San Benito River clearing continues

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On May 12, San Benito County Sheriff’s Deputy Peter O’Day was giving BenitoLink a tour of the various encampments along the San Benito River in Hollister. He approached two residents who were using the riverbed as a recreational space and explained that they could not be there. 

He didn’t know one of them was Hollister Mayor Roxanne Stephens, who was walking with her dog. O’Day directed her to use the city’s nearby River Park Trail, which meanders from Bridge Road to Summer Drive. 

Stephens, a social worker, told BenitoLink she occasionally walks in the area and has seen some improvement. She said having a clean riverbed may help people feel more safe and increase the usage of the park trail.

“Even though there may or may not be actual safety issues,” she said, “if the public doesn’t feel safe then people will not use those areas for the recreational activities that they were intended for.”

O’Day, who has been with the Sheriff’s Department for almost 10 years, was patrolling the area in his new role as parks and trails deputy. He is tasked with keeping people out of the area, whether they are using it for recreation or as a living space. His position was created as part of the effort by San Benito County and the city of Hollister to clear homeless encampments from the riverbed. The county began the operation on May 5 and the city joined in a week later. The process is expected to take several weeks.

O’Day said it will take continued enforcement to let the community know that the county will no longer allow trespassing in the area, which historically has been used as a recreational space by many, including Hollister High School track team, ATV and dirt bike riders, and horseback riders.  

During the tour, O’Day, who knew by name many of the people living in the riverbed, identified numerous sites that were cleared and pointed to many vehicles he said will be challenging to remove. Some of these were buried deep in the ground, a sign of how long they had been there.

An employee of Tucker Construction, the general contractor hired to clear the riverbed, said he and his colleagues have removed four 40-yard dumpsters of trash from the riverbed. 

The county has allotted more than $350,000 to this effort, which includes O’Day’s position, roll-off storage bins, and a contract with Tucker Construction. 

BenitoLink asked the county how many people have been removed from the riverbed and how many have accepted offers to stay at the shelter or hotels. The county has not responded as of this article’s publishing.

The immediate effect of the encampment removal includes people experiencing homelessness moving into downtown Hollister. 

A man who identified himself as Steve, who was removed on the first day of the clearing from under the Fourth Street bridge and declined resources from the county, told BenitoLink the following day he slept in downtown Hollister in front of a business. 

Stephens said the city does not have a plan if people experiencing homelessness move into the city limits, but said it is something the city, in partnership with the county and San Juan Bautista, want to address.

“Ideally what would happen is that there are places for individuals to live,” she said, “but at this point we do not have that.”

She said there are layers to help those unhoused that include support in reuniting with families, addressing substance abuse and mental illness.

“It’s not just a simple ‘find a house and put them there,’” she said. 

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