Tempers flared and nerves frayed as county supervisors sought to decide how to humanely crack down on homeless encampments in the wake of the recent Supreme Court ruling that relieves local governments of the legal obligation to offer shelter beds to people living on the streets by relocating or “resolving” them.
More specifically, how should the county relocate, remove, or otherwise resolve homeless encampments along waterways or in campers along county roads? And should they eliminate outright the long-standing requirement to offer a shelter bed to encampment residents before clearing them out?
In recent years, the County of Santa Barbara has spent unprecedented sums providing interim shelter options. But it’s still not nearly enough. Even with 1,000 shelter beds, the supervisors were told, rarely are any of the beds unoccupied. What happens when the Santa Maria riverbed — reportedly the scene of human trafficking and other unimaginable evils, in the words of County Supervisor Bob Nelson — gets cleared? Do these people simply disappear?