Hot cash injection, Sunny Acres rejection 

If you were handed $13.4 million to clear out a homeless encampment and relocate approximately 200 "campers," how would you spend it?

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The big bucks, which the SLO County Board of Supervisors unanimously accepted—because free money, whoop whoop!—came from the Encampment Resolution Fund from the California Interagency Council on Homelessness, which totaled $199 million for the entire state with the goal of moving 7,300 encampment residents into housing in 23 different projects. SLO County's share was a cool $13.4 million to remove 200 people—$67,000 per person.

So, how's the county planning on spending the money? Their idea, according to their press release, is "to reduce encampments in a flood and fire danger zone and around the segment of the Bob Jones Bike Trail parallel to South Higuera Street in San Luis Obispo."

"Reduce encampments"? Um, OK, but haven't we seen this show before? In fact, wasn't it just last year on Jan. 7 that SLO Police officers, park rangers, and 2 Mexicans Junk Removal workers were clearing a homeless encampment on the Bob Jones Trail near Prado Road? Didn't they also clear encampments from the same area in October 2020? What's going to be different this time?

Well, according to the county, the operation will have three parts: "Cleanup of the San Luis Creek and associated open spaces near the Bob Jones Bike Trail" (if it's like previous attempts, read that as run off the homeless and throw away any belongings they can't carry); "expansion of ongoing field outreach efforts to those living in the area" (read that as tell the campers about homeless services like 40 Prado Homeless Services Center, EOC Homeless Services, and Shower the People, which isn't exactly the same as finding them homes, is it?); and finally, "development of a non-congregate housing facility with on-site wraparound services, dubbed the 'Welcome Home Village.'"

Wait a minute! That last part may actually be different from past attempts!

"Non-congregate housing" means offering a living space with some level of privacy, such as a motel room. According to the plan, DignityMoves "will build a supportive housing community," LifeArk "will build modular Homes," and Good Samaritan Shelter "will manage the supportive housing program."

Predictably, 5th District Supervisor Debbie Arnold bitched about the plan in a back-and-forth with Homeless Services Division Manager Joe Dzvonik and SLO City Manager Derek Johnson because what happens when the money runs out?

Unpredictably, 3rd District Supervisor Dawn Ortiz-Legg started crying as she told Dzvonik how "gosh darn" proud she is of him and his staff for the plan.

You know what this plan reminds me of? Sunny Acres, Dan DeVaul's utopian dream of housing and helping homeless and addicted people at his 72-acre ranch along Los Osos Valley Road. The "modular homes" idea reminds me of the little 8-by-10-foot garden sheds DeVaul had built for people to live in, and the "supportive housing program" reminds me of the AA and NA meetings, group meals, and cooperative community DeVaul tried to create.

How did all that go? Well, the very same SLO County government that's all-in on this new Welcome Home Village plan thwarted DeVaul at every turn, arguing his garden sheds weren't fit for human habitation.

I'm sure the county was correct, and they weren't up to code, and by many measures Sunny Acres as a rehab facility is a hot mess, and certainly "Saint" Dan's halo has been badly tarnished during his tenure as the Lord and Savior of Homeless Addicts, but he created his nonprofit way back in November 2001 to help people.

DeVaul was a guy who was trying, however imperfectly, to get people off the street. Would he have succeeded if the country gave him the help he needed? Instead, DeVaul's been sued by the county over code violations. He's been unable over the last 22 years to make his utopia a success.

It's awfully topsy-turvy out at Sunny Acres these days. Years ago, when DeVaul couldn't supply up-to-code housing for his residents, the county kicked people off the property and back into homelessness despite DeVaul's protestation. Now in DeVaul's current wrangling with the county, his attorney Matt Janowicz is arguing before Judge Rita Federman that residents should be removed. What the what?

Look, it's true. Sunny Acres isn't fit for human habitation. It doesn't even have clean drinking water! Assistant County Counsel Jon Ansolabehere is arguing Sunny Acres is mess because of DeVaul's mishandling of the property, and DeVaul's attorney is arguing the ranch is a mess because of the tenants. They're probably both right.

"It appears that Sunny Acres is housing more people than is permitted in the program and more than can be properly housed and are otherwise living on the property unlawfully," Janowicz argued.

"The property owner used those individuals as a shield against the county's health and safety laws," Ansolabehere countered. "It's a little disingenuous to flippantly ask the court to remove them."

Move them where? The Bob Jones Trail? What if the county helped get Sunny Acres in compliance with a functioning well and up-to-code housing instead of suing an ailing owner who hasn't been on his property in two years? How about funding a "supportive housing program" there? The inconsistent thinking is grinding my gears. Δ

The Shredder loathes hypocrisy. Tell it what you loathe at [email protected].