City, Sacramento Homeless Union to meet following judge’s order blocking camp removals

An encampment across Sacramento City Hall in Sacramento, Calif. on Aug. 4, 2023.

Chris Nichols / CapRadio

One day after a federal judge ordered the City of Sacramento to stop clearing homeless encampments for at least the next two weeks, the City and the homeless union that requested the pause said they will try to work out some of their differences during a meeting next week.

“We already have meetings set with the City attorneys to sit down and work out our concerns, their concerns, and see where we can find some common ground,” said Anthony Prince, attorney for the Sacramento Homeless Union, the group that filed the motion to stop the City’s actions.

In his ruling, U.S. District Court Judge Troy Nunley agreed with the homeless union that clearing camps during periods of excessive heat is harmful to unhoused residents.

The restraining order comes amid increased enforcement by the City and forecasts that call for more triple-digit temperatures. In late July, officials cleared an encampment near Grant Park in Midtown. Days earlier, the City removed a large group of tents near Stanford Park, at 28th and C streets, on the northern edge of Midtown. Some of the camps were in the shade and some residents were displaced without protection from the sun, according to the unions.

In both cases, officials offered unhoused residents space inside tents at the City’s recently reopened Miller Park, a sanctioned homeless campground operated by a City contractor. But those tents are located in an asphalt parking lot, without protection from the sun.

“When you move people out of the little shade they have and into the sun, it’s not doing any good,” said Charles Pfost, a local advocate for unhoused residents. “I know that at 28th and C, I went and [took] temperatures two days after they moved them, and it was 20 degrees cooler in the shade … than Miller Park.”

The restraining order offers temporary relief for Sacramento’s thousands of unhoused residents, many of whom fear being moved without the option of adequate shelter. It also complicates the City’s efforts to clear camps on public property, amid calls from business and neighborhood groups along with Sacramento County's district attorney to speed up enforcement of existing City laws.

Just this week, the Sacramento City Council approved a plan meant to accelerate its encampment response, including the removal of camps. It also gave City Manager Howard Chan the sole power to open sanctioned homeless campgrounds without council approval, a move meant to streamline the opening of the temporary shelters.

Amy Gardner, who leads the neighborhood group Midtown & East Sacramento Advocates, says the early reaction to the judge’s ruling has been mixed. The group urges the City to provide better solutions to the homeless crisis for housed and unhoused neighbors.

She said some who want greater enforcement are furious about the ruling, while others say the City acted unreasonably by clearing camps on some of the hottest days of the summer.

“We want to treat people humanely. We always have to remember that we have to have compassion,” Gardner added.

Nunley, the judge in the case, set a hearing date for Aug. 10 to discuss whether the temporary restraining order should be extended.

He also requested the City and homeless union work together “to narrow the scope” of any future restraining orders.

“I think the court is concerned about making sure there’s no damage to structures, to critical infrastructure,” said Prince, the union attorney, referring to the list of courthouses, schools, levees, police and fire stations and other sensitive sites where the city has imposed an outright ban on camping.

“We think the City has greatly exaggerated those risks,” Prince added. “But the court’s concern is understandable.”

Tim Swanson, a city spokesperson, confirmed the city will meet with the union representatives next week.

“The City respects the order issued by the federal court but finds elements of it confounding,” Swanson added in an emailed statement. “For example, the County of Sacramento also is named as a defendant but is not included as part of the preliminary injunction, despite employing similar protocols as the City. The City plans to seek clarity from the court on this as well as other questions. The City remains committed to providing support to its most vulnerable residents while also seeking compliance with its laws and ordinances.”

Several people camped in tents across from City Hall cheered the judge’s order on Friday.

“That’s actually really good. I’m glad [he] did,” said Charity Rodman, as she leashed her Pitbull-mix and cited a lack of support from the City. “Because they’re not doing anything to help get us off the streets. They say they’ve got all these resources, but you go to get ‘em and there ain’t nothing.”

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