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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 requiring storage of personal property that is not obvious trash. “Just because something was unattended does not mean it was abandoned,” Balch said, referencing Levon v. City of Los Angeles.
Other public commenters described being homeless or witnessing operations they called unconstitutional and “mean‑spirited.” Wes Wisely, of a lived‑experience advocacy group, said the city’s work to remove items had at times left residents without blankets and aid in freezing weather. Brian San Diego, who said he received a housing voucher in September, told the council that program transitions have been rocky and that shelter fills with residents from other jurisdictions while local residents remain unhoused.
Several speakers asked city staff to store non‑trash items and to schedule clearings at times that do not put people at risk. Closer Walk’s Balch and other speakers requested a formal review of sweep timing and property‑handling procedures. Balch explicitly cited Levon v. City of Los Angeles and told the council that the federal case required storage of items that are not clearly trash.
City Manager Mendez responded to a direct question and said staff would follow up with Balch. “I’ll follow‑up with him and we’ll be right back,” Mendez said from the dais. No formal action or change of policy was taken at the meeting; council members said they would ask staff for additional information and for a report back on sweep policy, timing and how the city handles personal property recovered during operations.
The topic drew repeated comment across the public‑comment period at the meeting — speakers included service providers, residents who said they formerly experienced homelessness and advocates — and several council members asked staff to provide a fuller factual briefing in a future meeting or administrative report.
