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ELANA AUERBACH | COURTESY<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After a nearly seven-year protest on the green space, the “Here There” encampment was cleared away on Tuesday.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n NATASHA KAYE<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n FEBRUARY 02, 2023 (DailyCal.org)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Berkeley city officials cleared away the longstanding \u201cHere There\u201d encampment on Adeline Street on Tuesday, putting a halt to the camp\u2019s nearly seven year-long protest on the green space.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Despite being largely considered a \u201cmodel camp,\u201d according to Berkeley\u2019s Vice Mayor Ben Bartlett, the encampment had its closure expedited by recent mounting health concerns, namely its increasing rodent population. Last Friday, an Environmental Health Division inspection deemed the location an \u201cimminent health hazard\u201d pursuant to Berkeley municipal code, according to assistant to the City Manager Peter Radu.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt was an increasingly dangerous and inhumane place for people to be,\u201d Radu said. \u201cIn December, we started planning for this closure, and we set aside our entire allocation of our annual Alameda county funding for winter shelter vouchers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n City officials determined that there were six permanent encampment residents at the time of its closure and said they were all successfully relocated to a local motel, along with being offered vouchers for up to 60 day-stays, Radu noted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n During that time, Radu says the city will try to connect residents to the \u201ccoordinated entry\u201d system, a process within the city\u2019s Homelessness Response System that assesses the situations of unhoused people and tries to provide them with housing and other resources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe reason why this encampment has been there for six years is because we do follow the law in regards to how folks are able to leave the encampments, which includes the fact that we have to provide them options for housing and options for services,\u201d said James Chang, Bartlett\u2019s chief of staff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The encampment was erected in 2017 as a protest against the city\u2019s alleged lack of resources for unhoused residents, according to former encampment resident Slum Jack.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It functioned as a community, with established internal and external rules to abide by, and even had utilities such as an outhouse and electricity powered by solar panels, Slum Jack said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe problem with this camp is, it is arguably, demonstrably, the best-running camp within the city limits of Berkeley in most regards, and they didn\u2019t just get rid of these people\u2019s shelter. They removed a camp that could be an important resource for everybody who\u2019s out there tonight in the cold,\u201d Slum Jack said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Radu said outreach with the encampment\u2019s residents began Jan. 9, with formal written notices of the impending closure posted on Jan. 27 in and around the encampment. It is standard practice to give residents at least 72 hours notice before closure, Radu noted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Julio Lee, a former encampment resident who was present at the time of its closure, noted that while he was given several days\u2019 notice to leave, Tuesday\u2019s cleanup efforts were swift, resulting in the loss of many of Lee\u2019s personal belongings. Lee was in the process of relocating his three emotional support animals to the local motel during the cleanup.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Lee said he lost thousands of dollars\u2019 worth of art supplies as the excavators tore down the remaining tents before he could retrieve his belongings. He said he was offered compensation in terms of a Blick Art Materials gift card, but noted it was not enough to cover his expenses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt\u2019s kind of tough to think about,\u201d Lee said. \u201cI lost a lot of stuff I wish I hadn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Contact Natasha Kaye at nkaye@dailycal.org<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n LAST UPDATED<\/p>\n\n\n\n FEBRUARY 03, 2023<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" ELANA AUERBACH | COURTESY After a nearly seven-year protest on the green space, the “Here There” encampment was cleared away on Tuesday. NATASHA KAYE FEBRUARY 02, 2023 (DailyCal.org) Berkeley city officials cleared away the longstanding \u201cHere There\u201d encampment on Adeline Street on Tuesday, putting a halt to the camp\u2019s nearly… Continue reading