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SUNDAY, AUGUST 19, 2018 • SANTA ROSA, CALIFORNIA • PRESSDEMOCRAT.COM

SANTA ROSA » TACKLING ENCAMPMENTS WILDFIRES

Homeless forced
Push
to shield

to keep moving utilities

on hold
With deadline looming,
lawmakers will revisit
bill affecting PG&E
By JULIE JOHNSON
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

California lawmakers have

set aside a heated battle in Sac-
ramento over just how much
PG&E and other power com-
panies should pay in financial
damages when their equipment
sparks wildfires.
With two weeks left in the
current legislative session, state
Sen. Bill Dodd, D-Napa, con-
firmed Saturday that a pack-
age of proposed laws being ad-
vanced by a joint committee will
not include changes that would
shield California’s electric util-
ities from strict liability for fu-
ture wildfires. They will instead
focus on fire prevention mea-
sures such as forest manage-
ment and improving electrical
infrastructure.
The high-stakes issue is worth
billions to the San Francis-
co-based utility company, which
has engaged in a 10-month
lobbying campaign to change
an obscure law called inverse
condemnation, which requires
utilities to pay for wildfire dam-
age to private property caused
by their equipment even when
they’re not found negligent.
Dodd, who co-chairs a bi-
partisan committee convened
this year to examine laws re-
PHOTOS BY JOHN BURGESS / THE PRESS DEMOCRAT lated to fire preparedness
NO PLACE TO CALL HOME: Workers erect a fence around private property on Apollo Way in Santa Rosa on Thursday in an effort to eliminate the garbage and and response, said after heat-
human waste from a homeless encampment along the streets near Corporate Center Parkway. ed hearings on the issue this
month there was neither the

Population’s visibility belies progress made in getting people off street political will nor the time to

TURN TO UTILITIES » PAGE A2

By MARY CALLAHAN ENCAMPMENT
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT ERECTED:

L McGahn
Santa Rosa police
ike hundreds of others who live officers Todd
in Santa Rosa with no place to call Robert, right, and
home, Robin Hall can never relax. Jeff Travers walk

talks to
Since local officials last April closed through a home-
a long-term encampment in Roseland, less encampment
where Hall took harbor for nearly six Thursday morning
months, she has hauled her belongings to warn campers

Mueller
from place to place. the land they
Sometimes it is the result of an or- occupy will be
ganized sweep that displaces an entire fenced off by the

team
camp. Other times she is spurred onward land owner. The
by a police officer, citing a violation of a encampment is
city code. Again and again, she packs up located along
and moves on, returning to a grinding, Apollo Way.
nomadic life familiar to those on the
streets.
Hall, 43, went where others went when point Corporate Center in southwest around the city, as well as the significant
White House counsel
forced to move along. They looked for Santa Rosa, where more than 100 inhab- health, safety and nuisance impacts they worried about setup,
places where they might be left alone:
vacant lots, rural byways, the Joe Rodota
itants have been camping out, mostly in
ramshackle RVs, trailers and cars and,
create. They include improper disposal
of human waste, drug use and discarded
cooperates in probe
Regional Trail. lately, a few tent-dwellers like Hall. needles, mounds of unsightly trash, open By MICHAEL S. SCHMIDT
“It is good to be around your peers,” She will soon be made to leave there, barbecues and people bathing in decora- AND MAGGIE HABERMAN
she said. “When you’re alone, you don’t too. tive ponds. NEW YORK TIMES
know what could happen to you — and it The 250-acre business park is the The city’s attempt to prevent illegal
does happen.” latest point of friction in a campaign to WASHINGTON — The White
She landed a few weeks back at North- eliminate large homeless encampments TURN TO HOMELESS » PAGE A12 House counsel, Don McGahn,
has cooperated extensively in
the special counsel investigation,
sharing detailed accounts about
the episodes

Tax bonanza for Californians

at the heart
of the inquiry
into whether

who inherit high-value homes

By LIAM DILLON AND BEN POSTON
LOS ANGELES TIMES
LOS ANGELES — Actors Jeff and
Beau Bridges, along with their sister,
own a four-bedroom Malibu home with
access to a semi-private beach and pan-
BRIAN VAN DER BRUG / LOS ANGELES TIMES oramic views of the Pacific Ocean.
As many as 63 percent of homes receiving the They inherited it from their mother,
inheritance tax break in Los Angeles County are used who had owned the house since the late
as second residences or rental properties. 1950s when their father, Lloyd Bridges,
President Don-
ald Trump ob-
structed justice,
including some
first made it big in Hollywood. that investiga-
Earlier this year, they advertised the tors would not Don
“stunning Malibu dream” for rent at have learned of McGahn
$15,995 a month — a hefty price tag for otherwise, ac-
a house that has an annual property tax cording to a dozen current and
bill of less than half that. former White House officials and
Like other descendants of a generation others briefed on the matter.
of California homeowners, the Bridg- In at least three voluntary in-
es enjoy a significant perk that keeps terviews with investigators that
TURN TO TAXES » PAGE A10 TURN TO COUNSEL » PAGE A2

