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Residents and service providers urge Salinas to pause overnight sweeps and preserve belongings during cold nights
Summary
Multiple residents and outreach workers told the council that recent unscheduled encampment clearings in Chinatown and other locations have removed tents, blankets and donated materials during cold weather, describing the practice as dangerous and unconstitutional; city staff said they would follow up.
Dozens of speakers during the Feb. 11 public comment period urged the Salinas City Council to stop or modify unscheduled sweeps of homeless encampments — especially on cold nights — and to change how the city handles personal property collected during clearings.
David Balch, executive director of the outreach nonprofit Closer Walk, said volunteers and service providers had distributed roughly 150 jackets and more than 200 blankets to people living in about 20 tents in Chinatown over recent weeks. He said city crews “have been throwing everything away” during sweeps and pointed to Ninth Circuit precedent…
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