Amid the rising crackdown on encampments all through town, San Jose now faces a rash of complaints about lack of property from homeless residents, who’ve accused town of missing due course of and even intentionally destroying hundreds of {dollars} value of things on the identical time that they assured the house owners that their belongings have been protected.
In one of many 4 property loss complaints filed simply final week, Melvin Cuc, a former resident of the Columbus Park encampment, acknowledged that town destroyed all of his belongings whereas he was hospitalized for 18 days in August, regardless of receiving a discover for his objects that prevented their removing till Sept. 4. Cuc’s grievance additionally alleged that he noticed workers from town and one among its contractors take away comparable notices from the belongings of different residents whereas nobody was round, earlier than disposing of them in a trash compactor.
Among the many objects Cuc misplaced have been his garments, antibiotics, meals, bicycle and tent, all of which he mentioned have been very important to his survival on the streets.
“The city’s actions have left me with nothing,” Cuc wrote in his grievance. “They erased my home, my belongings and the few resources that allowed me to survive day-to-day. The harm is lasting in the physical loss of my property and in the profound emotional impact of being treated as though my life and my belongings had no value.”
Amanda Rodriguez, a spokesperson for the Parks, Recreation and Neighborhood Companies Division, mentioned town adopted a “strict, documented process for managing placards” throughout the Columbus Park abatement.
“Any individual with a legitimate placard was allowed to remain in the park until their shelter and supportive services were ready,” Rodriguez mentioned. “During the abatement, several RVs and tents displayed unauthorized or duplicated placards that were not distributed by city staff or contractors. In those cases, placards were removed, and the abatement proceeded in accordance with city policy.”
Encampment administration has been a authorized thorn within the sides of many Bay Space municipalities lately, with a number of the area’s largest cities doling out vital sums and implementing new insurance policies because of litigation.
In 2022, Oakland’s settlement of a case tied to the improper eviction of an encampment included town agreeing to supply elevated discover of sweeps and enact extra stringent guidelines for managing residents’ belongings.
Final month, San Francisco accepted a multi-million-dollar settlement in response to a lawsuit filed in 2022 by the Coalition on Homelessness that alleged town violated its personal insurance policies and had destroyed unhoused residents’ property throughout encampment clearings — together with tents, remedy and ID paperwork. The settlement requires San Francisco to supply alternatives for unhoused residents to reclaim their property, to submit up-to-date studies on seizures and to coach its workers on dealing with private property.
Caltrans has additionally paid out tens of millions of {dollars} in claims for illegally eradicating and destroying homeless residents’ property up to now a number of years.
Rodriguez acknowledged that town gives no less than 72 hours of written discover earlier than an abatement, though town has prolonged this era in instances involving bigger operations.
San Jose has present guidelines for objects taken throughout abatements, together with a 90-day storage coverage.
Within the complaints filed towards town, residents raised considerations that town had by no means correctly notified them or allowed them to retrieve their property, regardless of them having gone by the correct channels.
Patrick Brodehl, a journeyman contractor who lived close to Emory Avenue and Chestnut Avenue, mentioned town’s flyers solely offered neighborhood pointers and by no means any dates or occasions for clearings when his instruments and meals have been seized. Brodehl added that town solely gave him 20 minutes to seize what he might and by no means offered any documentation on methods to retrieve his different belongings.
The continued cycle of dropping belongings has stifled his progress and compelled him to start out anew, he mentioned.
“The constant forced movement, coupled with being told by police to relocate from one area (Taylor and Coleman) only to have my belongings seized at another, has made it impossible for me to plan or rebuild stability,” Brodehl mentioned. “As a contractor trying to continue working and contributing, these repeated disruptions leave me unable to maintain the basic foundation I need for my livelihood and dignity.”
The opposite complaints inform comparable tales, lamenting the dearth of due course of whereas accusing town of dehumanizing practices.
Ramon Aguilar acknowledged that after the seizure of his truck and instruments, town failed to supply any data on methods to retrieve them. As soon as his automobile was bought, metropolis workers allegedly advised him he couldn’t file a declare.
Joseph Lopez, who mentioned he has survived by studying to restore and rebuild scooters, misplaced his property, together with his work instruments and a necklace and jewellery field for his daughter, the day after relocating close to Bayshore Freeway and Channing Avenue in mid-June.
“In one sweep, everything I had managed to hold onto through years of hardship — tools, memories, my work, my hope — was gone,” Lopez mentioned. “I felt fear as I watched strangers dismantle the little stability I had created. I felt humiliation and despair, knowing I could not protect the things that mattered most to me. Above all, I felt stripped of dignity. These belongings were more than property; they were the pieces of a life I was desperately trying to rebuild.”
