Sacramento clears homeless camp before triple-digit heat wave. Where will they go?

Theresa Clift
·5 min read
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Ahead of a three-day stretch of triple-digit temperatures, the city of Sacramento on Wednesday cleared over 30 homeless people from a midtown tree-lined street that offered shade.

Unlike previous sweeps, the city offered all of the people spaces at the newly expanded Miller Park Safe Ground, a sanctioned campground along the Sacramento River.

At least 14 went there, where they will get access to bathrooms, drinking water, showers and services. But many people did not want to go because they have heard it’s too hot in the provided tents erected on the blacktop.

Candice Montoya and her husband Robert Ash rushed to pack up their belongings Wednesday morning while a yellow excavator waited to scoop up whatever was left. The couple had been living in a tent along C Street for about six months with their cat Meow Meow and their small dog Sugar. They decided to move to Miller Park, but were only allowed to bring three bags of belongings. That meant they had to abandoned two tents, as well as clothing, mattresses, and Meow Meow’s cat tree.

Robert Ash tries to calm his cat Meow Meow, who he said was frightened by the sound of the city’s disposal vehicles, during a homeless encampment sweep on C Street on Wednesday. He hauled his possessions, along with his wife’s belongings and their dog Sugar, a few blocks away because they were afraid they couldn’t sort their belongings quickly enough to avoid being trashed by the city’s crews.

“Knowing we’ll have to be on asphalt in the middle of the sun is really shitty,” Montoya, 42, said. “At least here we had some shade.”

The high Thursday is set to hit a dangerous 102 degrees, followed by 105 on Friday and Saturday, according to the National Weather Service. In September, unhoused man Michael Hooper, 49, died of heat stroke while living in his van near a Sacramento park.

City spokesman Tim Swanson said there are shaded areas at Miller Park, including shade structures in common areas and nearby tree canopies, as well as misters and cold water.

Despite that, George Russell was also concerned about the heat at Miller Park. He is on methadone to treat opioid use disorder and is not supposed to be in heat that’s 90 degrees or higher, he said. He lost a tent and clothing in the sweep.

“I’m thinking about Miller Park but it’s hot,” Russell, 58, said. “We formed a community here.”

Alicia Peterson, wearing a cowboy hat adorned with turquoise gem, sat on a mattress in her green tent until the last possible minute. She kept her tent but lost her mattress because she was not strong enough to carry it due to neuropathy and a broken wrist, for which she was hospitalized last week, she said.

“I wish they’d give us more of a solid place to be, not move us every six months,” Peterson, 55 of Sacramento, said.

The city on Tuesday did not offer people housing, or another immediate shelter option other than Miller Park. The 17 trailers at Miller Park, which do not have air conditioning, are currently full.

The council, which is currently on summer recess, may discuss additional properties to open Safe Grounds during its meeting Tuesday, including some that could be shaded.

Tyler Vaneehei, 31, center, looks back as his mattress is readied to be thrown in the trash during a homeless sweep along C Street in Sacramento on Wednesday, July 19, 2023. He was able to save his tent but had no idea where he might go because he was afraid he had too many things to be accepted into the Miller Park Safe Ground. Officials were saying the homeless residents were only allowed three big bags and had to get rid of the rest of their belongings.

City under pressure

The sweep comes as the city is under increasing pressure to clear camps.

A homeless ballot measure went into effect last month, and several business owners and residents are accusing the city of not enforcing it. City Manager Howard Chan, who rewrote the measure before it was voted on, has publicly disputed that accusation.

The measure comes with a new form where residents can submit complaints about camps to the city. The camp the city swept Tuesday, which is near Leland Stanford Park, and also McKinley Village, was one of the top camps to receive complaints.

“My household has spent over $20,000 repairing damage to property, replacing stolen items, upgrading security, securing property to minimize further trespassing and damage,” nearby resident Staci Edwards wrote in a complaint to the city in June, obtained by The Bee from a California Public Records Act request. “I have also been diagnosed with C-PTSD after living through 15 months of the camp from 2020-2021 and acute PTSD after being threatened at gunpoint by an occupant of the encampment on 2/15/23. We have not had quiet use or enjoyment of our property in over three years due to excessive noise and issues from the camp.”

Bright green notices the city taped to tents last week stated they were violating a city ordinance by blocking the sidewalk. However, The Sacramento Bee observed most of the tents were pitched on the grassy strip adjacent to the sidewalk. The notices also checked a box saying they had personal belongings on public property in violation of a different city ordinance.

The sweep also follows mounting pressure on the city by District Attorney Thien Ho to clear camps. Ho Tuesday said he plans to investigate the city’s response to homeless camps, which could result in criminal or civil legal fillings. Last week Ho sent the city a letter telling them to clear camps around the downtown courthouse.

The city has offered to take several people around the courthouse to Miller Park, but does not in general move people unless there is somewhere to take them, and there rarely is. There are roughly 2,300 city and county shelter beds in Sacramento for an estimated 9,300 homeless people.

The 2018 Martin v. Boise U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling states cities and counties cannot criminalize homeless people living on public property unless there is a place to take them to. The city and DA interpret that ruling, as well as subsequent rulings on the topic, differently.