Joe Rodota Trail closes to clear homeless camp, garbage

Under the watchful eyes of Santa Rosa police officers and Sonoma County park rangers, homeless campers on Joe Rodota Trail spent much of Wednesday taking down their tents and tarps and packing their belongings into cardboard boxes and black garbage bags.

At about 8 a.m., police and rangers notified trail residents they were camping illegally and needed to begin leaving the area. The clearing of the trail continues Thursday.

Meanwhile, crews started erecting a chain-link fence, closing off the trail from Dutton Avenue to Stony Point Road in southwest Santa Rosa.

The dismantling of the Joe Rodota Trail camp, which grew out of the April 19 eviction of the Roseland Village homeless encampment, comes on the heels of recent violence on the trails, including two unrelated stabbings and an assault on a bicycle commuter, who was punched in the face as he tried to get through the area.

Some homeless campers said they had a place to go - a nearby shelter bed or subsidized motel room.

Others, however, said they'd likely search for some location hidden by brush and trees or a business entryway downtown.

“I don't know where I'll go,” said Samantha Howell, 53, who's been living on the trail for only three or four days after she maxed out on days she could stay at The Rose, a Santa Rosa shelter for women and children operated by the Redwood Gospel Mission.

Howell said she went into The Rose after the Sonoma County Community Development Commission last month cleared the Roseland Village encampment behind the Dollar Tree on Sebastopol Avenue. She said she was allowed to stay for only 30 days and must now wait another 30 days before she can go back.

On Wednesday, about a half-dozen trained members of Catholic Charities' Homeless Outreach Services Team went up and down the trail, assessing each camper's specific housing needs.

Many campers were offered a bed at Samuel L. Jones Hall in Santa Rosa, an entry point into the countywide ”system of care” for homeless people.

County officials describe that system as a pipeline that gets people off the street and into permanent housing. Housing options include temporary shelter beds, supportive housing and subsidized apartments.

While some county officials argue there are enough beds to get everyone off the street, homeless advocates said Wednesday there's a severe lack of permanent housing at the end of the pipeline. They said many homeless people end up back on the street after their time is up in local shelters.

At a morning press conference held just beyond the chain-link enclosure, Kathleen Finigan, a member of the Homeless Action advocacy group, criticized local government officials for “criminalizing poverty” and wasting taxpayer money on endless evictions.

“It's a revolving door of perpetual misery for people who have become permanent refugees in their own county,” Finigan said.

Meda Freeman, spokeswoman for Sonoma County Regional Parks, said the police, park rangers and homeless outreach workers will be out again Thursday, and possibly Friday, encouraging people to move into shelters.

“Once occupants come off the trail, then we can start cleaning up garbage and hazardous waste,” Freeman said.

On Wednesday, a stake truck hauled away garbage and debris strewn all along the trail. Campers were allowed to box their possessions and store them at a former hardware store.

In six weeks the trail camp grew to about 89 tents and at least that many people. The Roseland Village encampment this winter had more than 120 campers, including some previously evicted from downtown underpasses.

About 50 to 55 campers remained on the trail Wednesday, said Jennielynn Holmes, Catholic Charities' director of shelter and housing.

Holmes estimated about half would be placed in shelters or some other form of housing while the rest would remain on local streets.

She agreed the county needs more permanent housing, but also defended its efforts finding permanent housing for the homeless.

Felicity Gasser, the community development commission's spokeswoman, said 700 people have been placed in permanent housing this fiscal year.

Howell, the woman timed-out of The Rose shelter, said she recently received a federal Section 8 housing voucher but must now find a landlord who will accept her as a tenant. She said landlords and apartment managers often discriminate against the homeless.

Nicholle Bauer, 40, said she and her fiance, a military veteran, obtained a Section 8 voucher through the Department of Veterans Affairs.

“Now we have to find a place that will accept it,” she said, as she broke down her pop-up canopy at the far end of the Joe Rodota Trail near Stony Point Road.

Bauer said she had mixed feelings about the prospect of finding permanent housing.

“I love that we're getting placed but there are still thousands of homeless in Sonoma County that need the same help,” she said.

You can reach Staff Writer Martin Espinoza at 707-521-5213 or martin.espinoza@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @renofish.