21. Ordinance Adding Chapter 8.140 to the Sacramento City Code, Relating to Protection of Critical Infrastructure and Wildfire Risk Areas [In lieu of pass for publication to be published in its entirety upon adoption] {Continued from 02/11/2020} File ID: 2020-00137
In the nearly 500-page staff report on this item, there is little to no analysis of its impact and no plan for the removal and resettlement of individuals. I ask the city to please amend this ordinance to 1) remove hollow sidewalks from the list of disallowed places and, 2) substantially reduce or eliminate the fines. I am aware, and grateful, for the work being done to open new shelters and leverage federal and state dollars for housing and services; but I believe it is imperative that if we are to move thousands of people, we need to have a comprehensive plan on where they will go. I also ask that we conduct this analysis and develop a plan before passing such an ordinance.
Please include some additional detail around the need to prohibit camping along Transportation Right-of-Way (ROW) such as railroad tracks and critical Freeway access points. For example, should there be a passenger train derailment, emergency response vehicles need to be able to access the ROW to get to the derailment site. We have noted some camps beginning to spring up on the Train ROW off Folsom Blvd near the Folsom underpass as an example. Other wording to prohibit camping along Utility (Power and Communications) ROW should also be spelled out more specifically. Other Critical Infrastructure such as Hospitals should also be spelled out if they are not included.
Signed
Dan Ruiz
Contributor to the 1998 the Presidential Commission on the Protection of Critical Infrastructure.
Past member of the Secret Service "Insider Threat Analysis" Task force on the Protection of Critical Infrastructure
Time to go back to the drawing board, and actually figure out how to coordinate with homeless people to find permanent shelter for them. The city needs to work with citizens to solve the actual problem, for example by reinstating the requirement for developers to include very low income affordable housing in their buildings. I am sure that almost all homeless people would prefer to live or camp in stable situations, and this proposed and ineffective ordinance is ample evidence that the city continues to fail to address the actual problem rather than the symptoms of its own failure. The ordinance should at least specify with maps the locations that ARE acceptable for homeless camping, with access to potable water and cost-effective sanitary facilities such as porta-potties.
If you really want to solve the homeless problem, simply charge a fee for bedrooms that are not being slept in, based on the precedent of the empty building ordinance of the early 2000s.
In the nearly 500-page staff report on this item, there is little to no analysis of its impact and no plan for the removal and resettlement of individuals. I ask the city to please amend this ordinance to 1) remove hollow sidewalks from the list of disallowed places and, 2) substantially reduce or eliminate the fines. I am aware, and grateful, for the work being done to open new shelters and leverage federal and state dollars for housing and services; but I believe it is imperative that if we are to move thousands of people, we need to have a comprehensive plan on where they will go. I also ask that we conduct this analysis and develop a plan before passing such an ordinance.
Please include some additional detail around the need to prohibit camping along Transportation Right-of-Way (ROW) such as railroad tracks and critical Freeway access points. For example, should there be a passenger train derailment, emergency response vehicles need to be able to access the ROW to get to the derailment site. We have noted some camps beginning to spring up on the Train ROW off Folsom Blvd near the Folsom underpass as an example. Other wording to prohibit camping along Utility (Power and Communications) ROW should also be spelled out more specifically. Other Critical Infrastructure such as Hospitals should also be spelled out if they are not included.
Signed
Dan Ruiz
Contributor to the 1998 the Presidential Commission on the Protection of Critical Infrastructure.
Past member of the Secret Service "Insider Threat Analysis" Task force on the Protection of Critical Infrastructure
Time to go back to the drawing board, and actually figure out how to coordinate with homeless people to find permanent shelter for them. The city needs to work with citizens to solve the actual problem, for example by reinstating the requirement for developers to include very low income affordable housing in their buildings. I am sure that almost all homeless people would prefer to live or camp in stable situations, and this proposed and ineffective ordinance is ample evidence that the city continues to fail to address the actual problem rather than the symptoms of its own failure. The ordinance should at least specify with maps the locations that ARE acceptable for homeless camping, with access to potable water and cost-effective sanitary facilities such as porta-potties.
If you really want to solve the homeless problem, simply charge a fee for bedrooms that are not being slept in, based on the precedent of the empty building ordinance of the early 2000s.