Authorities from Chula Vista and San Diego County cleared out more than fifty homeless people who had been living close to the trolley tracks between Palomar Street and Industrial Boulevard last Tuesday morning.
Throughout the homeless people’s months-long stay in that region, cleaning personnel gathered hundreds of pounds of trash, dirt, furniture, bicycles, and grocery carts.
Some people moved their belongings to the edge of Industrial Boulevard and set up their tents again while city workers cleared the land and pruned the trees. Others moved through the streets, pushing carts filled with blankets, clothes, appliances, other items, and a few pets.
Residents of the surrounding areas and business owners, who repeatedly voiced concerns to the City Council about the possible danger that this person’s stay posed to the local population, had complained and reported this settlement for months.
Trolley users were another group that voiced their unease—mostly ladies and young people— primarily because of the harassment they experienced and the littering that was causing pollution in the region.
“I don’t know where I’ll go, and I don’t know why they’re taking us away; we have nowhere to go or anywhere to shower. We need a place to shower,” said one of the evicted men who said to be called Fred.
One of the Palomar Village business owners, who wished to remain anonymous, stated, “Their situation is sad, but they should seek help. There are many programs for them; it was time for the authorities to act because we couldn’t cope with them here anymore, and we were losing customers and our safety.”
*Translated by Carolina Herrera
They needed to move but not finding them places means they will soon be in other inappropriate places. Why is the city of CV not housing people in those 75 little homes???