Berkeley homeless residents remain on edge after delay of planned encampment sweep
By Amanda Hari
People living at a homeless encampment on 8th and Harrison Streets in Berkeley are wondering what’s next after city officials called off a planned sweep.
The city posted notices last week saying they would be cleaning up the encampment on Tuesday. Monday, it was delayed. Still, Thomas Parnett was trying to figure out what’s next.
“I have no idea,” Parnett said.
Everything he owns is at the encampment. He was trying to clean and pack it up, just in case the sweeps do happen. He fears losing everything.
“Some of us have some items we’d like to keep,” Parnett explained. “We can’t transport them.”
A sign posted on the pole right near his belongings says, “lodging prohibited, violators subject to arrest,” but attorney for the Berkeley Homeless Union Anthony Prince says there’s no ordinance against living in this specific area.
“There is no city-wide camping ban,” Prince explained. “But nevertheless, the city has found numerous excuses, one after another, to break up encampments.”
Prince said the 8th and Harrison encampment is one of the longest-standing camps in Berkeley, and there used to be a dumpster, but the city removed it last June.
In January, city and county health officials confirmed positive tests for leptospirosis in dogs and rats within the encampment. The city says they posted signage about the potentially deadly disease, removed debris, and handed out hygiene kits to residents.
Prince said if they sweep the camp, more must be done first.
“The fact of the matter is that the court ordered the city to identify at least three locations where people can go safely to camp, and they refused to identify those locations,” Prince stated. “So, we’re fighting in the street.”
He said they’ll go back to court to protect the homeless union members if they have to.
Amber Whitson is a homeless advocate and lives on the streets herself. She used to live at 8th and Harrison, but moved to a more stable location.
“This is the kind of trauma people end up with after being on the streets long enough,” said Whitson. “This whole, ‘We’re going to sweep you tomorrow’, ‘Oh, we’re not going to sweep you this week’. ‘Who knows when we’re going to sweep you again?'”
Parnett is dealing with those feelings right now.
“There’s less and less hope as this goes on,” Parnett explained. “You get pushed here and then pushed there and the hope part kind of goes.”
