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San Bernardino is close to completing a proposal that would allow the city to resume removing homeless encampments from its parks.
In January, U.S. District Court Judge Terry J. Hatter issued an injunction against the city that suspended that practice, after San Bernardino was sued by the ACLU and SoCal Trash Army, a group that advocate on behalf of homeless people.
That suit was based on charges made by three homeless individuals. It alleged that San Bernardino public works officials did not properly accommodate disabled persons when they were taken from parks and moved to a homeless shelter, a possible violation of the Americans With Disabilities Act.
The suit also alleged that some people’s belongings were not properly accounted for and protected during those moves.
San Bernardino officials have denied those allegations, and have produced staff declarations and evidence of compliance to that effect, but the injunction has remained in place. In the meantime, San Bernardino’s parks – particularly Perris Hill Park at 1135 Highland Ave., one of the city’s largest outdoor recreation area – have been overrun by homeless people, according to city officials.
“The injunction means that we can’t get our parks in order, and the damage that has done can’t be understated,” said Jeff Kraus, San Bernardino’s public information officer. “People are afraid to go (to the parks) because they’re harassed by homeless people.
“They don’t feel safe, and the situation has gotten out of control.”
For the past seven months, the city has made getting the injunction lifted its top priority, higher even than redeveloping the former Carousel Mall property downtown, or restoring city hall at 300 N. D St.
Built in 1972, city hall was shut down in 2016 for seismic improvements and has remained closed. San Bernardino officials, who have been using space in several downtown office buildings since that closure, plan to move back into city hall once those upgrades are completed.
“It’s a health issue and a public safety issue,” Kraus said of the city’s homeless problem. “San Bernardino has about 30 percent of San Bernardino County’s homeless population. We’re the largest city in the county, we have a lot of services, so we tend to attract the most homeless people.
“We absolutely have to do something.”
San Bernardino’s homeless population in January was 4,237, a year-over-year increase of 42 individuals, according to the Point-In-Time Count conducted that month. Point-In-Time is the annual one-night counting of the nation’s homeless population mandated by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Since the injunction was handed down, San Bernardino officials have been working on a plan under which the city could remove homeless people legally.
One detail of the plan likely stems from allegations in the January injunction that some homeless people’s belongings were destroyed during the park encampment removals, a possible violation of their constitutional rights.
In the future, those in charge of the park removals will use multi-colored bags marked “belongings” or “trash” to avoid any confusion, Kraus said.
The rest of the plan should be unveiled shortly, according to one council member.
“We’re 99 percent finished,” Councilman Theodore Sanchez said. “When we get it completed there will be a press release and a public information campaign. There will be a press conference, maybe next week, maybe next month But we’re very close to having an agreement to submit to the court.”
When that happens, city officials will probably resume removing homeless encampments from San Bernardino’s parks, because the plan is virtually certain to be approved by the courts according to Kraus.
Particular attention will be paid to Perris Hill Park. Perris Hill Park includes Fiscalini Field, the one-time minor league baseball park, the Jerry Lewis Family Swim Center and the Franklin D. Roosevelt Bow, an 1,800-seat amphitheater.
“There are a lot of services at that park, so it attracts a lot of homeless people,” Kraus said.
Since the injunction was handed down, some San Bernardino officials have speculated – that the court order meant that San Bernardino police officers could not make any arrests of homeless people in parks, but that is not correct.
Should they violate the law, any homeless person will be cited or arrested by local authorities, according to City Attorney Sonia R. Carvalho.
An executive order issued last month by Gov. Gavin Newsom has also caused some confusion.
That order directed state agencies to remove all homeless people from state property, mostly parks, beaches, buildings, highways and the space underneath them, has also caused some confusion.
Newsom issued that decree shortly after the U.S. Supreme Court handed down a ruling allowing cities to enforce bans on sleeping outside in public spaces.
“The state has been hard at work to address this crisis on our streets,” Newsom said in a statement released July 25. “I don’t think there is anything more urgent, or more frustrating, than addressing homeless encampments in California.
“There are no more excuses. It’s time for everyone to do their part.”
Newsom’s sense of urgency is understandable. California’s 2023 homeless population was estimated to be 161,000, about 30 percent of the U.S. homeless population.
Some thought Newsom was ordering all cities and counties to remove all of their homeless encampments immediately, but that is not the case.
“The governor doesn’t have the power to do that,” Kraus said. “His order only applies to state land. I think this was misreported in some cases.”
Because they’re large open spaces, and because anyone can stay there until they’re told to leave, parks are a common landing spot for homeless people, said Eric Gavin, an Upland resident who has worked with several Inland cities in an effort to help them solve their homeless problem.
“The problem is that you are going to have confrontations between the homeless people and the people who only want to use the park,” said Gavin, who has published a book on how to reduce homelessness. “I think Gov. Newsom is telling the cities that the homeless problem has gotten so bad that they have to do something about it.”
