Plans to cleanup Salinas' Chinatown spark protest.

Tension and emotion were running high in Salinas’ Chinatown today.

Early in the morning, dozens of homeless people packed what little they own into cardboard boxes and carts. Others had already packed and left to a neighboring street, but most of the homeless people in the area echoed the same worry: Where will we go?

(PHOTOS: Protest erupts amid Salinas' Chinatown cleanup efforts.)

Two weeks ago, notices were posted throughout the neighborhood notifying people that tents and tarpaulins, bulky items and dirty personal belongings would be removed from city-owned property starting March 23, if people didn’t remove them first.

But Mayor Joe Gunter told the Weekly no cleanups of the area were expected to be conducted Wednesday. City officials have 30 days from today, March 23, to comply with the city ordinance, and will proceed to complete the cleanups during that time frame, City Attorney Chris Callihan says. 

“I don’t believe we have come up with a final date for them,” Gunter says.

City employees did show up on Market Way about 8:30am Wednesday morning with trash bins, but they were confronted by protesters.

At one point, a protestor threw a glass bottle at a city employee. Glass shattered on the street, hitting no one. Shortly after, that same protestor angrily tried to open the passenger door of a pick-up truck where one of the city employees was sitting and taking video of the protest.

“We are not going to deal with anyone’s bad behavior,” Gunter says, “and we are going to have to address that because there’s more to come.”

Among the city officials present during the protest were City Councilman Tony Barrera, who told the crowd he supports the cleanups. He said it needs to be done to give people what they need to live healthier lives. 

City Councilman Jose Castañeda was also there, in solidarity with the protesters. He has been the main political figure in a federal lawsuit filed by a group of homeless people last December against the city of Salinas, hoping to stop the ordinance that permits these sweeps from being enforced.

Salinas police officers were absent during the protest, although a city official said police were called after the glass bottle was thrown. 

Mayoral hopeful Amit Pandya, as well as District 4 County Supervisor candidate Alex Miller.

Assemblyman Luis Alejo, D-Salinas, who is seeking the seat of Monterey County Board of Supervisor District 1, called out Gunter and the controversial ordinance and urges the city "to cancel plans to start the sweep of the homeless encampment in Chinatown and employ other solutions to tackle the problems of homelessness."

"The city of Salinas and Monterey County have failed to adequately meet the needs  of homeless in our region," Alejo said in a press release.

He then added the city "wants to spend $250,000 to sweep the homeless out of Chinatown."

However, that number is off. Last December, council approved a contract with Smith and Enright Landscape Services to conduct the cleanups, estimated to cost between $175,000 to $200,000 a year.