by Cristina Bauss
September 11, 2007
Article courtesy of The Independent
Redway Beach, with the towering Ravencliff looming above it, is a popular local hangout, for good reason: the spacious beach is centrally located in an idyllic spot surrounded by redwoods, punctuated by a deep swimming hole below and the raucous cries of ravens soaring above. But on Sunday, Sept. 2, two dozen locals who volunteered to clean up a homeless-encampment area above Ravencliff were dismayed, saddened, angered, and disgusted by what they found – which, by the end of the day, amounted to about 275 bags of garbage. The event was part of an ongoing effort spearheaded by Redway resident John Casali, who, since late fall 2006, has been engaged in what can only be described as a cleanup crusade.
In the last year, Casali and a dedicated group of local volunteers have removed more than 29,000 pounds of garbage – including household trash, drug paraphernalia, and human feces – from the banks of the Eel River, local creeks, homeless camps, and dump sites favored by locals avoiding refuse-disposal fees. So far, the yearlong cleanup effort has cost about $14,000, all donated by locals – including Casali – concerned about the state of the river and its surrounding environs. But whose responsibility is it, really?
According to Brian Cox, Director of the Humboldt County Dept. of Environmental Health, it falls squarely on the property owner – but in order for the DEH to pursue it, a formal complaint must be filed. Cox estimates that the department receives about 800 complaints a year; he reported that in the last year, only two were received regarding the situation in Southern Humboldt. “Mr. Casali has called staff and spoken with them a few times,” he said, “but there is no funding for what he’s looking to have done. The county only does cleanup on its own property. There are innumerable illegal dump sites; it would cost millions to clean it all up.”
Cox explained that the DEH can, however, investigate individual cases and take action against property owners. “We would work with the property owner to help clean up the site,” he said. “If they’re not receptive, then we’d issue a notice of violation. If that doesn’t work, they get referred to the Code Enforcement Unit, which has the power to issue penalties. If that doesn’t work, the county could choose to abate the property on it own… and attach a lien, which must be paid on the tax assessment.” Cox said there are about 200 active cases in the county, but it’s rare that a case reaches that point: “It takes a lot of county resources to do abatement, and we simply don’t have those resources.”
Compounding the work is the fact that many complainants simply don’t provide enough information. Cox said that, when filing a complaint, the following should be included for speediest processing: the specific location of the problem; directions to the site, especially if it’s difficult to reach; a description of the materials seen that are of concern; the approximate date that the problem began; and, if possible, the complete name and address of the property owner and/or the parties responsible. The DEH does not have the resources “to do a sweep or whatever,” Cox added. “We only have two or three people doing this.” He also expressed frustration about local agencies’ having to enforce state laws on extremely limited budgets, and taxpayers’ reluctance to fund programs that might make it easier for agencies to do their work: as an example, he cited the protracted battle to have a monitor-disposal fee added to the purchase price of personal computers. “There are solutions, but it takes political will,” he said.
As for the health of the river – and the people who use it – Casali told The Independent that he has contacted 22 separate entities about the issue, “and they all point the finger at someone else.” Earlier in the year, he provided the Redway Community Services District with photographs documenting the problem, and he has also contacted several government agencies. But, he has been stymied at every turn: according to the Regional Water Quality Control Board in Santa Rosa, the camps are a law-enforcement issue; according to the Dept. of Fish & Game, someone must be caught in the act of dumping in order for action to be taken; and according to Casali, the county Health Dept. instructed him not to touch the garbage because of high health risks. Casali did say he has “a lot of respect” for local law-enforcement agencies, which, despite being understaffed and overwhelmed, have assisted in cleanup efforts whenever possible.
Mercifully, Casali’s efforts haven’t gone unnoticed by the general public. He has received assistance from some of the local homeless people (whom he pays for cleanup work), Friends of the Eel River, the Southern Humboldt Technical Rescue Team, and other local volunteers. Casali reported that, while the vast majority of people with whom he’s spoken have praised his efforts, he occasionally faces criticism from those who believe he has unfairly targeted the homeless population (Casali estimates that about 80 percent of the garbage he has hauled off is from homeless camps). He emphatically stated that he sees a clear difference between long-term, homeless residents of Southern Humboldt – many of whom are veterans and mentally ill people – and shorter-term transients who are apparently fit and healthy, but have what he sees as a complete disregard for the community and the environment that sustains it.
