City passes controversial ordinance targeting homeless activity

By Jazmon DeJarnette

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    SEASIDE, California (KSBW) — In Seaside, city council passed an ordinance last night to crack down on what the homeless community can and cannot do in Seaside.

Alexis Garcia-Arrazola, Seaside City Council said, “We needed to take aggressive measures to ensure the safety of both the public and the constituency and our houseless community as well.”

The ordinance will ban aggressive panhandling, tighten rules on camping and living in vehicles, regulates storing personal belongings on city property, and changes parking limits at parks.

City leaders say these new rules are designed to make neighborhoods safer, but some of the homeless people feel like they are being unfairly targeted.

Gordon Merritt, a homeless person in Seaside, said, “We were living in a tent, and now it looks like possibly we’d be living in a tent again if they take our vehicle from us.”

Now that it’s passed, it will take effect in 30 days, and city leaders say they are prepared for the fallout, the impact this will have on the homeless population.

Garcia-Arrazola also said, “It’s important to note that the city of Seaside does have measures in place, and we do have partnerships or have partnered with other organizations to ensure overnight parking.”

One of those public overnight lots is at Bethel Missionary Baptist Church. The parking lot is open to those in need.

As for the panhandlers, the city says it’s dangerous to have people on narrow medians next to busy roads. That is no longer allowed. Some say the new ordinance goes too far, and the panhandlers aren’t really hurting anyone.

Regarding panhandling, Andres Bezerra, a member of the community, said, “If they want to, they should be able to, you know, as long as they’re not harming anybody.

Merrit said, “I haven’t heard of anybody getting hit out there. I mean, I’ve panhandled a few times. I mean, it’s a way to get money.”

The city does have measures in place to enforce the rules, but before police crack down, they plan on connecting the homeless with resources.

Garcia-Arrazola said, “We are taking that approach and ensuring that our family resource specialist are going and meeting the community where they are before we start getting into this criminalization or criminalization of our homelessness.”

The city is also offering to store personal property for 60 days, giving people on the street a little more time to prepare.

City leaders insist the new rules are designed for everyone’s safety.

“One, making sure that our community members and our drivers are respected, but also that the safety of our homeless community is our priority as well,” Garcia-Arrazola said.

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