Sacramento orders over 20 homeless people to move, hours after high wind warning issued

Hours after the National Weather Service issued a high wind alert Wednesday, the city of Sacramento rousted over 20 homeless people living in the River District and handed a criminal citation to a woman in wheelchair.

Theresa Rivera, 44, attempted on Wednesday morning to pack up her tents, blankets, pillows and clothing that were spread out on the sidewalk.

“They always pick days like this where it just rained or when something, like wind, is about to happen,” said Rivera, the wind picking up. “They didn’t say where to go. They never do. The cop threatened to put me in jail.”

As she continued to pack later that day, an officer handed Rivera a criminal citation, similar to a traffic ticket, for storing personal property on public property and erecting a sign on a sidewalk — violations of city ordinances. It says to respond by June 11 but the wording is confusing to Rivera. She does not know how much she is being asked to pay, or how.

Under a column that read “correctable,” the officer marked boxes for “no.”

“It’s ridiculous,” Rivera said. “I’ve never been to jail or anything. They know we have no money. If we had money we’d have a home.”

It’s unclear if Rivera will be fined.

“All persons that are cited are entitled to their due process and presumption of innocence until proven guilty,” a Sacramento police spokesperson said when asked if Rivera would be fined. “Any person cited has a right to plea guilty, not guilty, or no contest. That decision is between the defendant, their (counsel) if they choose to have one, and the court.”

Citations like the one Rivera received appear to be a relatively new addition for City of Sacramento homeless sweeps. Sacramento County District Attorney Thien Ho, who has sued the city over homelessness, last year criticized the city for not citing people who block sidewalks.

Rivera said while she had been warned the day before she’d have to move, she was not offered a ride or shelter by the officers and city staff who visited her tent. She’s also hesitant about shelters because she believes some are not wheelchair accessible.

City spokesman Tim Swanson said that everyone who engaged with staff was offered a spot at either the Outreach and Engagement Center, which the city opened Wednesday at 3615 Auburn Blvd. as a weather respite center, or the Roseville Road shelter and they were also offered transportation.

What triggered the River District homeless sweep

Swanson said the action had been requested.

“The city’s Incident Management Team was responding to requests for service in the River District in the area around 16th Street,” Swanson said in an email. “Approximately 20 tents were noticed earlier this week for violations of various ordinances. People were offered (shelter) spaces at Roseville Road and the Outreach and Engagement Center.”

Aside from the popular Pipeworks climbing gym, which declined comment Thursday, the River District is largely populated by homeless services and shelters.

“I don’t understand why they bug us,” Rivera said. “Nobody even uses this sidewalk.”

The River District, a group of businesses in the area, supported the action, Executive Director Devin Strecker said.

“The River District supports the city’s efforts to ensure the cleanliness and safety of our streets and sidewalks for the residents, employees and visitors who utilize them, including our unhoused neighbors,” Strecker wrote in a statement Thursday. “The conditions of the encampments around North B Street and Ahern Street recently were dangerous not only for the encampment residents but for anyone who lives or works in the area, as sidewalks were completely blocked and some tents were located within lanes of vehicular traffic. ... our sidewalks are not an acceptable alternative to housing.”

A city ordinance prohibits fully blocking sidewalks, but allows camping on sidewalks as long as there is a four-foot walkway. Rivera’s citation did not mention sidewalk blocking.

What happens after people are swept?

The high wind warning, which lasts through Friday, forecasts wind gusts of up to 45 mph — high enough to down trees, according to the National Weather Service.

Rivera suffers from cellulitis, which has caused her legs to swell so badly she cannot walk. She was planning to stay put, in her tent, close to Loaves and Fishes, and wait out the wind. After officers ordered her to move, she took her tent down, and started packing. She was considering a journey across busy 16th Street and over a steep levee to get to the American River.

Along the tree-lined parkway, she faces a higher danger during wind though. Downed trees amid high winds trapped a 73-year-old woman in January, and killed two unhoused people last year. In addition, three homeless people died of hypothermia last winter.

Like most unhoused people, Rivera desperately wants housing but has been unable to find it. After a decade on the streets she finally is set to move into housing with services, but not until September, she said.

Many of the people who visit the Loaves and Fishes Maryhouse womens’ center were “frantic” Wednesday and Thursday due to the sweep, said executive director Shannon Dominguez-Stevens.

“To be honest it looked like a crime scene,” said Dominguez-Stevens, referring to the number of police vehicles circling the area Wednesday, which a Sacramento Bee reporter also observed. “Many of the women we are serving live in walking distance from our campus were left without supplies to bed down for the night. Sweeps are not an effective solution ... in fact, they only add to the crisis as people attempt to rebuild and recover the supplies they need to endure dangerous and cold nights. Yesterday’s sweep was a perfect example of how our local government is willing to harm human beings by putting their lives in further danger.”

The sweep occurred one day after a Sacramento County employee told the Board of Supervisors that they can’t get as many people enrolled for outpatient behavioral health services due to sweeps.

During the board presentation, Timothy Lutz, the county’s director of health services, said that only 61% of homeless people who are referred to outpatient behavioral health services by the county’s Homeless Engagement and Response Team actually end up receiving those services.

Cait Fournier, a program coordinator on the county’s homeless engagement team said that those people often don’t get all the way to an appointment because “many of those individuals are lost to services. Meaning they get swept. They get cleared, and we don’t know where they went.”