Homeless File Eviction Cessation Lawsuit Filed In Orange County

ANAHEIM, CA — A Santa Ana-based homeless activist organization filed a federal lawsuit Monday in an attempt to stop Orange County authorities from evicting transients from the Santa Ana riverbed.

A handful of local transients are listed as plaintiffs in the complaint filed by Orange County Catholic Worker, which also seeks to stop the county from restricting access to the riverbed overnight and citing the homeless living there for violating camping prohibitions.

In addition to the county, the lawsuit also names the cities of Anaheim, Costa Mesa and Orange as defendants.

The lawsuit alleges that the county and those cities have failed to provide any affordable housing despite years of reports generated by the Orange County grand jury and other organizations concluding that the lack of such housing is the main cause of homelessness.

"We want to force a discussion about the real solutions instead of increasing the criminalization" of the homeless, said attorney Brooke Weitzman.

"It's the same story every time -- each of these governments has recognized the need for affordable housing and for whatever reasons have not produced any affordable housing," she said.

If county officials continue to move forward with encouraging transients to leave the riverbed, then they will be "ping-ponged" back to the outlying cities, Weitzman said.

"It leaves all of these vulnerable people with nowhere to go," she said.

The lawsuit seeks a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction to stop the enforcement of the clearing out of the riverbed of transients until "there's a reasonable alternative," Weitzman said.

The lawsuit alleges that law enforcement officers often ticket and cite transients even when they haven't broken the law, so Orange County Catholic Worker also wants authorities prohibited from "detaining people for being homeless without suspicion of breaking any laws," Weitzman said.

Mike Lyster, a spokesman for Anaheim, said city officials could not comment on the specifics of the lawsuit.

"We continue to see major outreach by the county and its partners to help transition people from the river trail, which is an unsustainable place to live," Lyster said. "Within Anaheim, we will continue to extend our outreach services to those in need while also ensuring that all who use our parks and other public places respect the rules, which are there for the benefit of the everyone."

Tony Dodero, a spokesman for Costa Mesa, said officials have not seen the suit and could not comment on it, but he pointed to a study released in October that showed that less than 2 percent of the homeless on the riverbed hailed from Costa Mesa.

County officials have said 628 transients on the riverbed have been contacted by social workers since September. Orange County Board of Supervisors Chairman Andrew Do said last Monday that 159 have been sent to an emergency shelter and 171 have taken advantage of "case management" plans for long-term shelter. Another 293 transients refused all offers of help, Do said.

The lawsuit noted a count last year by the county estimated 4,792 transients in the county, of which 2,584 had no shelter and couldn't find any.

The lawsuit cited a report by the county's so-called homeless czar, Susan Price, that showed "64 percent of jobs available in Orange County in 2016 did not pay enough for a person to afford a one-bedroom apartment, rents increased dramatically in 2016, and the Orange County affordable housing stock declined in the face of gentrification in formerly low-income neighborhoods across Orange County."

The lawsuit also alleges shortages of beds in emergency shelters in Santa Ana, Fullerton and a new shelter in Anaheim.

City News Service

Ashley Ludwig, Patch Staff Photo