Books T8 Community B8 Nevius C1 Crossword C1 BALANCING ACT: Jackson Family Wines CEO SANTA ROSA ©2018
Business E1 Forum B9 Outdoors D5 Sonoma Life D1 Rick Tigner mixes business with advocacy High 86, Low 51 The Press
Democrat
Classified E5 Movies D6 Obituaries B4 Smith A3 in fight against Parkinson’s disease / E1 THE WEATHER, C8
A12
CLEANING UP: Workers remove garbage from an encampment on private property Thursday on Apollo Way in Santa Rosa. Keith Woods, president of the Northpoint Corporate Center Owner’s Association and chief
executive of the North Bay Builders Exchange, whose Apollo Way office overlooks the cluttered scene and what he calls “the rolling homeless,” said “a slowly growing problem” was “out of control” by this month.
HOMELESS
CONTINUED FROM A1
encampments from taking root
in the business park and other
parts of Santa Rosa has pushed
homeless people from one place
to the next while government
and nonprofit leaders have yet to
find legal locations for them to
live in peace.
Homeless Hill, the Sixth Street
underpass, Roseland’s Dollar
Tree, the Joe Rodota Trail. One
by one they’ve been cleared of
campers with the result that
other encampments soon gain
mass, draw attention and are
disbanded in turn.
Public officials and service
providers say they are working
to get people into housing. But
they cannot let camps continue
when they present health and
safety risks, including lack
of sanitation, environmental
threats, fire risks, trespassing
and other issues.
Yet with each new action,
there remain sizable numbers of
unserved homeless individuals
still living on the streets.
“We can’t do this forever,”
conceded Santa Rosa City
Councilman Jack Tibbetts. “Ulti-
mately, we want to solve it. Plain
and simple, we’ve got to put
permanent supportive housing
forward.”
Visibility increases
Sonoma County and its largest director of shelter and hous-
city have grappled for decades
with the problem of homeless-
ness, in large part because of a
regionwide housing shortage
and skyrocketing costs.
In recent years, homeless
people have been moving into
highly visible parts of the city, 6 percent. People who are
raising public awareness of the
issue and prompting millions of who have been homeless for at Combs, who supports creating
dollars in government spending least a year and have a disa-
on shelter expansion, perma-
nent housing and services.
The number of homeless
people has actually declined
in Sonoma County since 2011,
when more than 4,500 were
counted during an annual cen-
sus at the height of the Great Re- that are still unresolved.
cession. Today, there are around
3,000 homeless people through-
out the county, a little over half remain homeless are living the
of them in Santa Rosa.
But to much of the public,
their numbers seem to have
grown as homeless camps have
become more visible. Creekbed
encampments were dispersed
several years ago to protect
water quality, while camps
along the Sonoma-Marin Area
Rail Transit train tracks were
removed when commuter rail
service began a year ago.
People who have been rousted the city-owned Sam Jones Hall,
end up congregating in places
where they see other people
camping, thinking they will be
left alone. Increasingly larger
encampments result.
The situation is projected to
get worse. The October fires
destroyed 5 percent of Santa
Rosa’s housing stock, driving up
rents and home prices.
“We’re not able to get people
who are homeless into housing
as quickly because the fires
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT • SUNDAY, AUGUST 19, 2018
JOHN BURGESS / THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
take a lot to make a big
difference here.”
Evictions challenged
The city and county approach
to address recent encampments
passed legal muster during a
challenge in federal court last
spring, when Homeless Action,
a volunteer organization that
advocates on behalf of homeless
people, tried to stop evictions of
encampments on county proper-
ty in Roseland.
A federal judge refused to
block the sweeps, saying local
officials had provided adequate
housing assistance to residents
of the camp, as required under
recent case law.
The judge’s rejection of a
temporary restraining order
also hinged on the fact that the
site was being cleared in order
to build badly needed housing,
including 175 apartments, 75 of
them designated for low-income
renters.
But the lawsuit is still pend-
ing, and Homeless Action rep-
resentatives say their argument
CHRISTOPHER CHUNG / THE PRESS DEMOCRAT remains.
NOMADIC LIFE: Robin Hall picks up her belongings Aug. 13 along Challenger Way. Since local officials closed a long-term “This is an untenable situa-
encampment in Roseland, where Hall took harbor for nearly six months, she has hauled her belongings from place to place. tion,” said one, Adrienne Lauby.
“You’re moving people from one
“They make it so hard. They shut down everything. Every place to another. You’re saying
you’re going to have services
place we go, they make us leave.” and shelter for them. There’s
never enough.”
ROBIN HALL, who contemplates when she should leave her current site on Challenger Way The dispute over what to do
with those who remain outside
have turned the market upside without fear of arrest or harass- done,” said Kelli Kuykendall, continues to escalate, driven
down,” said Jennielynn Holmes, ment. It’s an idea that has some housing and community servic- over the past year by successive
