NOW : ‘Accord’ Is Key Word as Camp for Destitute Begins to Take Shape

Twelve days ago, the desolate stretch of property by the Los Angeles River was vacant.

By Sunday, 300 Santa Fe Ave. still looked forbidding, even though two trailers now stood on the expanse of gray sandy soil, along with several yellow-and-white canopies stretched over metal poles.

The final touches, such as 24 portable toilets, several hundred cots--and some hint of human life--were still needed before Los Angeles’ first “urban campground” would become a reality.

This afternoon, the 12-acre site opens as a camp for 600 or more homeless people--featuring 14 dormitory-like sleeping tents with cots, showers, mail service, pay phones and free dinner each night at 7:30 p.m.

The idea for a campground on Southern California Rapid Transit District land originated in Mayor Tom Bradley’s office, proposed as a two-month alternative for those dislocated by a recent police crackdown on Skid Row sidewalk encampments.

The “urban campground” is unusual not only for the speed with which it was brought into being, but also for the arrangements made for social services during the camp’s duration, and the inclusion of homeless people in its operational planning. Only one other such camp exists in the country, on the outskirts of Phoenix, Ariz.

The city chose the Salvation Army to operate the camp. Maj. William Mulch, a 29-year veteran of the agency and designated camp director, recently walked the campground in his blue uniform and blue cap. The 52-year-old, who also directs the army’s Harbor Light alcohol rehabilitation center on Skid Row, paused under one of the sleeping canopies.

Thin and wiry, with a calm manner, Mulch had the air of someone who has seen just about everything--and hasn’t been fazed by any of it.

“Yes, there are violent people, and yes, Skid Row is a violent place,” he said, when asked if he is concerned about the potential for violence at the camp. But in the past he has had “minimal problems. By and large people responded well to what we asked of them.”

The camp will be staffed at all times with five private security guards contracted by the city, Mulch said. City police officers, firefighters and paramedics will be on call.

Mulch said he isn’t worried. But he winced when asked what the camp rules would be.

“I wish you wouldn’t use the word ‘rule,’ ” he said.

Many of the homeless campers will be the kind who shun institutional settings or a structured life, he added. “Some of the guys don’t like that word ‘rule.’ ”

“I prefer ‘accord,’ ” he said, and pulled some papers out of a folder that were actually headlined: “Procedural Accord.”

It is, so to speak, the camp’s Magna Carta. It was devised by Deputy Mayors Grace Davis and Michael Gage--who channeled the concerns of other city, police and fire officials, according to Bradley spokesman Fred MacFarlane, along with Mulch and homeless representatives.

The latter included a group from Justiceville, a homeless activist group led by Ted Hayes, MacFarlane said, and members of the Los Angeles Union of the Homeless, which organized the “Love Camp” this winter on Skid Row’s Towne Avenue.

The four-page document covers items of camp life--such as registration, space assignment, food services and cleanup.

“No weapons of any kind allowed in camp. Possession of same shall be cause for ejection,” it reads. “No alcohol, no illicit substances may be used in camp.”

Those using “. . . any substance legal or illegal who pose a threat to person or right of privacy shall be ejected from camp.”

Other activities that might cause “ejection” are “continued breach of order,” loitering around parked vehicles, or failure to clean up personal sleeping areas “after appropriate warning.”

The accord says people must register on entry, supplying a name, birth date and Social Security number. Certain sleeping canopies will be set aside for unattached single women and for families.

Those who do their own cooking must do so in designated areas, 50 feet from any tent.

“Knives for cooking should not be carried on one’s person outside of a secured cooking . . . area,” the accord says.

Cleanup will be done by campers themselves with help from the 25-member Salvation Army staff. The Salvation Army will provide towels for those using showers.

Operational problems will be solved by a camp “board of directors,” made up of five city officials, five Salvation Army staffers and five camp residents. The members have not yet been named, MacFarlane said.

“We’re going to try to defuse every situation before it becomes a situation,” Mulch said. “That’s what the accord is for.”

“It’s a step in the right direction,” commented Kendall Wood of Justiceville.

The city has arranged for a variety of social services. Representatives from the Los Angeles County Department of Public Social Services will be at the campground two days a week, MacFarlane said, supplemented by mental health, employment, health and legal aid services.

The task of physically preparing the land into a camp fell on the shoulders of several city departments. The mayor unveiled the camp plan June 3, asking the City Council for a declaration of “local emergency,” which was granted June 5.

A few hours after the City Council vote, city street maintenance workers had their grading equipment on the site, which RTD agreed to lease to the city for $2.

Mulch applauded the effort.

“It’s not utopia yet, but the attempt is being made to give people control over their own destiny,” he said, “and to get them with agencies that can do more than just perpetuate their homelessness.”

The camp will run smoothly, he said. “I would rather be anything but boss, but if I have to be, I know how.”