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Editorial: Helping San Rafael’s unhoused find safe place still the priority (Marin IJ)

Posted on Category Press Coverage

Shardae Barb, right, with Community Action Marin, stops for a chat near a homeless encampment at Albert Park in San Rafael on Tuesday, March 7, 2023. (Sherry LaVars/Marin Independent Journal)

San Rafael finds itself in a familiar legal pickle.

Its attempt to clear the homeless encampment that has taken root in Albert Park is running into a federal court order that forbids municipalities from banning homeless residents from pitching tents or parking their RVs on public land unless local government can prove there is adequate shelter available.

It is a ruling that has hindered efforts to clear camps in San Rafael, Novato and Sausalito.

In recent months, an encampment has grown to about 20 tents. Of those campers, six have been offered shelter and have been placed in more permanent housing.

Given the recent storms, it is a safer and more humane alternative.

Now, the San Rafael City Council finds itself in the uncomfortable middle, between wanting to do the right thing in terms of providing shelter for homeless residents and worries about safety and possible sanitation problems by allowing the encampment to remain.

Understandably, the encampment has generated objections from park users. The campers are taking space that’s supposed to be available for the public.

“The campsites are causing adverse health and safety, and nuisance conditions in the park; are exacerbating conflicts with park users; and are obstructing public use of the property for its intended purpose as a community park and recreational facility,” according to the city’s staff report.