Buried in this Sacramento Bee story about the local mayor’s race is a strong hint that perhaps the long allowed illegal camping along the American River Parkway might be finally halted…a reality devoutly to be wished; though merely moving them to another camping site is not the answer for the long term.
What we proposed in our 2008 research report: Recreation, Education & Sanctuary, posted on our website, is:
"The greatest antidote to a lack of public safety in the Parkway, in addition to the increase of the presence of law enforcement, is to significantly increase the legitimate usage through more developed recreation, all of the amenities that the supplemental funding raised by bringing the Parkway under the daily management of a nonprofit organization could help develop.
"Homeless camps are becoming very entrenched in our area, which most experts attribute to the concentration of services providing essential domestic service—feeding, showering, hangouts, medical, schooling for children, etc—without a corresponding demand to become involved in the type of services leading to a cessation of the homeless condition—job seeking training, vocational training, substance abuse counseling, etc; which has created an image of Sacramento in the perception of many of the homeless, particularly those with no inclination to change their condition, to migrate here.
"Helping the homeless—and all others less fortunate than we are—is most certainly a mandate each community should undertake, but it is also a mandate each community needs to be involved in with a vigorous effort tying the provision of domestic service to a utilization of reformative service.
"The one area where this does not hold true is in the delivery of service to the chronic homeless, where providing housing first—which we support—has been found to be the one step a community can do that really impacts the chronic homeless who have been homeless for so long and become so fundamentally degraded in initiative and responsibility that beginning with the security of housing is really the only program that seems to work for them to begin utilizing reformative service on their own; but for the general homeless who are only recently experiencing hard times and often still retain many attributes of personal responsibility, the tying of the communities help to the homeless helping themselves has to become the mantra.
"What we see in our own backyard is great opportunity for leadership to continue developing the livable communities so enjoyed by so many families, and surrounding one of our country’s great urban parks—our very own Parkway— which we can do so much more to preserve, protect, and strengthen.
"However, the single most important issue impacting recreation, education, and sanctuary, is the lack of public safety, particularly in the lower third area of the Parkway, where illegal homeless camps have been allowed for years, and where even park directors privately warn people not to venture alone.” (pp. 35-36)
An excerpt from the Sacramento Bee article.
“Thursday was another busy day for both candidates, who are picking up the pace of the campaign as the Nov. 4 election approaches.
“Just before Fargo's news conference, Johnson took reporters on a tour of a homeless camp near the American River. He was joined by representatives of the police and fire unions.
"Typically, we allow the camps to exist," said Mark Tyndale of the SPOA. "If we shut down all the camps, these people would be wandering the streets of downtown Sacramento."
“Johnson said he would convene a group of community leaders to come up with a new plan to address the population of homeless people who live on the river, some of whom resist going into traditional homeless shelters. Johnson said his plan would complement Sacramento's existing 10-year plan to end chronic homelessness.
“Citing the example of Phoenix, he suggested the possibility of a tent city to house people like those who live in the camp he visited Thursday.
"I think it's something our city needs to talk about, because this sort of stuff needs to be more controlled," he said.
“A dog silently stood watch over the camp Thursday morning as television and print reporters trooped after Johnson along a levee looking over the clutch of tents, an old couch and other odds and ends of domestic life assembled under tarps hung from trees. A nearby gully was filled with garbage.
"There's a hazard out here," Johnson said of the similar camps that dot the American River Parkway between Discovery Park and California State University, Sacramento. "We need some tough love. These people need to be re-assimilated into our society."
“He stopped to chat with Twana James, 40, who said she had lived outside along the river for 13 years. James said she camps alone and is afraid of being attacked. She said she would go to a shelter, but not without her pitbull puppy.
"If I could take my dog, I would go," she said. "I don't want to go without my dog."