support from a minority on the es manager for the city of Santa sweeps that have ensnared some
ing for Catholic Charities of City Council as a short-term Rosa. of the same individuals over and
Santa Rosa, the county’s largest measure until more housing can In Roseland, where a large over again.
service provider and the city’s be built in a community with homeless village was cleared in Most camps were cleared
primary partner. extreme need. April, officials convinced rough- under Santa Rosa’s Homeless
Over the last year, the “We’re talking about a regu- ly two-thirds — about Encampment Assistance Pilot
number of homeless people in lated, safe harbor place to stay 80 people — to accept help, Program, adopted last year to
Sonoma County has increased until we can find appropriate though it was temporary for address a large number of settle-
shelter and housing options,” some, said Felicity Gasser, a ments posing problems around
chronically homeless — those said Councilwoman Julie spokeswoman for the Sonoma the city while working to get
County Community Devel- people into permanent housing.
a safe place for homeless people opment Commission. Twelve As part of the initiative, the city
bling condition — has jumped to camp. people moved into permanent added 75 year-round beds at Sam
25 percent. But other elected officials housing and 37 remain at Sam Jones Hall for incoming camp
and homeless service providers Jones Hall, working on long- residents, raising its capacity to
Unresolved battles say that approach does not ad- term housing, Gasser said. 213 beds, and created three new
The city’s strategy to address dress the root problem. People A month later, when a succes- positions to help locate more
its homeless problem has trig- in encampments, even sanc- sive encampment that sprang up permanent housing.
gered legal and political battles tioned ones, are still homeless, on the Rodota trail was dis-
Councilman Tom Schwedhelm persed, 21 more people accepted Homeless Hill
Many of the unhoused and said. shelter or housing, she said. The first target was an en-
their advocates say those who He and others say the city and Outreach workers have transi- during community of people
the county already employ the tion plans for off Bennett Valley Road at the
only way they can in the absence most effective solution: personal 38 households at Northpoint Farmers Lane extension in an
of homes, sanitation services counseling with homeless indi- Corporate Center, while nine area often called “Homeless
and trash collection. They say viduals to assess their unique others have been moved to Hill,” where some had survived
enforcing anti-camping codes needs and resources, and get as shelter in recent weeks and two more than a decade on a filthy,
criminalizes homelessness, and many as possible on a path to have been moved to long-term debris-strewn hillside.
that the subjects of camp sweeps permanent housing. housing, Holmes said. But it of- Outreach workers met for
aren’t given true alternatives to Last year, the Housing First ten takes repeated engagement several weeks with 40 to
sleeping where they’re not wel- strategy forged by city, county and trust building to persuade 50 residents of the encampment
come. For many, their emotional and nonprofit leaders helped at people to make a change from in advance of the August 2017
health, disability or other prob- least 651 people out of home- what they’re accustomed to, she cleanup, finding long-term hous-
lems prevent them from accept- lessness and into permanent said. ing for two people and getting 30
ing commonly offered shelter at housing, said Catholic Charities’ Progress takes time, Mayor of the remaining 42 people into
Holmes. Chris Coursey said, because it emergency shelters or short-
advocates say. Increasingly, those efforts are ultimately requires the con- term motel stays.
There are not enough beds in focused on people living in large struction of more housing in a But some who remained un-
local shelters, even if everyone encampments through targeted community with a long-standing sheltered soon joined a growing
wanted one. Only 700 people — outreach made in advance of shortage exacerbated by the population staying under High-
or less than half of the city’s camp disbandments. October firestorm. way 101 at Sixth Street down-
homeless population — were in But the persistent visibility of “The homeless issue is far town, where large numbers had
shelters during the February homeless people belies signif- from resolved in this city, in this taken refuge during the previous
homeless count. icant progress made behind county, in this state, in this na- wet winter. The crowd there had
Volunteer advocates with the scenes to bring scores of tion,” Coursey said. “But I don’t continued to grow even before
Homeless Action and others are vulnerable people off the streets think anybody should expect stragglers from Homeless Hill
seeking a sanctioned camp- and out of large camps, public to see this issue resolved in the and areas burned by the October
ing or parking area where the officials said. short term. We’re in this for the
unhoused can abide safely and “They can’t see what we have long term, and it’s going to TURN TO HOMELESS » PAGE A13
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT • SUNDAY, AUGUST 19, 2018 A13

