Q&A with Celina Stotler

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Celina Stotler is the manager of Integrated Waste Management, the county agency leading the clearing of the encampments along the San Benito River, which began on May 5. She spoke with BenitoLink on May 15 about the operation and its challenges.

BenitoLink: We’ve seen criticism on social media about the county spending more than $350,000 to remove encampments, hire a deputy sheriff, and clean up the garbage in the riverbed. The process is expected to take more than a month. Why is it costing so much and why is it taking so long?

Celina Stotler: The riverbed has been a challenge for decades. There are nooks and crevices, underground encampments that are eight feet deep that these individuals have built. I think the larger community does not know the extent of the encampment and garbage issues. We’ve got more than 40 vehicles abandoned in the riverbed. So it’s a massive undertaking.

Also, we want to do things right. We want to offer people services. We want to make sure that we’re handling waste properly. That doesn’t mean just diverting metal and things we can recycle, but we’re dealing with electronic waste, batteries, motor oil, other hazardous waste, bio waste. You can’t just throw that in a dumpster or take it to the landfill. It needs to be handled properly and, unfortunately, that is more costly.

Is the $215,000 the county is paying the contractor for cleaning the riverbanks going to be enough?

We’re not going to get the whole riverbed cleaned up with that funding. It’s looking like phase one is going to cost about $40,000 to $50,000. And phase two is going to be the biggest chunk of our efforts.

I can’t tell you what that’s going to cost because as we’re getting deeper and deeper into the river, there are surprises. What looks like just a pile of garbage as the contractors start cleaning it up turns out to be a pile that’s three to four feet deep.

Cleaning up the riverbed to this extent has not happened during my six years here. We’re taking apart these underground encampments and there’s dozens of those spread out throughout the riverbed. Just one can take close to half a day to a day’s work.

We’re also trying to keep the environment in mind. This is a precious riverbed and we’re trying to clean it in the most cost-effective way possible. We’ll need some equipment along the way. We’ve been using skid steers and so we’re going to be working with public works to see what equipment we can use to make things quicker, faster and cheaper for the county.

We’re also offering services and we store for 90 days any personal property that residents can’t take with them. So these are all additional costs.

What have you found in these past two weeks?

Approximately 15 active and five abandoned encampments, along with 13 dumping sites of various sizes, have been cleaned. No vehicles have been towed yet, but we estimate over 40 vehicles between phase one—with four confirmed—and phase two.

How many people have you found living in the riverbed?

Behavioral Health and Human Services and the sheriff’s deputy have been going to the encampments to map out the riverbed in phases one and two. So that’s all I could provide you.

What would you say have been the top three challenges?

Three recent challenges raised by the county’s Encampment Working Group, which includes Health and Human Services, Behavioral Health, Integrated Waste Management, the Sheriff’s Department, county public information officer, administration and Public Works, that have impacted the cleanup efforts are first, the lack of an in-the-field project manager from [San Benito County] administration, which is the lead agency.

Second, communication with the Hollister Animal Shelter. And third, we’ve had equipment needs, which have been resolved this week thanks to support from Public Works. In the first week, the cleanup crew operated with just two skid steers, but phase two requires additional equipment that we previously lacked.

How many county staff are currently working on this effort?

Over 15 county staff are supporting this project, including one full-time sheriff’s deputy dedicated to the riverbed. There are currently six to seven contracted staff assisting with the cleanup. We’re also exploring a partnership with the local environmental nonprofit Coastal Habitat Education and Environmental Restoration to support the effort and help reduce overall costs.

So phase one, which went from the Fourth Street bridge to Hwy 156, is over. How long do you expect phase two, which goes from the bridge to Nash Road, to take?

I was hopeful that it would take two, maybe three weeks, but it really just all depends. We’re finding things that are taking a lot longer. For phase one, just as an example, we thought it would take four days. It ended up taking six days. It’s because of the extent of how deep garbage has been piled up. We’re talking about not just a pile, but feet of garbage. The people living there are building many landfills throughout the riverbed just to throw their garbage, because they don’t have anywhere else to put it. So, that takes longer. 

And then you’ve got these underground encampments. We sometimes don’t know how large they are until we start taking off the roofs. And they’re covering the roofs with dirt. So, you cannot see it from above.

During the May 13 budget meeting with the Board of Supervisors, you requested an assistant to help you with your regular duties because the cleanup was taking most of your time. The board agreed to make an exception and lift the temporary hiring freeze while the budget is being crafted. How many additional staff would you say are still needed to ensure that you and other county employees aren’t working more than 14 hours a day?

I can just speak for Integrated Waste, and as long as I can get that staff service specialist position filled and we have the funds to complete this project, which, as you know, we’re in a very difficult time, I will be okay. But I just need my position filled.

With so many budget constraints, do you think the clearing could have waited until the 2025-26 budget was finalized? Was it necessary to begin on May 5? 

We’ve been talking about this work as early as back in August of last year. I can’t speak for all departments, but I think we were all eager to begin because we’ve been talking about it for so long.

Also, the Board of Supervisors has prioritized this. They’ve made that very clear. So, to answer your question, I don’t think it has to start at any point, but it’s a board priority. And as staff, we’re here to follow the will of the board. It has to start at some point. The longer we wait, the more costly it’s going to be, because more garbage and waste will accumulate, and more people are going to inhabit the area and move in.

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