Voice of OC (https://voiceofoc.org/tag/santa-ana-river/)
The top county officials are moving in a new direction to address the county’s growing homelessness, authorizing new housing and support services in a unanimous decision this week.
“There is not a board majority at this time” to support a permit for the restrooms, Spitzer told Voice of OC. He said he hopes to introduce an alternative idea Wednesday.
County officials say homeless people should use restrooms at the Courtyard shelter, more than three miles from the Santa Ana river bank encampment. But the shelter closes its doors at 8:30 p.m.
Supervisor Shawn Nelson said homelessness should be treated as an emergency and directed staff to research ways to quickly provide a bed for every homeless person in Orange County, even creating campgrounds on county-owned properties.
The emails raise questions about whether Nelson also directed a similar removal this winter of a large homeless encampment along the river south of Angel Stadium.
The order requires a physical notice 24 hours before seizing property and mandates that “essential items” like tents, sleeping bags, and medical papers be stored within one mile of where they were taken.
Members of the public raised concerns about a shortage of housing options for homeless people, a troubling county economic future, and alleged improprieties by supervisors in choosing a major airport contractor.
The settlement agreement extends the deadline to next Thursday for people to leave an encampment on the eastern banks of the river from Orangewood Ave. to just south of the 22 freeway.
The ACLU claims county officials illegally trapped dozens of homeless people living along the Santa Ana River, which the county disputes. However, both sides were in support of canceling a key court hearing for Thursday as they appear to be seeking an agreement.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California has filed a federal lawsuit claiming that by erecting a chain-link fence next to the Santa Ana River in Orange, county officials have unconstitutionally “imprisoned” 75 to 100 people living in a homeless encampment there.