HOMELESS
CONTINUED FROM A12
fires tipped the balance further
so that the camp spilled into
the street and into surrounding
residential areas.
In November, city officials
cleared the encampment, plac-
ing about 20 people in shelter.
Many of the others would
soon join a 2-year-old encamp-
ment on county-owned prop-
erty off Sebastopol Road near
the Dollar Tree store known
variously as Camp Michela, Last
Chance Village or Remembrance
Village. Its population peaked at
around 140.
The eviction process was
sufficiently contentious to
spawn protests and the Home-
less Action lawsuit, though the
group’s legal move to block the
eviction failed. The last 90 or so
residents were moved from the
site in April.
A flurry of new encampments
rose and fell as a result.
Six weeks after the Roseland
encampments were cleared,
city police and county park
rangers moved on about
100 campers who had congre-
gated on the Joe Rodota Trail
a short distance north of the
Dollar Tree.
It included 60 or so from the JOHN BURGESS / THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
Roseland village, according to ‘SLOWLY GROWING PROBLEM’: Santa Rosa police officer Todd Robert warns a homeless person that she must clear the extended encampment along Apollo Way near
Homeless Action. The trail camp Corporate Center Parkway on Thursday. He said the landowner would be erecting a fence around the property surrounded by cars, tents and campers.
removal was spurred in part by
an assault on a bicycle commut- office overlooks the cluttered of the property to move. Two the Roseland encampment and the difficulties of getting across
er and two stabbings nearby. scene and what he calls “the men dispatched to collect trash who floated around for sever- town for a shower.
About two dozen people who rolling homeless,” said “a slowly and junk left behind filled their al months before arriving at She said she can’t go to a shel-
later settled a short distance growing problem” was “out of truck with debris, including a Northpoint. ter because of sleep disorders
down the trail at Roberts Road control” by this month. Police Styrofoam ice chest filled with Boswell, whose hand and that cause her to kick and snore,
were forced out in June, includ- and homeless advocates count- human feces, though there’s still wrist injuries cost him his job likely waking up those around
ing nine who were arrested for ed more than 100 aging RVs, more work to do. as a journeyman painter and her, meaning she probably
trespassing. trailers and tents lining streets Given that so many people are led to homelessness more than wouldn’t sleep well herself. “I’m
Some are now among the whose names once inspired in vehicles, it’s not clear how four years ago, was among a self-conscious person, and I
group at Northpoint Corporate space exploration: Challenger, many occupants are veterans those moved from the Roseland would feel terrible,” she said.
Center, where a small number Capricorn, Mercury and Apollo of the past year’s sweeps. But a encampments last spring after a Lately, she’s spent each day
of RV dwellers stationed them- Way. few said they received donated six-month stay. He moved around wondering when she should
selves years ago and managed to Two weeks ago, a city task trailers or an RV after the Rose- a bit before arriving at North- leave her current site on the
avoid public drama. force to address homeless en- land encampments were cleared, point with his three-legged shep- asphalt at the edge of Challeng-
campments made the business while others have shown up in herd, Odie, and a Ford Ranger er Way, where neighbors who
‘The rolling homeless’ park its top priority and has their cars or on bikes. piled with everything he owns. can have slowly been departing,
The southwest Santa Rosa been working to identify a plan But the writing has been on He stayed there briefly before a few a day.
business park experienced an to clear it out. the wall with the heightened packing up his makeshift shelter “They make it so hard,”
influx of newcomers beginning A flurry of vehicle impound- police presence and enforcement and squeezing Odie into the Hall said, her frequent tears
last winter, quickly drawing the ments, police warnings and ci- in recent weeks. The encamp- front of the small pickup, wor- returning. “They shut down
concern of building owners and tations, and other activity in the ment began thinning out over the ried the 2004 registration sticker everything. Every place we go,
workers in the area, according area already has driven away at past two weeks, as people headed on his car would cost him the they make us leave.”
to Keith Woods, president of the least a quarter of the homeless “here, there and everywhere,” only shelter he has.
Northpoint Corporate Center people to points unknown. according to Cynthia Curtis, who Robin Hall, her face lined and You can reach Staff Writer Mary
Owner’s Association and chief The owner of one vacant par- pulled away in her trailer as the swollen under hair dyed multi- Callahan at 707-521-5249 or
executive of the North Bay cel installed a fence at the edge fencing went up Aug. 9. ple shades of magenta, readily mary.callahan@pressdemocrat.
Builders Exchange. of the street, forcing some of the Another, Preston Boswell, 62, speaks of the burdens of home- com. On Twitter @MaryCalla-
Woods, whose Apollo Way people camped on three sides was among those forced to leave lessness: assaults, arrest threats, hanB.

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