Sonoma County supervisors delay action on sprawling Joe Rodota Trail homeless camp

Sonoma County supervisors stalled Tuesday in their bid to advance a solution to the growing homeless crisis on the Joe Rodota Trail in Santa Rosa, postponing action on a set of shelter recommendations county staff hastily cobbled together early this week.

The options, which would cost more than $11.6 million combined, include new group homes to house nearly 60 people, permanent housing for another 90 ?people in a converted motel and at least one sanctioned outdoor encampment.

County staff sidestepped a potentially explosive proposal that was never publicly aired: using horse stables at the county fairgrounds as temporary housing for campers on the Joe Rodota Trail.

After housing and planning officials toured the Sonoma County Fairgrounds on Monday, they dropped the idea of converting stables typically used for horses racing in the county’s summer fair to housing for people.

“What would have to happen to make those stables livable - habitable living conditions that respect the dignity of those individuals … it made more sense to prioritize our energy, resources and staff time to find a solution that’s more permanent,” Department of Health Services Director Barbie Robinson said, explaining the decision in an interview.

Instead Robinson presented seven recommendations to the Board of Supervisors that called for spending on short-term shelter and long-term housing. That list came together so late - it wasn’t finalized until Tuesday morning - that the board balked at taking any action out of concern the county wasn’t being transparent and had failed to give adequate public notice of a potential decision.

Robinson, one of several department heads tasked with finding a solution to the crisis before Christmas, said she wasn’t surprised supervisors didn’t act on specific proposals.

“I was hoping they would,” she said. “It’s all hands on deck.”

The delay came after a three-hour hearing packed by homeless advocates and people who’ve called on the county to clear the trail camp. The postponement dealt another blow to the county’s promise to quickly address the escalating problem, with a camp population now pegged at about 200 people.

The camp has overtaken a popular public path running between Santa Rosa and Sebastopol, with dozens of tents sitting in puddles, a growing rat infestation and other health hazards. Those include the onset of trench foot, a skin malady most associated with World War I soldiers stuck in damp, unsanitary conditions.

There’s no running water, no showers and limited trash service. Portable toilets were installed just three weeks ago.

“We need to wake up, and take this moment and say this is not acceptable,” said Supervisor Lynda Hopkins, whose district includes the camp. She has favored sanctioned camps as a temporary solution, and promoted the fairgrounds option to housing and health officials in her office last week, even touring the site this past Wednesday with community groups and a county attorney.

“I think we need to do whatever can be moved forward most quickly,” Hopkins said in a text message. “If staff doesn’t recommend one option, they need to be prepared to argue why an alternative is better.”

Robinson identified a potential vacant site in Santa Rosa off Cleveland Avenue near The Living Room, a day shelter for homeless and at-risk women and children. But that proposal - envisioned to accommodate up to 60 people at a cost of $87,000 annually - was not detailed, another reason that Supervisor Susan Gorin cited for delaying action.

She served as chairwoman Tuesday in Supervisor David Rabbitt’s absence, and said she postponed decisionmaking to Monday in large part because of the requirement in California law that the public be properly notified of impending board action.

Neither the public nor supervisors had a written copy of the seven recommendations before Robinson read them aloud at Tuesday’s meeting.

Gorin asked for a copy, and Robinson offered to come back in the afternoon to provide one, advising that staff members were working with urgency to provide solutions to the board. But the rushed process failed to notify the public in time, Gorin acknowledged.

The Board of Supervisors did approve $25,000 to pay for ongoing encampment outreach efforts, and declared the trail camp a local emergency - a formal move that will allow more coordination between health and housing officials.

The other potential moves presented Tuesday included: buying four houses at a cost of $5 million to house 56 people; signing master leases for $150,000 to temporarily house up to 20 people; buying the former Economy Inn on Santa Rosa Avenue for $3.1 million to eventually serve up to 90 people; acquiring an undisclosed Hopper Street property for $3.6 million to potentially serve 140 people; and seeking $1.85 million in state funding to spur creation of permanent supportive housing.

Clearing the trail is a legally fraught proposition for either the county or city of Santa Rosa, both of which are governed by a court order that prohibits such a move without offering campers replacement shelter. Chief Deputy County Counsel Alegria De La Cruz said that injunction has more bearing on the county’s options than the appellate ruling the U.S. Supreme Court let stand this week, prohibiting cities in western states from ticketing or arresting people sleeping in public places when adequate shelter is not available.

At the trail Tuesday, several camp residents said they’d heard talk of opening up the fairgrounds to some sort of temporary shelter. A 49-year-old Santa Rosa native who identified herself as Tina said such she’s heard county and city officials float similar plans in the past.

“It would be good if it were true, if it wasn’t hot air,” she said. “I’ve heard so much B.S. - I’ve been out here on the streets off and on for 27 years.”

During a tense discussion between board members, Supervisor Shirlee Zane sought to shoot down the idea of the fairgrounds as a site, even though staff did not recommend it. The fairgrounds sits within her district encompassing central Santa Rosa and much of Rohnert Park.

“We have to have a reasonable approach that doesn’t take a problem here and transfer it over here,” Zane said.

Zane tried to call Sonoma County Fair CEO Becky Bartling up to share her thoughts on the fairgrounds, but Gorin shot down the move, saying Bartling could speak during public comment like everyone else.

Later, Hopkins sought to put a bow on a discussion that featured other heated moments. She won board approval to have county staff meet with the Squeaky Wheel Bicycle Coalition, a new homeless advocacy group, which identified the fairgrounds site as part of its package of solutions Tuesday.

“This isn’t about pushing a problem from one district to another,” Hopkins said. “It’s about basic dignity, and I don’t give a damn where that dignity is.”

Staff Writer Martin Espinoza contributed to this story.