Satisfaction elusive for Sausalito’s homeless camp occupants

Months after Sausalito evicted homeless people from a waterfront camp at Dunphy Park, the future of the city’s authorized alternative remains uncertain.

City leaders say the sanctioned camp at Marinship Park is intended to connect the occupants with housing resources. But campers there say they are struggling to access services.

Some say they are not happy with how the camp is being run by the city. Housing activist Robbie Powelson, who was arrested in June for intervening as police cleared the Dunphy Park site, said campers at Marinship fear pressure from authorities if they shelter in trailers or other vehicles at the site.

Richard Dreamweaver, who owns a boat Richardson Bay boat resident and who uses a wheelchair, has a trailer at the camp. On Thursday, police arrived to look over the park briefly, but did not question the presence of the trailer.

“At any rate, I’m going to stand my ground the whole way,” he said.

Dreamweaver’s neighbor, Ken Kennedy, said “it seems like we have to handle our problems ourselves.” Although the city has said they want to provide resources for housing, he said, “nobody’s really getting any kind of help.”

Dreamweaver said the Downtown Streets Team from San Rafael and Urban Alchemy, a San Francisco-based nonprofit, are the only outreach workers they see, beyond free food deliveries from volunteers on Fridays.

The campers said mobile showers only come twice a week, which is not often enough for people who have jobs.

“I have bug bites that are extreme,” Dreamweaver said. “Everybody here is vulnerable … a lot of people here have an infection.”

The Richardson’s Bay Regional Agency is clearing the bay of debris and vessels deemed unseaworthy or unoccupied in accordance with a directive from the San Francisco Bay Conservation Development Commission.

The Dunphy Park camp started in December and grew quickly as word spread. In February, the City Council moved to evict the campers from Dunphy Park and relocate them to the Marinship Park, an action that was delayed by federal litigation.

Kennedy said people who still live on boats often don’t have time to leave their vessel for a shower because it leaves their homes unguarded.

Holly Wild, a former boat resident on Richardson Bay, told the City Council at its meeting on Tuesday about a complaint she filed with the police department. She alleges a part-time city employee threw rocks at her as she watched a boat being crushed at the Army Corps of Engineers debris yard, where vessels are towed for destruction.

City Manager Chris Zapata and police Chief John Rohrbacher did not respond to requests for comment. Police Lt. Stacie Gregory of the department’s homeless outreach team referred inquiries to Mayor Jill James Hoffman, who she said is handling all questions about homelessness in Sausalito, including policing matters.

Hoffman said the police department is looking into the complaint, as it would in any other case.

“We are investigating and will take appropriate action,” she said.

Hoffman said the issues surrounding the homeless campers are “bigger than the city itself.”

“It has to be a regional approach,” she said. “The genesis of this encampment came directly out of waters not managed by Sausalito.”

At Tuesday’s meeting, Councilmember Melissa Blaustein said the contract with Urban Alchemy will continue for at least 60 days. The city is also trying to enhance “safety and security within the encampment in Marinship Park” now by working with nearby property owners and using county and state security resources.

Blaustein said Hoffman “is pretty much on the phone every day with local and state leaders” coordinating efforts with cities such as San Rafael and Novato to try to identify sites for the state’s Project Homekey program for transitional and permanent housing. She said finding permanent housing for people at the park is the main focus.

Hoffman said that to her knowledge no one from the camp has been housed yet. Urban Alchemy is not an organization that offers case worker services, instead focusing on campers’ immediate needs, she said. It’s unclear how many people are there at any given time, she said.

Asked if park conditions are adequate for people, and if bugs or other contaminants were found there, she said, “For right now, it’s as good as it’s going to get in Sausalito.”

Hoffman said the site is better suited for people than Dunphy Park, and staff have tried to make it better by cleaning restrooms and hand washing stations.

“We’re working really hard with everybody being affected by this,” Hoffman said. “The main goal has been to press every possible avenue that we can find for shelter for these people, the people that want shelter.”