Sheriff’s Deputy Chris Eiben climbs up on a wall along the side of the Dana Point branch of the county library on Tuesday, Novermber 14, 2017, where homeless people had been accessing the roof to camp out. (Photo by Paul Rodriguez, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Sheriff’s deputy Chris Eiben looks out onto the roof of the Dana Point branch of the county library on Tuesday, November 14, 2017 where homeless people had been camping out . (Photo by Paul Rodriguez, Orange County Register/SCNG)

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Sheriff’s Sgt. Rich Himmel, center, and Deputy Chris Eiben walk through the Dana Point branch of the county library in Dana Point on Tuesday, November 14, 2017. (Photo by Paul Rodriguez, Orange County Register/SCNG)

A homeless man, center, is asked to leave by library personel after he cussed out woman who was working at one of the library’s public computers at the Dana Point branch of the county library on Tuesday, November 14, 2017. (Photo by Paul Rodriguez, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Jim Marutsos of Dana Point talks with his son after their visit to the library, left, in Dana Point on Tuesday, November 14, 2017. (Photo by Paul Rodriguez, Orange County Register/SCNG)



George Greenshields of Capistrano Beach and a regular user of the county library in Dana Point walks out of the library on Tuesday, November 14, 2017. Greenshields believes the county should consider having armed guards at the library. (Photo by Paul Rodriguez, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Laura Blasingham, right, branch manager of the county library in Dana Point talks with security guard Tom To in front of the library on Tuesday, November 14, 2017. (Photo by Paul Rodriguez, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Sheriff’s Sgt. Rich Himmel checks the roof of the Dana Point branch of the county library on Tuesday, November 14, 2017. Homeless people had been camping on the roof of the library. (Photo by Paul Rodriguez, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Sheriff’s Deputy Chris Eiben looks at the ladder that is now covered with hinged panels to keep homeless people from accessing the roof of the Orange County branch library in Dana Point on Tuesday, November 14, 2017. (Photo by Paul Rodriguez, Orange County Register/SCNG)

A homeless man, center, is asked to leave by library personel after he cussed out woman who was working at one of the library’s public computers at the Dana Point branch of the county library on Tuesday, November 14, 2017. (Photo by Paul Rodriguez, Orange County Register/SCNG)



A homeless man, right, uses one of the library’s public computers in the Dana Point branch of the Orange County library on Tuesday, November 14, 2017. (Photo by Paul Rodriguez, Orange County Register/SCNG)

DANA POINT Mimi Farsani, a former bank executive, frequently goes to the computer bay at the Dana Point Library to polish up her resume and look for job opportunities.

On Tuesday, Nov. 14 Farsani struck gold with a positive answer to a resume she had sent out. “This is perfect,” she said to herself after reading the email.

But her excitement seemed to upset a homeless man using a computer a few chairs away.

“Don’t talk to yourself, you piece of (expletive),” Farsani recalled the man telling her.

Farsani reported the incident to Laura Blasingham, the library branch manager. And that prompted a heated exchange between the man and Blasingham that ended with her threatening to call Orange County Sheriff’s deputies and the man leaving.

Tuesday’s incident was the latest example of how members of the growing homeless community are becoming disruptive fixtures in the city’s public spaces, law enforcement and library, officials say. A few weeks earlier, library officials reported a car break-in in their parking lot. Officials cite other problems, including homeless people living on the library’s roof and inappropriate behaviors such as drug use in bathrooms.

On average, about 600 children and adults visit the library each month for programs including storytime, writing groups and coloring clubs.

“We come here for storytime and doing puzzles and fun things,” said Jim Marutsos, who had brought his son, Stelios, 3, to storytime and observed the incident in the computer bay. “We don’t expect bad things would happen here.”

So far this year, Sheriff’s deputies have responded to the library eight times, up from six calls for service in 2016, said Sgt. Rich Himmel. At least half of those calls were homeless-related, he said. The draw is that the library is open to the public and someone can walk in and stay there all day, he said.

Blasingham has submitted 38 incident reports to the library administration in Santa Ana this year, said Matthew Patsel, a spokesman for the Orange County library system. He said reports ranged from someone tripping, to a minor argument between patrons where someone may be asked to leave, to serious issues such as the car break-ins.

Deputy Chris Eiben, the Sheriff’s Department’s homeless liaison officer, said in the past year he has had to chase people away who were living on the roof.

“There have been mattresses, chairs and drug paraphernalia,” Eiben said. “A man defecated into the roof vents.”

Library officials responded by putting a locked cover over the ladder leading to the library’s roof to make it more difficult for people to get access.

Eiben said homeless people have also been discovered bathing in the sinks in the library’s bathrooms. One woman had at least 200 paper towels and was trying to take a shower by spraying water from the sink, he said.

Deputies have stepped up their patrols near the library, especially at night as the homeless calls have become more frequent, he said.

While the library, in the north end of Dana Point, is not the city’s ground zero for the homeless, the nearby park setting creates opportunities for them to conceal their campsites, police officials say.

The Dana Point library recently was one of five libraries identified by the Orange County Board of Supervisors as having high occurrences of disruptive behavior by patrons. On Oct. 31, the board approved an additional $50,000 to be spent on unarmed security guard services at the libraries.

In their unanimous vote, the board added money to the county’s existing contract with The Alpha & Omega Group Security Services Inc. to cover an hourly guard rate increase from $14.57 to $15.25 effective Jan. 1.

While the increased funding will add more security hours to the Costa Mesa Donald Dungan branch, it will not add to security at the other libraries in Dana Point, Tustin, Westminster and the Heritage Park branch in Irvine

Supervisor Todd Spitzer said he has called for a comprehensive review of each library in the county’s jurisdiction, including input from the local law enforcement agencies.

“The way this was presented from the outset shows a complete lack of understanding from the county library officials,” he said about the Oct. 31 meeting. “I was flabbergasted when I saw this on the consent calendar. We should address this in a serious way. We have an absolute mandate to make libraries safe.”

Getting law enforcement involved is critical in determining how to make sure the Dana Point library is safe, Himmel said.

“The library is open during business hours, we’re open 24-7,” he said. “We’re aware of the certain situations that go on there. We know the bad guys, the homeless people and the sex offenders. We know the type of people the library needs to be concerned about.”

Patsel said the report Spitzer requested is being compiled and will come back to the board at a later date.

Betsy Evans, a regular library user from Dana Point, said she remembers seeing a homeless women bathing in the bathroom. The woman told Evans she had been an artist.

“It was very scary,” Evans said. “And very sad. I felt sorry for her.”

George Greenshields, a home inspector, uses the library at least three times a week to make printouts for reports and to check out materials.

With the recent news of shootings, he said he wonders how effective the library’s unarmed guard would be in the event of something more serious.

“I worry about the groups of kids that come in here,” the Capistrano Beach resident said. “I don’t know how (the guard) can help if there were a shooting.”

After the incident at the computer bay, Farsani, a Laguna Niguel resident, said she became uncomfortable when the man kept staring at her after she asked him to repeat his comment.

“I felt the hair raising on my arm and was scared,” she said.

Marutsos, a former restaurant owner, said he always scans the environment in public places, especially now with his son.

He said he worried as he observed the incident.

“I was thinking, is he going to get more upset?” he said. “I saw his baggy pants and I wondered if he had a gun.

“Here in Dana Point we’re kind of in a bubble, it’s sad we have to worry about things like this.”

Staff writer Louis Casiano Jr. contributed to this report