Concord police on Wednesday evicted the last dozen or so residents of an encampment along San Miguel Road, in a field under BART tracks, after a year and hundreds of complaints to the city about unsanitary conditions, fires, and drug use at the site.
The city gave notice to the residents 10 days earlier. At its peak there were an estimated 25 homeless people at the site.
BART owns the property, but the city is responsible for maintaining the site, said Concord Police Lt. Tamra Roberts. She said there were no problems on Wednesday, as everyone was cooperative.
“We’ve abated it several times the past year,” said Roberts, who works with the department’s community impact team. “There’s been a variety of complaints — we’ve actually received hundreds of complaints.”
City maintenance workers will clean up what’s left of the camp. Roberts said the city was able to offer spots at a county-run shelter in Concord to those who were still there Wednesday, but no one accepted. She said she realized these people, many of whom suffer from mental illness, would just move their belongings to other sites nearby.
“They have a right to be on public property as long as they’re not creating health hazards,” said Roberts, who is part of the department’s Community Impact Unit, working on local quality of life issues.
Concord is one of three Contra Costa cities, along with Richmond and Pittsburg, to offer full-time shelters. The city has also teamed with the county to create a three-person CORE (Coordinated Outreach, Referral & Engagement) team that spends 40 hours per week on homeless issues. Concord also launched MHET — Mental Health Evaluation Team — in 2021, teaming a mental health professional with a police officer to help people with outpatient mental health referrals and other resources.
“We’re out there daily, trying to come up with a solution,” Roberts said. “But it’s not something that any other city has solved either.”
61 comments
Well, they have moved to Newhall, the parking lot is full of food wrappers and garbage, and because they lock the restrooms at night, they just urinate all over the outside of the facilities.
They all were offered shelter.
They all refused.
They made their choice.
How to solve the problem?
No more free anything.
Ditto! Obvious, homeless by choice. STOP enabling these people.
And for those that refuse to be properly housed or accept substance abuse/mental health counseling should be stripped of their belongings and put in jail. There, problem solved. Its really not difficult.
Wokness check. I believe the term a “homeless” is now considered incorrect. Prefered is the “unhomed”, or even better “urban campers”.
“Unhoused” is the crazy term they are peddling. It’s crazy. I would just go with “blight.”
Unhoused
I still prefer the more Old School term of “Residentially Challenged.”
Ditto! Obvious, homeless by choice. STOP enabling these people.
Maybe they can ship them to Mexico as part of an exchange program for all the illegals coming here to California.
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They have a right to be on public property.? Great then I got a boat and a motor home to park on it too.
Yeah they’ll most likely be back. Just move around from one site to the next and no one is surprised by this.
If they really did receive an offer of shelter and refused then that makes me so frustrated.
Im not sure there is a solution. But I think as a society we should be working hard to help prevent more homelessness and hopelessness. From what I understand, it’s only by the grace of an eviction moratorium and slow courts that the streets aren’t currently flooded with more homeless. Not saying they deserve free anything, but we’d be fools to ignore the pending problem…
The problem with these tent folks is meth and opiate addiction – if we are not dealing with that – nothing will be solved
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All of them were offered shelter.
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None accepted. Move them on.
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And to that man shown giving them food as shown on KTVU, you’re only perpetuating their problems by enabling their homelessness. It’s like feeding feral cats…
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Sometimes they have to hit rock bottom to realize they want real help.
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DO NOT ENABLE THEIR HOMELESSNESS.
Wow, can’t wait to move out of Gavin newsom’s cesspool. And don’t worry, I won’t miss you either.
Maybe for (some of them,) the only solution might be to get a job so they won’t have to sleep in a tent on any place they can find, and trust me there are plenty of job opportunities these days, especially with the Government paying for a lot of people to stay home these days. Gosh I wonder if that has anything to do with inflation and the shortage of supplies these days. We can only hope the voters will come to their senses for once and for all…….
Yes there are plenty of jobs, but most are fast food and retail, they start at $16.00 an hour, which still makes it hard to afford housing in this area, even renting a room is at least $700.00 to 900.00 a month. Having said that if someone is willing to accept that kind of job and become a productive member of society, then I have no problem with them getting some help from government or charities. I think helping those that are willing to help themselves is the right and compassionate thing to do. Helping someone who is not willing to help themselves is something most oppose. I do think whose who are severely mentally ill needs to be institutionalized and they should not have a say, since they obviously are not competent to take care of themselves. A talk show host in Sacramento, Joe McGinnis, not sure of the right spelling, often talk about this, he is conservative and a former sheriff. His position is what is going on now is intolerable both for those who are homeless, and for those businesses and neighborhoods that are affected negatively by this situation. I have to agree with him.
