SAN DIEGO — Wednesday, October 5, marks day two of the city’s efforts to clear San Diego's streets and sidewalks of homeless tents.
Just one day prior, the mayor’s office reinstated a policy that requires individuals to take down their tents during daylight hours. The policy is part of the city's encampment clean-up and abatement policy implemented to maintain public health and safety.
"Everything I had in there had value to me and they throw away everything in the trash," said Guadalupe Rodriguez, who is homeless.
Rodriguez says he was upset to find out city crews had taken everything and calls what’s happening, ‘unfair.'
"Everybody is against us, the city – the people, everybody is against us. And we are needy because a lot of people here have mental problems and they cannot take care of themselves," added Rodriguez.
Currently, the efforts to clear the streets are focused in downtown.
The city acknowledged the policy will be challenging to enforce and that change won’t happen overnight.
In a statement to CBS 8, the city says:
“The public should not expect a dramatic shift in just a few days. SDPD has dedicated its neighborhood policing division to this effort and patrol will support as possible when not responding to other calls, but the number of encampments and the time it takes to address each one will affect daily progress. Additionally, we are dealing with human behavior and a recent change in enforcement posture that will take consistency, education, and, when necessary, enforcement to see an impact."
Mitch Tastrom, who works at Mission Brewery in downtown, says it’s good that the city is trying to enforce the policy because of the impact the homeless crisis has on businesses in the area.
"There’s not a lot of foot traffic around here and I think that’s a big product of the homeless encampments that are here. They need a place to live, so it's nothing on them, but it's definitely not good for business – not good for taproom sales and just not good for our community at all," said Tastrom.
Tastrom says he doesn’t expect much to change.
"Enforcement is a good thing but I think honestly what we should be spending our money on is mental health awareness, cause that’s really what these people need. I think if they really wanted to make a difference they could work on finding these people a place to live because clearly, they don’t have one besides a bed on a street," added Tastrom.
Despite the initiative to clear the streets, the city says individuals will be allowed to put up tents at night because there aren’t enough shelter beds available.
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