San Clemente's Homeless Crisis, Park Monitors To Become Rangers

SAN CLEMENTE, CA — A plan is underway to promote San Clemente's Park Monitors to Park Rangers. A reclassification of those employees was introduced at the Sept. 3 council meeting, though no quorum could be reached. That was expected to change on Wednesday, Sept. 18, according to the city manager's office.

The new ordinance and reclassification, will allow the Park Rangers to work hand in hand with OCSD to ensure our parks and beaches remain clean and safe for all to use, City Manager James Makshanoff said in a recent letter to the people of San Clemente.

In August, San Clemente cleaned up and cleaned out the city's designated campsite. Homeless residents were asked to pack up and pack out their belongings, throw out their trash and leave, allowing the city to clean up the area and implement new rules, according to Makshanoff.

"With the recent cleaning of the City’s designated campsite and the institution of new rules limiting the camp to homeless with ties to San Clemente, there have been fears of the homeless taking over our parks and beaches," he said in a recent letter to residents. That won't be the case, he assures residents.

After the homeless left the site, city workers marked new camping spaces while officials enlisted new security guards.

New tents were implemented at the site, a requirement that only city-provided tents could be used there. Proof of ties to San Clemente was required for re-entry.

"With these adjustments and the hard work of our awesome City staff and partners, we were able to whittle down the population down to 29 campers–a huge success!" he said. "I want to thank everyone involved, our maintenance team, code enforcement, utilities, OCSD, and many others."

Of those who left the area, 17 accepted transportation to leave San Clemente. The remainder are still in town, according to the city of San Clemente.

"The County has been working diligently alongside OCSD to conduct outreach and offer alternatives to them," he said.

In San Clemente, curfews at parks and beaches will continue to be enforced. Any illegal activity is taking place in those spaces will not be tolerated.

On Tuesday, Sept. 3, Adam Atamian, the City’s Code Compliance Manager, presented a re-classification of the City’s Park Monitor positions to Park Rangers. The reclassification also includes increased job responsibilities as it relates to enforcement at the City’s park facilities.

The ordinance the City Council voted to establish gives enforcement authority to the Park Rangers to enforce municipal code violations occurring in City Parks and associated facilities, such as beach areas, the municipal pier, other buildings and structures, trails, and parking lots.

It was expected to be voted into place at the Sept. 18 city council meeting. Learn more about the Park Ranger enforcement.