Fresno Homeless Alert

The City of Fresno is conducting a “clean up” on Wednesday at the Mariposa Mall, between the State of California building and the old Federal Building. This is the space between City Hall and the downtown library. This “sweep” of the homeless is the most recent of an ongoing series of attacks that serves no purpose, other than to disrupt the lives of the homeless. There is nothing about this attack that is intended to help the homeless. And, this is not the first time the City of Fresno has conducted a sweep in this same location. They put up signs (like the one below), move through the area on the designated day, and take homeless peoples property. Al Williams and I dropped by and talked to some of the residents on Friday. They told us that most of the people living there move their property before the sweep and simply move back the next day. Absolutely NOTHING is accomplished by theses exercises in futility, other than harassing the homeless. If the City would actually provide a campground where homeless people could safely live, where drinking water was available, toilets, and trash pick up was available, they (the city) could resolve this situation. But, no. . . they absolutely refuse to provide a clean, safe, and healthy place where the homeless can live with dignity and respect. One person I talked to on Friday said he has lived at this location for years. He said he did not want to move into one of the encampments south of Ventura, because they are too dangerous and there are too many drugs in the area. If this person had a decent alternative campground the city would not have to conduct these futile sweeps of the Mariposa Mall.

Incidentally, during the last sweep, homeless advocates arrived when the notice said the sweep would begin, only to find that the City Sanitation crews were already on the job and in the middle of the “clean up.” The advocates noticed, when they arrived that homeless people’s blankets had been put in a trash bin, but when the workers realized their were people with cameras in the area, the blankets were removed from the trash and put into a storage container. If the city did in fact take and immediately destroy homeless people’s property it would be a violation of the court order won in the lawsuit. If anyone is available to “witness” the clean up on Wednesday, let me know. I would suggest you get out there early, in case the city workers jump the gun again.