Obviously almost everyone from the far left to the far right don’t like seeing homeless. What I mean is most prefer out of sight out of mind. If someone truly wants help I feel society should help. If they don’t want help sorry they don’t get to use the world as they wish. Some somehow have the ability to get drugs, and leave the needles all over the place.
That Multi Tarp Campette in the first photo has a Zestimate of $127,000 on Zillow.
Good one! 😅
And it has its own bike workshop. Open house Sunday 1-4.
Ha! Thanks for that.
Most unsheltered homeless are suffering from either mental illness or substance addiction. They should never be allowed to camp out and self medicate, yet the democrat majority in Sacramento has legalized drug use, outdoor camping, and public intoxication.
Most other states do not have this problem. Vagrancy and drug laws are enforced. These people when faced with the choice of jail or rehab will usually choose rehab.
Thank you CPD! I live on San Miguel and this situation needed to be addressed for the health and safety of us all.
+1
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There is no solution except to stop enabling. Don’t feed the bears is a saying for a REASON. They made these choices; if they cannot live in civilized society, just ship them to the desert and leave them there.
+1
Homelessness is a euphemism for drug addicts, mentally ill, thieves, and/or people who are unwilling to accept assistance. They should then come up with a plan: either accept a one-way ticket to Mexico, never to return OR get into rehab, get a proper job and get on with their life. Agree to NEVER AGAIN be homeless in CA. Leaving homeless in their current state doesn’t solve the problem; it just kicks the can down the road.
For those who wish to “help”, I suggest they either open up a room in their home, or get off their soapbox. Life is difficult; it’s even more difficult when you’re fat and stupid.
@ WhoDat Gurl~
Your comment makes sense to me.
If you run for a political office position, I would vote for you. 🙂
@Roz,
Thank you so much for your kind comment and support. I’m not in politics, but I am into problem solving.
Best, WDG
I have no sympathy. That’s all they want to be. So be it, and all that comes with it.
Say what you will about the former Soviet Union but if you were able to work, and didn’t, you were considered a parasite to society and sent to a camp for “rigorous re-education” on your responsibilities as a citizen.
“We’re out there daily, trying to come up with a solution,” The solution, if one is needed, was done when they were kicked out. That is the solution. Keep removing them from these areas until there is nowhere else for them to bum around. We, as society, can not solve their problems with drug abuse, aside from locking them up, which is no longer allowed (much like any crime now, no significant consequences). So, keep moving them out. Go back to the old days, drive them out of town.
No sympathy. Stop enabling and giving away my hard earned tax dollars to people who suck off the system and all of the illegals and free loaders from our state and other stares who flock to California. The true California’s are moving out in droves that can and what will be left is a 3rd world state. Hope all the greenies, socialists, liberals and Democrats will applaud themselves.
You have destroyed my state. Biden you are a demented loser and the US is the laughing stock of the world.
People vote with your brains.
So when does Concord PD go over to Newhall and roust them from there? Concord PD should keep rousting them until they are out of Concord.
There you go they didn’t want help even though they were offered shelter.If they want to live off the land go to the mountains or desert away from the city’s.Don’t trash our city.
I hope they all move to Todos Santos Park, the woke city council deserves it.
108RS
Keep after them, City of Concord! Don’t let them settle anywhere else in the city. Make them move every day until they get the hell out of here permanently. We don’t want their filth, drugs and crime. Concord offered them shelter and they wouldn’t take it. Let them freeze.
I think the reason people attack homeless people is because they are afraid. The homeless are actually living peacefully on the land. Much like the native Americans. The Americans who attack their way of living are the ones polluting the world with their cars, trucks, shopping, and over extravagant lives. Not all people want to live like that. There are families with children that are living there. I think concord has many other things to fix besides attacking the homeless. How about sidewalks, gangs, more bike paths. Quit picking on the homeless. Just because they live different than you. People say they do drugs, look at all the people living in homes doing opioids, drinking etc. wake up people, becoming homeless may happen to you at some point.
Homeless attack folks.
Homeless have exposed themselves to kids on my non-profit for kids.