It’s a thorny issue, with no clear solutions, that has reared its ugly head in a number of local news stories in the past year: the virtual emptying of the Community Food Pantry in October 2006; Garberville business owners’ concerns about loitering and panhandling in the proposed Town Square site; Lower Redway residents’ petition to State Parks about homeless camps, following two suspicious fires in 2006; and the closing of the Redway Post Office during evenings and Sundays, following an attack on a boxholder by a homeless person’s dog. At least one local business has taken matters into its own hands: Shop Smart recently re-painted the wall between its parking lot and the Post Office’s – clearly marking “No Loitering” at the end of the wall – and removed the pay phone that long stood there.
Casali and Nadananda, Executive Director of Friends of the Eel River, have both apprised Second District Supervisor Roger Rodoni about the situation; according to Rodoni, “It’s a recurring issue, a problem that’s been laid at the country doorstep for as long as I’ve been here.” When pressed for a possible solution, Rodoni said he has tried, at least once, to work with local advocates for the homeless – “but they turned down our proposal. Several years ago, the Director of Social Services and I met with five advocates for the homeless, who wanted to open up a soup kitchen in Redway… Another one wanted to have a shelter. The director offered a 24-hour van service to pick people in dire situations up, take them to Eureka, care for their kids, give them food, provide job training. The advocates turned it down.”
Why? According to Rodoni, “they [the advocates] told us they [the homeless] lived in Southern Humboldt. They didn’t want to leave. The real sticking point was: these people aren’t going to go to Eureka. Well, if you’re looking for help, and someone offers you help and you turn it down, and you say you’re homeless but you live here and you won’t leave… it flies in the face of the definition of homelessness.”
“It [the problem] won’t go away in the present social and cultural system we have in Southern Humboldt,” Rodoni asserted. “There’s a climate of acceptance of the homeless element, or free spirits, or whatever people want to call them. One only has to look at Fortuna and Ferndale, where it’s not tolerated… and where law enforcement feels someone is standing behind them.” Rodoni did acknowledge that the situation may differ in Southern Humboldt, where there’s no police force and the Sheriff’s Substation is undermanned and overworked, but maintained that the heart of the problem is in the “culture and societal value system” present in the area: “Many issues have been thrown into this bin of political correctness, and it needs to be scoured with soap and water, so we can talk openly about these things.”
Meanwhile, fundraising and awareness efforts for river cleanup continue. In Garberville on Friday evening, The NPK performed a benefit concert for the cleanup effort, as part of Arts Alive and the band’s series of summer benefits. In response to a spike in the amount of garbage collected before Reggae, People Productions made a $500 donation; according to Casali, the reduced attendance at this year’s festival “made a huge difference” compared to last year: “There was a lot less of it.” A small group of people is working on a presentation to be sent to Senators Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein, CNN, and Fox News, and more people are contacting Casali directly when they witness wrongdoing: a woman recently called to tell him she had seen “someone driving a U-Haul dumping about 400 lbs. of garbage, including piles of magazines and other mail they’d taken from the Post Office for identity-theft purposes.” Casali said he’d apprised USPS of the risk.
On Sept. 4, Nadananda sent a memo and photograph from the Ravencliff cleanup to local media, exhorting them to contact Cox and Rodoni. “It had been a meth-using campsite with crack pipes, cookers, cotton balls, and used needles,” she wrote. “There were even diapers and children’s toys. Disgusting and heartbreaking… This site is right above the Redway Water District spring. Nobody will help, so locals are taking the problem on. We are tired of our river being trashed and the fires set in deplorable places. I call this the Katrina wake-up call.”
Southern Humboldt residents wishing to donate towards cleanup efforts may do so through the Eel River Cleanup Fund, account #13129 at the Community Credit Union in Garberville. For more information or to volunteer, contact Friends of the Eel River, 923-2146.
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