REDWOOD CITY — With a new count showing an increased number of homeless people living on the streets and in the city’s growing encampments, council members this week supported expanding safe parking for its growing population of RV dwellers and talking with Caltrans about clearing out some of the camps.
New figures presented to council members Monday show almost half of the 101 people counted[ on April 30 said they became homeless during the pandemic, and the number could be higher, city officials admit.
Since 2007, Redwood City often has has been home to the largest number of unhoused people in San Mateo County.
Although the county historically has counted all people experiencing homelessness in a single day once every two years, the coronavirus pandemic prevented it from doing so yet this year and county officials did not say when they will. In 2019, officials counted 1,512 people experiencing homelessness, of whom 221 were in Redwood City, up from 94 in 2017.
The city’s one-day count on April 30 doesn’t include people who live in RVs or in vehicles, and it excludes unhoused people currently being helped by some of the city’s homeless service agency partners.
The survey of people found in 25 encampments in Redwood City showed that 54% have been homeless for more than two years and 44% became homeless during the pandemic.
Thirty-one of the 38 people who said they became homeless in the past year said they never had been before. And 43% of those surveyed are Spanish-speakers, a population that’s been impacted by both COVID-19 and its effects on the economy.
“We were not intending for this to be a continuation of the typical bi-annual count,” Human Services Manager Teri Chin said. “We wanted to look at the problem of how to address ending homelessness for those who are on the streets and in encampments.”
Although council members expressed their continued support for programs that aim to combat homelessness, they also appeared to back “cleaning up” encampments along the city’s Caltrans-operated highways, including three locations that Caltrans District 4 Director Dina El-Tawansy said in March pose a threat to health and safety.
It’s a move that could potentially displace dozens of people living near Highway 101 and Redwood Junction. The city is not unfamiliar with the process: officials have asked a community service agency to do seven “major multi-day encampment cleanups” there this year.
Vice Mayor Giselle Hale said she was disappointed that a Caltrans representative did not attend Monday’s meeting, noting the city is “not able to go in and do those cleanups” without the agency’s permission.
And while encampments have become more prevalent in the city, the number of people living in RVs and in vehicles has also soared, previous data gathered through the safe parking program indicate.
Right now, the city’s Fair Oaks Community Center serves as the primary go-to for homeless people to get resources, along with the city’s emergency shelter. Since 2019 city staff reports say, nearly $2.5 million has been spent on ending homelessness, supporting organizations like LifeMoves — which runs the Safe Parking Program — or the Downtown Streets Team.
Redwood City saw as many as 140 RVs parked on city streets in the last six months, though the number since has dropped to about 100, according to staff reports. About 85% of RV dwellers counted were Redwood City residents and 93% were San Mateo County residents.
To safely house its RV population, cities like Redwood City and Mountain View have some of the most comprehensive safe parking programs for their RV dweller residents. But a staff report points out that only eight people have found permanent housing through the program in the six months it has been operational.
According to staff, about 70 households have been helped through the program, but they found 25 to 35 RVs still parking on the city’s streets.
Of the 70 RV dwellers that staffers say have been helped, 33 households either chose to leave for other alternatives, exited the program, never completed the application process or decided to leave for a shelter. About 46 RV dwellers have stayed on the safe parking site, staff said.
Council members agreed the safe parking program should be expanded. They also agreed to extend the contract of the Downtown Streets Team, possibly set up a homeless hotline and help the county buy property for temporary housing.
Councilwoman Diana Reddy said if the county is considering giving money to communities that “are not stepping up” to solve the homelessness crisis, “I’d like whatever funds set for them to be given to us.”
“We can always find important things to do with our funds,” Reddy said.
Reddy also proposed extending the city’s eviction moratorium in case Gov. Gavin Newsom doesn’t renew renter protection statewide, a move that was supported by Mayor Diane Howard and others.
Council member Lisette Espinoza-Garnica, who supported Reddy’s idea, also proposed some of the most progressive policy prescriptions in the Bay Area to deal with homelessness.
Espinoza-Garnica said she’ll seek to gain the council’s support to start a basic income program and urged council members to support starting a pilot to test it out.
“Direct aid is so essential and beneficial,” Espinoza-Garnica said.
Espinoza-Garnica also proposed advocating for public banking at the county level, a strategy that would save the county millions in banking fees and interest to big banks and investors.
There’s an effort that’s gaining ground in San Francisco, but an attempt in 2020 to get public banking set up in Los Angeles failed at the ballot box. Still, Espinoza-Garnica said it’s the best way for the city and county to get the most out of the money they are spending to end the homelessness crisis.
“It would be a benefit because it would be a great way to have enough credit to fund public infrastructure and housing, and it’s something I really wanted to propose to the county,” Espinoza-Garnica said.