They have damaged my non-profit facility.
They have stolen equipment and supplies from my facility.
They have removed stuff and used it to build their own ‘homes’.
They have left garbage, feces, and more across my facility.
I am not afraid. But I will not stand by and watch a homeless person move into my facility and damage it. It is not ‘urban camping’ or ‘housing challenged’, it is a choice these people are making. This is NOTHING like the Native Amercians trying to live off the land. It is a shame that draw a comparison between peaceful Native Americans who treat the land with compassion versus the homeless that are damaging the land and just dont give a ____.
Yes, as a woman I am afraid to be near homeless people as I have been screamed at, spit on, etc. during my time working in SF. Most of these homeless people are addicts and refuse to get help. They put others in danger by the filth they leave behind and the fires they start in these “communities.” I’m sorry, but it is INSANE to compare homeless people that are shooting up and leaving trash everywhere, violently attacking and raping people while high on drugs, and not adding to society in any way, to Native Americans. Are you sheltering these poor, innocent victims, Barbara?
To compare the homeless “living off the land” with native Americans is an affront to native Americans. Who are you to make such an outrageous comparison? Are YOU helping them? Offering them room in your home? The hypocrisy is incredible.
Barbara you are definitely in a small minority. Comparing them to Native Americans from hundreds of years ago is a weak argument. People getting high at home doesn’t disturb me until they start using my yard as toilet or abusing my property, Also, another weak point in your argument is that other government activities like sidewalk repairs, gang prevention aren’t happening at the same time. There aren’t families with children living there.
I like the comparison she made, it’s sick and twisted and reminds me of a Mel Brooks idea like that fictional play Springtime for Hitler. Someone with imagination could run with that all the way to Broadway. Who would have thought Cats or Rent would have gone anywhere? It’s exactly the right timing with the educated but clueless looking for social messages. Unfortunately, I have zero writing skills.
I think your post is basically what a lot of people have been saying. If they choose to live that way then let them. However, they do not have the right to infringe of anyone else’s private or public property. If they want to be “living peacefully on the land” like “native Americans” then they can go out to the desert or plains and do so. They can grow or hunt their own food and make their own clothing and shelters. They can be free of us annoying city-slickers with our “cars” and “shopping” and jobs and taxes and rent payments and insurance premiums and children and zoom schools and ….. I could go on but you probably get my point. So, ya, go on out to the plains and live free……. Nobody bringing them food. Nobody selling them drugs. Nobody coming to offer them space in a shelter. I bet they’d decide to turn their lives around real quick.
Barb, I am sorry to hear about your delusional disorder. Best of luck.
Move them to camps just like they did the Japanese during World War II. Lock them in. They are a danger to the community.lll
The elected officials like the homeless and even promote it with their laws and lack of enforcement of other laws. It’s because they get $$$$$, from the county, who gets it from the state, who gets it from the feds. Each level of bureaucracy taking a piece of the pie. People always forget when things don’t make sense, all you need to do is follow the money.
The ‘unhoused’ guy who say he’s long term ‘unhoused’ on the KTVU video referenced seems fine with his life choice. But, we should not allow it. People can just be living on public property all over the place. It’s gross and uncivilized. If you don’t want assistance you get arrested and jailed.
This is what I keep saying but, sadly, no one is listening.
Did they get rid of the one dug into the canal embankment? That got some attention on social media recently. Newsoms complaint about 3rd world.
The homeless don’t seem like they are going away. The city should pick a spot for them out of site and organize it. Put out portable toilets, running water, and garbage cans. Don’t let the garbage pile up. Have rules and make them follow the rules or get driven out of town. No sleeping in doorways or on the streets.
Homeless don’t like rules.
Obey the rules or get a ride out of town.
Ricardo, l rarely agree with you, but your solution sounds compassionate and practical.
Ricardoh.if they did that it would attract thpusands,and be in all the news cuz nobody does that
It might be productive to have law enforcement holding warrants so that they can search those immense piles of things for drugs, weapons, and/or items reported as stolen from people’s homes.
Sounds like we all have to get smart, stake claims on public properties and have prefab homes brought in, dig our own septic systems and draft filtered water off of the canals and homestead all these spots, since the government says its legal to live where ever you want…sounds like a money making opportunity.
No phone,no light,no motor car
Not a single luxury
Like Robinson Crusoe,it’s primative as can be……..hey…..wait a minute..!!!!!
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