City attorney denounces Sacramento DA’s threat to file charges over homeless crisis

Sacramento’s city attorney has fired back at Sacramento County District Attorney Thien Ho’s threat to file criminal charges over the city’s homeless crisis, accusing him of “baseless allegations” and a politically motivated campaign against Mayor Darrell Steinberg.

In a five-page letter to Ho that was obtained by The Sacramento Bee, City Attorney Susana Alcala Wood accused the D.A. of abusing his authority by threatening charges over the city’s decision to allow homeless residents to remain at a former vehicle maintenance yard in North Sacramento dubbed “Camp Resolution.”

“Every single time we receive one of your letters or demands or are made aware of your self-serving media comments, city staff, including my office and I, are forced to take time away from the numerous daily needs of the city to respond,” Alcala Wood wrote in the Nov. 22 letter to Ho. “Enough is enough.

“I thus ask — one last time — that you bring to a stop these pointless, politically-motivated endeavors so that we can all get back to focusing on problem-solving the homelessness crisis and doing our jobs for the community.”

The letter is the latest in a public and legal war of words between city officials and Ho, who sued the city in September in what he says is an effort to get officials to enforce city ordinances against camps blocking sidewalks and daytime camping at public buildings.

The city attorney’s letter was in response to Ho’s Nov. 14 threat to file misdemeanor charges over his claim that the city has created a “public nuisance” by allowing homeless residents to continue living at Camp Resolution despite concerns that the area is a toxic site that endangers the homeless.

Alcala Wood wrote that the letter would be her “first and only response” to Ho’s threat, which she denounced as a political stunt.

“Your letter threatens criminal charges, and I can only assume that you intend to charge me personally, since you addressed the letter to me and used the terms ‘you’ and ‘your’ throughout,” she wrote.

“Perhaps your plan is to also pursue a criminal action against other city officials as well, such as Mayor Darrell Steinberg, against whom it is no secret that you view as your political rival in a run for California Attorney General — because it is only in the theater of politics that your repeated attempts to penalize Mayor Steinberg and the City of Sacramento for its efforts to address the homeless crisis, including the exercise of some compassion, that any of these antics make sense.”

She added that she considered Ho’s threat as an effort to create an advantage in the lawsuit he filed over the homeless crisis.

“I caution you to rethink your strategy,” Alcala Wood wrote. “Whatever the motivation, on a professional and humane level, these latest actions border on being reprehensible.

“We are not moved by your threats.”

She also accused Ho of “baseless allegations and unashamed mischaracterizations,” including his claim that the city is violating its own Measure O restrictions on where homeless camps can exist by allowing the Camp Resolution site at 2225 Colfax St. in the Old North Sacramento neighborhood.

“You claim, ‘Camp Resolution is located within 1,000 feet of both a licensed daycare and playground,’” Alcala Wood wrote. “However, no day cares or parks could be located within those parameters, and you identify none by name.

“It is thus unclear to what you are referring, though not altogether surprising that you attempt to add as many allegations as possible, no matter how spurious. There is thus no legal basis nor evidence that can support criminal charges against any city official with respect to 2225 Colfax.”

She also challenged Ho to press forward with filing charges if he desires.

“If despite the reasons articulated above you still think it prudent or wise to file criminal charges, then proceed as you see fit,” Alcala Wood wrote. “It is now abundantly clear that you have no interest in collaborating, and that you have decided to ignore all logic and reason in your quest to pursue your political motives.”

Ho’s office issued a statement Monday to The Bee saying the D.A. was willing to meet with city officials to find a path forward but said conditions at Camp Resolution must be addressed.

“The District Attorney has always advocated for professionally operated Safe Ground sites, but to allow the unsheltered to live on the toxic site known as Camp Resolution, without the appropriate safeguards is deplorable,” the statement said. “Under California nuisance law, we are required to provide notice and a reasonable opportunity to abate a nuisance.

“It is unfortunate and disappointing that the city of Sacramento has refused to even sit down and discuss a timeline on abating the dangers of exposing the unhoused to cancer-causing chemicals at this location. The district attorney is willing to listen to and partner for appropriate solutions, such as moving the unhoused from this location to other city-owned properties.

“One such location is the 102-acre site that the city purchased with federal money with the understanding that it would be used to address the homeless crisis.”

The statement added that the city “is well aware of the dangers associated with housing people at Camp Resolution” and that the site has soil contaminated by benzene, trichloroethylene and tetrachloroethylene.

Ho’s office also noted that some residents are camping at the site in tents directly on the ground, rather than in vehicles elevated above the soil, in violation of the city’s lease of the property that allows the camp to exist.

“The mandate of the district attorney is to ensure public safety for all, which requires us to hold accountable individuals who endanger the public regardless of their title, position, or profession,” the D.A.’s statement said. “The city’s response or lack of a true response will necessitate further actions on behalf of the District Attorney’s Office to abate this dangerous situation for our unhoused.”

Ho has likened conditions at the Colfax Street site to contamination issues at the Marine Corps Base in Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, where the presence of the same chemicals found at Camp Resolution has “resulted in claims of over $3 trillion against the federal government.”

The D.A. had demanded the city “abate this ‘public nuisance,’ and relocate the unhoused at Camp Resolution to a safe place, one that is not contaminated by cancerous causing agents.”

Ho’s lawsuit, which was filed in conjunction with another on behalf of business owners and city residents, is due for a hearing Jan. 5 on the city’s motion to have the suit thrown out on grounds that he has exceeded his authority and has no evidence to support his claims.