Judge Orders City to Keep Camp for Homeless Open 1 More Week
The City of Los Angeles must keep its urban campground for the homeless open one more week, under the terms of a temporary restraining order issued Thursday, the day before the city planned to close the camp.
Acting on a request for a preliminary injunction brought by attorney James H. Davis in behalf of homeless people living at the campground at 320 S. Santa Fe Ave., Superior Court Judge Ricardo A. Torres told city representatives: “Take the week and close your camp, but provide for everyone.”
The campground, open since June 15 on land leased from the Southern California Rapid Transit District, had been expected to close starting at 8 a.m. today. RTD’s contract with the city expires next Friday and city representatives said in court that they had planned to take the extra week’s time to remove city equipment and clean up the 12-acre property.
Torres gave the homeless the extra time and set closure for 5 p.m. one week from today.
Davis originally filed suit against closing the camp in late July on the ground that “there’s really no place for the people to go.” At that time about 600 men, women and children were on the grounds, and the city had intended to close the facility Aug. 10.
Although Mayor Tom Bradley had said when the campground opened that it was to be an “interim solution” while long-term solutions to housing the homeless were sought, the city still has no alternative facility available. One plan to buy 102 trailers is delayed while sites are sought, and another announced by Bradley last week to purchase more than 600 prefabricated modular units has not moved past the proposal stage.
The flat, dusty campground, where more than 2,500 homeless have lived for a time during the summer, has become the focal point of much legal wrangling, centered on who is responsible for the homeless and what is to be done with them.
In July, the city sued Los Angeles County for failing to live up to its responsibilities to provide for the homeless. Then, in August the county countersued, saying the city was responsible.
Accord With County
However, after attorney Davis filed suit in July in behalf of the homeless, the city decided to delay closing the camp until today and made an agreement with the county to work cooperatively to accelerate job and welfare services at the campground. Neither government dropped its suit against the other, however.
By Thursday there were about 350 people, most of them single men, left on the campground.
A family service agency, Para Los Ninos, has relocated 119 families with 265 children. A large number of the homeless “disappeared” after getting their county relief checks on Labor Day weekend, according to Deputy Mayor Grace Davis, .
When Judge Torres asked, “What will happen to those who are left?” attorney Davis said he feared, “People have two choices, to either sleep on the sidewalks or invade some other land.”
Ample Time Claimed
Attorneys for the city argued that the homeless had had more than a month’s notice of the camp’s closing date and had more than enough time to seek other shelter.
Sue Flores, director of human services for the city’s Community Development Department, told Torres that although county representatives have been available almost daily to take applications for a general relief stipend, “only 91 people had availed themselves as of two days ago.”
“It’s important to know what the status of the other two-thirds are,” Torres said in granting the temporary restraining order. “The ones that are not eligible (for general relief), you’re going to have to provide some housing.”
City officials said they were planning to offer those ineligible for county programs short-term housing in single-room hotels. The City Council is expected to vote on an allocation of $31,000 for that purpose today.
Extended Closing
“This doesn’t mean you can’t start moving people out,” Torres told city representatives. But instead of closing in one day, he added, “the court expects you to move over the next eight days.”
Learning of the court action, Deputy Mayor Grace Davis first said, “Oh, God.”
Today city officials had planned to request that all remaining campground residents report for interviews with social services representatives, she said, and that they either apply for relief or take hotel vouchers if they are ineligible for other help. Since Torres had extended, but not stopped, the camp closing, Davis said, “I’m going to proceed.”
