide,” she said. “They’ve taken away our ability to have safe zones.”

Being a woman without a home is particularly dangerous, she said, because of the fear of being raped. That’s on top of the constant threat of being robbed or beaten.

“I’m not an ignorant person. I understand why they’re doing it,” Manning said. “But there’s got to be another way of doing this.”

A help for businesses

Fresno City Councilman Steve Brandau, who authored the ordinance, said the measure was inspired by complaints received by his office and those of his council colleagues from residents and businesses about nuisances, litter and unsanitary conditions created in their neighborhoods by homeless campers. The idea, Brandau said, is to help residents and businesses by using the law to leverage homeless campers into the network of social services.

Ryan Jacobsen, CEO of the Fresno County Farm Bureau, spoke at a council meeting in support of the ban. Multiple people were camping along the fence and sidewalk by the Farm Bureau’s office near Roeding Park. It got to the point where it was a threat to safety, Jacobsen said.

But since the ban, the problem near the office has been resolved, he said.

“It seems to be a tool that has been an asset to Fresno PD to help businesses and individuals like ourselves,” he said.

The ordinance also came in handy for Raffi Pilavian, the manager at International Torque Converters on Abby Street.

The transmission shop is adjacent to Highway 180, and a group of about 15 people began camping next to a carport at the business. The campers added on to an existing carport to create additional shelter and dug makeshift beds for themselves on the side of the highway, Pilavian said.

The “stench” was Pilavian’s top concern, but campers also began stealing security cameras, water hoses and recyclables from the business.

Before the camping law, crews with the California Department of Transportation came out and cleared the campsite along the freeway. But those crews couldn’t do anything about the people camping on the shop’s property.

Last week, after Pilavian took his complaints to Facebook, Councilman Clint Olivier learned of the problems. The next day, Olivier and Fresno police visited the business and cleared out the campers, Pilavian said.

“They took care of the situation right away,” he said.

Brandau said the ordinance is working “perfectly.” He said he has received fewer complaints, and that many people contacted him to say thank you.

“It’s important to remember the ordinance was not intended to tackle the issue of homelessness,” he said. “The ordinance was about cleaning up the streets of Fresno.”

Pack, unpack, repeat

For years, dozens of people have camped along F Street near the Poverello House, creating a small community of people who help each other out. They congregate on F Street because of its proximity to services and while they wait for updates in their MAP Point case. Since the camping ban went into effect, their routines have changed.

Each morning between 5 and 6 a.m., Fresno police arrive on F Street. The campers know the drill. Officers make sure each person’s name is on a list indicating they’re signed up with MAP Point. Then the campers pack up their tents and all the other belongings they can carry in one load. They move across Ventura Street and hang out near a warehouse as the police pick up any items left on the street.

After a few hours, the campers return to the original spot and begin setting up their tents and sweeping up any trash left behind.

That’s what 48-year-old Patrick Brown and his wife, LaTanya, 49, were doing one recent morning.

“They want us to move our stuff constantly, everywhere, and then come back and put it back after 5 p.m.,” said Patrick Brown, who has stayed on F Street for about four months. “That doesn’t make no damn sense. Excuse me for the way I said that, but it doesn’t make any sense to move your stuff just to turn around and move it back.”

For Brown and his wife, that means packing up their tent, cots, blankets, clothing, cleaning supplies, two dogs and a cat to move a few hundred feet. They know it will be the last time they see whatever they can’t carry and have to leave behind.

“They take our stuff. They throw our stuff away,” Brown said. “For me, I wasn’t always homeless. I’ve been homeless for a year. This is all my stuff. I’m starting all over again. I paid for this stuff.”

By the numbers

Fresno’s Office of Independent Review recently released its quarterly report, part of which looked at the ordinance’s enforcement totals from Oct. 1 to Dec. 31.

The report found Fresno police made 1,447 contacts with people. Of those, 1,354 picked up their stuff and moved on. Twenty-two accepted a ride to Fresno Rescue Mission for services. Four were given camping ordinance citations. One was arrested. There were 94 citations given out for shopping cart violations, and 149 for other violations. Police took 35 people to jail because of outstanding warrants.

In all, 941 encampments were cleared.

