Construction workers prepare the new outdoor area where a garden, gazebo, and outdoor seating will be available for guests. Photo taken on April 10 by Jessica Parga

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Faced with substantial budget constraints, San Benito County supervisors on June 10 unanimously agreed to pause a plan to expand the county’s only homeless shelter while continuing to clear homeless encampments along the San Benito River.

That means the H.O.M.E. Resource Center, which almost always operates at full capacity, will remain the same size despite months of discussion about its expansion.

Board of Supervisors chair Kollin Kosmicki said the county couldn’t afford the expansion on its own and should seek state funding instead. He argued that since the county is following Gov. Gavin Newsom’s directive to address homeless encampments, the state should help pay for the added capacity.

“The governor has given a directive and told communities, ‘We expect you to do this,’” Kosmicki said. “There’s a lot of money out there that’s supposed to be, in theory, available if you are following those directives.”

The idea of adding beds has been considered since the county first approved clearing the riverbed last year. An early proposal suggested placing 12 beds in the shelter’s conference room, but the plan changed to using the computer room.

Manny Gomez, the temporary assistant county administrative officer, told the board the revised plan would cost about $20,000 to relocate the computers and add the beds. The county would also need to increase its payment to Community Homeless Solutions, the organization that runs the shelter, by $185,000, bringing the total contract to nearly $685,000 per year.

Enrique Arreola, deputy director of San Benito County Health and Human Services, defended the proposal, telling the board that the nearly $500,000 the county pays Community Homeless Solutions is not enough. He said the organization “struggles to keep operations afloat,” and that underfunding is one reason the shelter does not operate 24 hours a day from April to November.

While state grants have helped, Arreola said, they are insufficient to cover the full need.

“I know that at the moment there is a pause, which I get, and that there are financial issues,” he said. “But I would say just in general, for operations, it is a struggle with $500,000. We’re actually underfunding it.”

The shelter, Arreola said, currently has 10 available beds, the most it has had in a while. It typically operates with 38-42 of its 44 beds occupied. 

Supervisor Mindy Sotelo said she couldn’t back the expansion at this time. With 10 shelter beds still available and 16 new units set to open soon at the county’s Migrant Center, which will serve homeless families but not individuals, she said the county could wait before investing more.

“In light of all of our budget discussions yesterday and having to kind of pause on different things,” she said, “I can’t support this right now using money out of the general fund.”

Still, the board approved in a 4-1 vote a $50,000 contract with Coastal Habitat Education and Environmental Restoration (CHEER) to continue riverbed cleanup efforts for six more months. The idea is that while Tucker Construction, the company hired for the clearing, would be in charge of storing and handling personal property, CHEER will fill the trucks with trash and take it to the landfill.

An abandoned car and trash next to the Fourth St. Bridge on May 5, the first day of the encampment clearing. Photo by Juan Pablo Pérez Burgos

Encampment clearing numbers

During the meeting, Gonzalez and Sheriff’s Deputy Peter O’Day updated the supervisors on the encampment clearing that began on May 5. Here are some key figures:

  • Phase 1 is complete and Phase 2 is 75% complete. According to O’Day, once Phase 2 is over, about 70% of the project will be completed. Notices have been given to those living in the area of Phase 3, which will cover the river from Nash Road to Union Road.
  • 29 encampments have been cleared. Some were underground and some were as old as 15 years, O’Day said.
  • 36 people were offered services.
  • Six accepted invitations to go to the shelter.
  • Four accepted hotel vouchers provided by the county.
  • 13 dumping sites were cleared.
  • 40 vehicles have been removed.
  • 16 pets were found and spayed or neutered.
  • 13 40-yard-foot containers were filled and taken to the landfill.

O’Day told the supervisors that some people have attempted to return and rebuild camps along the riverbank, and they were informed that camping in the area is no longer allowed.

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