Lack of Liability Insurance Dismantles L.A.’s Tent City

Tent City II, the temporary encampment that was home to downtown’s transients during the holidays, was dismantled Wednesday after its organizers failed to get the liability insurance they needed to keep the shelter open on state land across from City Hall.

The end came without incident when state authorities ordered the removal of the 5,000-square-foot circus tent that had been the heart of Tent City since it was erected on Dec. 26.

“Tent City II is over,” said its organizer, Ted Hayes. “But we’ll continue to lobby the city, the county and the state over our concerns for the homeless in this city.”

Many of the homeless at the site looked on in silence as workers from Academy Tent and Canvas Co. of Los Angeles took down and hauled away the donated tent that was big enough for 200 people to sleep in. Donated blankets and cots were stacked in piles as the makeshift shelter’s residents worked through the afternoon to vacate the site.

Under mostly sunny skies, the orderly eviction was in sharp contrast to brawling that took place Tuesday afternoon when an estimated 75 homeless people took refuge inside the tent to get out of a drenching rain.

Hayes, 35, and two others were arrested by state police officers after being told they were in violation of a temporary agreement that allowed the tent to remain standing on the condition that no one enter it. Some fighting broke out between Hayes and other homeless people and eight to 10 state police officers, authorities said.

Hayes and another man arrested in the scuffling, Paul Robinson, were released Tuesday night. But a third person arrested during the disturbance, Susan Fafau, remained in custody Wednesday.

The state Department of General Services insisted that Tent City II organizers come up with a premium of about $5,000 on a $500,000 liability insurance policy to allow the shelter to be on state property for the holidays. But that policy lapsed, and state officials said Tent City II would close unless another policy was obtained.

Hayes said several several insurance carriers were approached but none were willing to insure the temporary shelter since homeless people were involved.

A 20-story commercial office building is planned for the tent site under a long-term agreement approved last summer by the city, county and state. It will be part of a $130-million public-private Civic Center Mall project.

Despite the folding of Tent City II, Hayes and other homeless activists said that as many as 75 transients would continue to live near the site, lobbying the various public agencies on behalf of the homeless.