The figures do not mean 1,447 people were contacted. The same person could have been contacted multiple times, so it’s hard to say how many individuals have been reached by the police task force. Nor does the number represent the total population of homeless people in Fresno. Advocates estimate it is much larger.

Brandau said he hoped more people would choose to use social services, but he’s happy for the 22 that have accepted them. He acknowledged “challenges” that other parts of the city, such as downtown, still face since the ordinance passed.

City spokesman Mark Standriff said officers are instructed to arrest people only as a last resort. If they refuse to leave or be taken to the Rescue Mission, the officer will take them to jail. However, that officer is to return them to their camp should they change their minds and decide to seek help, Standriff added.

Cruz Avila is chief executive officer of Poverello House, which houses around 150 homeless people in a winding network of shelters, converted homes and sheds. The downtown Fresno complex also serves as the primary intake station for the city’s MAP Point program – an online registry for individuals seeking shelter or housing.

Poverello staff assist Fresno police officers when they tell homeless campers to move along in the early morning, Avila said, but there’s no place to go for those who opt for services instead of arrest. Some people refuse help of any kind, leaving both advocates and police at a loss for what to do with them.

Jerry Mulford, the lone arrest since the ordinance’s creation, was one such case, Avila said. Poverello staff worked hard to find Mulford a place to live, but he immediately quarreled with his landlord and lost his bed. Mulford was released from jail on his own recognizance. But he was a no-show in court Wednesday, and a $10,000 warrant for his arrest was issued.

Around 60 people come to MAP Point each day, Avila said. This number has not increased or decreased since the camping ordinance passed. Many of these daily visitors are checking on their cases and wait-list positions.

City Council President Esmeralda Soria, the only council member to vote against the camping ordinance, said it is “an easy way out” in addressing a larger issue.

“It’s like a little game. We’re just chasing them (the homeless) around,” she said. “We want to show we’re doing something, but in reality I think we’re wasting taxpayer money.”

The need for beds

The Browns, the couple from F Street, said an apartment would improve their situation by leaps and bounds. “We need help to get a place,” Patrick said.

MAP Point is great, Manning said. It helped her get food stamps for the first time since 2011. Now she hopes to get an ID. But the No.1 thing that would help her? Housing.

Soria said the ordinance doesn’t address the root of the homeless problem. Instead, she said, it criminalizes poverty.

“As policymakers, we need to address those hard issues,” she said. “We have bigger safety issues in our community that these officers could be addressing. The root of the problem is the fact there’s no shelter. And even if every single person of those 900 people would accept services, the capacity is not there. We heard it that day when we voted on the ordinance.”

In Brandau’s opinion, the ordinance revealed nonprofit partners aren’t equipped to aid the large number of people living homeless in the city.

“Our nonprofit partners have got to step up their game,” he said. “They’ve got to find facilities that can take people in.”

Avila, the Poverello House CEO, said his staff is willing to cover all meals and casework, as well as transport the person to and from the bed’s location, in exchange for a place to house the client. He strikes deals with landlords on vacant apartment units. The never-ending search for bed space has gotten so bad that caseworkers recently started reaching out to Clovis and other neighboring cities for help.

The primary issue faced by homeless advocates, Avila said, is not a lack of enforcement or registration – it’s the scarcity of safe places for these men, women and children to sleep.

“Fresno needs beds,” he said. “We’ve been saying it for years, and we will keep saying it at every meeting.”

“We know we’ve been at capacity for four years,” he added. “We call around and everyone else says they’re full, too.”

Advocates also note that the ordinance only deals with the visibly homeless. Those rounded up while camping are only a fraction of the total number of people without a permanent residence in Fresno. Poverello House, Fresno Housing Authority and others are working constantly to help those who may have found themselves homeless due to the loss of a job, an unexpected medical bill or other unforeseen circumstances.

Avila worries that the council or other governing bodies will become frustrated with the growing problem and seek to scrap funding and partnerships with the local housing advocacy groups in favor of total reinvention.

“We just need to add depth to existing projects,” he said.

Council members, city administration, the police chief and other partners are considering shelter options, Brandau said.

“There’s much more work to be done on the issue of homelessness by Fresno leadership, county and city, and our partners,” he said. “I’m looking forward to being a part of that.”

This story was originally published February 1, 2018 at 5:00 PM with the headline "Some applaud Fresno camping ban. The homeless say it’s little more than pack, unpack, repeat."