SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A community advocate tells ABC10 that the homelessness crisis is fueling blight at his local shopping center.
"It attracts a lot of crime. It attracts open sex acts. There's needles over there. There's drugs being done over there. I'm not just standing here saying it; I shop here! And I've seen it myself. I've reported it," said Bishop Chris Baker, who has lived in the Parkview and Meadowview area for the better part of three decades. “Something has to be done and we have to put our foot down.”
He worries about the businesses in this shopping center on the southwest corner of Florin Road and Franklin Boulevard, most of them mom ‘n’ pop shops.
"Should they be allowed to close their doors just because of this? No!” Baker said. “They need to have their voice heard because they're the sole persons in this community that keeps this shopping center vibrant."
He's speaking on their behalf because many worry about retaliation if they were to speak out, he said.
A local small business owner who asked not to be identified told ABC10 they’re worried they’ll have to close their store. They routinely find trash and human feces outside the front and back of their business when they arrive in the morning. They’re now keeping mace by the register, for safety. They’ve also seen some people in the unhoused community harass customers.
"They should be able to shop without being harassed, without being panhandled aggressively,” Baker said. “They should feel comfortable."
Last month, Baker attended the news conference of Sacramento County District Attorney Thien Ho. There, Ho announced he is suing the city of Sacramento for failing to adequately address the homelessness crisis.
"The community is at a breaking point,” Ho said.
Baker was among the community members who approached the microphone to address the DA.
“What you're doing, if it takes that, then I support you in doing that,” Baker told Ho.
He calls the DA's lawsuit bold and needed action.
Baker also supports the city's announcement this week that a Safe Stay community of 175 tiny homes — and Community Wellness Campus with wraparound services — will go in the empty lot at 6780 Stockton Boulevard, just over two miles from Baker’s shopping center.
"But here's the issue with that: how will we get them in there? We'll have a percentage of some that say, 'Yeah, I want to go there and get myself together.' But let's look at the other percentage that don't want to do it,” Baker said.
Bob Erlenbusch, an advocate for the unhoused, is the executive director of the Sacramento Regional Coalition to End Homelessness. He said he doesn't believe forcing people into treatment is the right path and points out that some people might turn down services if the offer comes from law enforcement.
"If you have a team that's multidisciplinary, includes people with lived experience, build up that trust, and then people will take the services,” Erlenbusch said.
The 175 tiny homes — or sleeping cabins — along Stockton Boulevard represent half of what Gov. Gavin Newsom promised to the City of Sacramento back in March.
On Wednesday, Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg said the other 175 tiny homes will be installed somewhere on the Cal Expo campus, though he didn’t have additional information on exactly when or where. The Stockton Boulevard location should see the tiny homes sometime next year.
