Sonoma Co. votes to move homeless camped along Joe Rodota Trail to Los Guilicos County Park

SANTA ROSA, Calif. (KGO) -- When push came to shove, as the self-imposed deadline clicked down and the words never ran, out, Sonoma County opted to move homeless residents of the Joe Rodota homeless encampment ten miles out of Santa Rosa, to the Los Guilicos County Park near Oakmont.

The late afternoon vote came as a surprise to many observers.

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They expected the Supervisors to create its indoor-outdoor shelter on the County Administration campus.

When parents of kids at an adjacent pre-school protested, the Supervisors made a decision based on safety.

"The plan was to have resources and logistics wherever we moved them," said Barbie Robinson, who now runs Sonoma County's program on an interim basis. "We still would have needed to provide transportation and storage of their belongings."

The county will intend to create a full service facility for the homeless at Los Guilikos. The outdoor facility will include some 60 portable housing units.

Homeless advocates, however, criticized the decision, Anita LaFollette says the new site is too far out of town.

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"It's a waste of time and money because nobody can go out there. People are trying to get jobs," said LaFollette.

The county hopes to have the Joe Rodota Trail cleared and its homeless moved by the end of this month.

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