LOS BANOS, CA – On Thursday, August 15, 2024, Los Banos Mayor Paul Llanez posted an “Update on the homeless community project” on his re-election campaign Facebook page. He wrote:
“Today city staff along with outside agencies helped to relocate the encampment located on the rail trail at 152/165 in our city. Individuals and their property are being relocated to a supervised area next to the Police Department. A cleanup of the rail trail area is currently under way. This has been coordinated for several weeks and city staff have done an amazing job executing the plan.
The goal is to provide a safe space for our homeless community until our tiny home project is completed in the fall/winter of next year. The city has not received the Encampment Relief Funds ($11.8M ERF grant) yet and a final location has not been established. Once we receive the funding, a community meeting will be scheduled to gather input on potential locations and plan for the final approved site to go before council to approve. In the meantime, our housing team will be doing everything possible to give resources to our homeless population and give them every opportunity to help themselves.
Our city attorney and other legal resources are currently working to update our municipal code to keep our encampments limited to the area designated on G Street. This is as a result of the recent Grant’s Pass federal case law that our city is able to do this. Once finalized that new updated municipal code section will come before council for readings and potential adoption.
My message to the homeless is simple, we will do everything we can to help you get back on your feet but we will not enable you to commit crimes or allow the public to feel unsafe any longer. If you want help we will do our best to provide it and if you choose to live on the streets in our community, there will be limitations and consequences.
There is more to come!”
The action follows the direction given to state agencies and encouragement to cities by Gov. Newsom last month to clear out encampments. That was in response to the U.S. Supreme Court decision in late June upholding the right of cities to bar camping on public property and determining it doesn’t violate the Constitution’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment. (See related articles here and here)
