The final few transients left on the Santa Ana riverbed were provided shelter Monday, the culmination of nearly a week’s worth of clearing out the biking and hiking trails.
The sheltering of all the transients cleared the way Monday for the Orange County Sheriff’s Department to begin making trespassing arrests for anyone attempting to camp out on the property. Meanwhile, Orange County public works and parks officials will continue clearing out trash left behind, a project that could take until April.
Workers must turn over the soil and possibly replace dirt in the area, said Orange County Board of Supervisors Chairman Andrew Do.
“We also want to screen the dirt for syringes lodged in the dirt,” Do said. “We don’t want people using it and running the risk of being poked (with a discarded syringe).”
Officials believed they had cleared out the riverbed of campers as of 5 p.m. Sunday, Do said. But when officials went to the site Monday morning they saw a couple more transients, but it wasn’t clear if they had camped out overnight so they were placed in a local shelter, said Carrie Braun of the Orange County Sheriff’s Department.
From Feb. 14 through Sunday, the county issued motel vouchers for 30 days or placed in shelters 697 transients.
This past weekend, 69 transients received motel and food vouchers.
The county picked up the tab for 582 motel rooms. Another 35 were placed in local shelters, bringing the total of people who received motel rooms or shelter to 732.
The county found shelter for the transients to settle a lawsuit filed by homeless advocates who had alleged the county did not have enough housing or shelter for the campers and wanted to make sure they didn’t end up getting evicted and thrown into a cycle of arrests for violating anti-camping ordinances in surrounding cities.
Officials planned to use the 30-day motel stays to help the transients find more stable, long-term housing and shelter as well as other services.
—City News Service