Southeast : City to Reimburse Homeless

Seven homeless people who sued the city of Long Beach will be reimbursed a total of $4,000 for belongings lost during a sweep by city employees of their makeshift camp near Shoreline Park.

The six men and one woman lost all their belongings during an unannounced June, 1993, sweep, despite assurances from several people left in the camp that they would move the items. One of the homeless, a Merchant Marine seaman, lost his professional card needed to land a seagoing assignment and others lost completed paperwork for assisted housing, medicine, glasses, photographs, dentures and sleeping bags.

The groups’ lawsuit contended that the sweep was conducted without the city’s normal 72-hour notice of an impending cleanup; the city agreed to the reimbursement to settle the case.

“This settlement is an opportunity for homeless people to know they have rights,” said Dennis Rockway, senior counsel at the Legal Aid Foundation of Long Beach, which helped negotiate the settlement.