Spencer Harris’ Menlo Park apartment was packed wall to wall. There were stacks upon stacks of files and papers for his business and thousands of carefully annotated newspapers; dozens of dress shirts hung on a clothesline over his bed.

Harris called himself an “accumulator,” his friends said, but many would likely call him a hoarder.

“I knew that if (the landlord or authorities) went in, it would be the end for Spencer, because he had been petrified,” said his downstairs neighbor and friend Lynn Huidekoper. “He was petrified for a long time of someone seeing the apartment.”

Harris’ fears were realized in May when police entered his apartment while he was out of town. He received a 24-hour eviction notice and was forced to sort through belongings collected over three decades — items he called “my identity.”

Less than a week later, 74-year-old Harris died by suicide. Now his friends and family are questioning why he was removed from his apartment with such haste and are searching for ways that municipalities can work more successfully with hoarders like Harris.

“There needs to be more awareness by the city police departments and the city government,” said Harris’ brother, Wes. “If they do come across a hoarder, they need to get a mental health professional involved right away.”

Harris frequented the Peet’s Coffee & Tea on Santa Cruz Avenue in Menlo Park. He could be found there nearly every day with a stack of reading material and a highlighter in hand, chatting with other regulars. Friends said he was known for his libertarian leanings and the thoughtful questions he would ask about people’s families.

He lived in his apartment on the 800 block of Roble Avenue for 27 years and made his living by publishing a semiannual directory of auditors called “Who Audits America.” He was active, riding his bicycle around town and taking frequent vacations.

Harris was on one of those trips in early May, visiting a friend in Cancun, Mexico, when a neighbor noticed newspapers and mail piling up outside Harris’ door. The apartment manager asked police to make sure Harris was all right.

Knowing that Harris would be upset about people entering his apartment, Huidekoper said she told officers and the apartment manager that he was alive and well, and on vacation. She said she called Harris but officers refused to take the phone from her. Menlo Park police spokeswoman Nicole Acker contested that version of events, reading from a police report that said Huidekoper was the one who refused to give officers the phone.

Regardless, police went into his apartment, found it was “in a bad state” and referred the case to Code Enforcement Officer Liz Fambrini, Acker said. Fambrini saw the apartment on May 11 and found a multitude of health and safety code violations, including fire hazards that put other tenants at risk, Acker said.

Fambrini put a sign on the apartment’s front door proclaiming it “unsafe to enter” and gave Harris 24 hours to leave.

“(Harris) agreed that it was uninhabitable,” Acker said. “He was fine, he wasn’t distraught or anything. He understood, he agreed.”

There was “no concern” about his mental health, she added.

The apartment building’s owner set Harris up with a storage “pod” and hired workers to help him sort through his possessions. Harris stayed with a friend for a few days and then moved to the Mermaid Inn Motel in Menlo Park.

On May 17, Harris drove to the Palo Alto Baylands and shot himself in his car, his brother and friends said. In a suicide note, he said the “disgorgement” of his possessions had sent him into a “depression spin.”

“My Stuff, is My Identity,” Harris wrote in an email. “I am out-of-energy for even making the Sort/Throw decisions. Most everything is going to the dempster Dumpster. Out of Money, Too Tired, too Weary to go on.”

“If he hadn’t had this incident with his apartment he would be alive today,” said his friend James Goodell. “I just can’t help but think it was the shock of this incident that pushed him over the edge.”

Acker said it would be “inappropriate” to comment on the code enforcement incident’s role in Harris’ death.

“It’s a sad case, it’s a sad story,” she said. “We did what we had to do as far as health and safety, because it wasn’t just affecting him. It was affecting all the other tenants in the apartment complex.”

Hoarding and mental health

Hoarding expert Michael Tompkins — co-author of “Digging Out: Helping Your Loved One Manage Clutter, Hoarding and Compulsive Acquiring” — said it should not be automatically assumed that hoarding is to blame when a person with the problem commits suicide. However, there is a “clear link” between the behavior and other mental health issues, such as depression, he said.

While Harris may not have been aware of them, there are resources for hoarders, ranging from legal help to group therapy sessions, according to local mental health officials. Efforts are also under way to bring together code enforcement officers and mental health professionals to discuss best ways to approach hoarding situations.

Just one day after posting the eviction notice on Harris’ door, Fambrini attended the first symposium of the “San Mateo County Hoarding Task Force,” said Alan and Linda Merrifield, who run www.hoarders.org through their organization, Peninsula Community Services. The Merrifields said Fambrini has been involved in many task force activities and is experienced in handling hoarding situations.

Tompkins, who was the keynote speaker at the San Mateo County symposium, advocates a “harm reduction” approach to hoarding. Instead of trying to clear out a hoarder’s entire home, which could lead to relapses, Tompkins says the key is to focus on removing safety hazards while allowing people to live the way they want.

“There are ways to moderate and mitigate the risks … and not propel people into personally risky situations or destroy people’s lives,” agreed Eduardo Vega, executive director of the Mental Health Association of San Francisco, which has an institute dedicated to hoarding issues.

Hoarding experts said it is unusual for someone to be removed from their home on one day’s notice.

“In most situations, the property is cluttered, but it’s not so unsafe that it needs to be shut down immediately,” said Chris Rodriguez, health services manager with San Mateo County Adult Protective Services.

Harris’ friends, meanwhile, want to see policy changes in Menlo Park. Goodell said the city should hold a hearing before anyone is locked out of their home for a code violation. Notices like the one Harris received should also include information about how to appeal a code enforcement officer’s decision, he added.

Huidekoper plans to take Harris’ story to the Menlo Park City Council.

“We can’t blame ourselves,” she said. “It’s a tragedy, and my way of handling it is to make police and landlords more sensitive to this disorder.”

Email Diana Samuels at dsamuels@dailynewsgroup.com.