Berkeley city council votes to crack down on homeless encampment sweeps

BERKELEY, Calif. (KGO) -- The Berkeley City Council voted Tuesday to enforce stricter rules when it comes to sweeping homeless encampments.

The move is a radical departure for the famously liberal city.

The policy is a more aggressive approach than the city has taken in the past, but one that is needed, says Mayor Jesse Arreguin.

"We have these large, sprawling encampments where there have been major safety issues: fires, rats, crime. Things that pose a risk to the homeless people that are sheltering there and to the broader community," Arreguin said.

During our interview, the mayor stressed that the city would still prioritize a compassionate and "housing first" approach to dealing with homelessness.

He says the new policy is specifically geared to clear encampments the city deems hazardous, even if Berkeley is unable to offer shelter.

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"I don't think it's compassion, honestly, to let people die on the streets," Arreguin said.

The city says it wants to focus on encampments like the one along Harrison Street, but the residents who actually live here believe the city is going about this the wrong way.

That includes Erin Spencer, who thinks the new policy is dehumanizing.

"Where are our rights? Where did our rights go? We have a right to property, we have a right to seek privacy, we have a right to be in the public spaces of a city. Where else can we go?" Spencer said.

Others, like Brandy Boman, tell us the city doesn't have enough shelter for all of the people living on streets.

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Boman says, even when shelter is available, it often comes with restrictions that many homeless people find untenable.

"Have them come out here and stay. See how it feels, see what it's like, with nothing," Boman said.

Tuesday's policy vote was supported by every member of the city council, minus Councilmember Cecilia Lunaparra.

Lunaparra believes until the city has housing available for everyone, the new rules are the wrong way to solve the homelessness crisis.

"It is not effective to take people from the only places and communities that they have found home in outside and force them two to three blocks away," she said.

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The idea of sweeping people with nowhere to go from one place to another is a point Arreguin says he recognizes.

That's why he plans on working with other Bay Area leaders to try and address that as well.

"I intend to bring the mayors of Alameda County together next month to have a conversation about what are we doing since the Grant's Pass decision, and can we better coordinate our response to street encampments and street homelessness," Arreguin said.

The mayor says the sweeps will begin as soon as possible.