Salinas again removes homeless encampments in Chinatown, this time with more collaboration.

The smell of urine is strong as Sandra Dixon and Juan Cabrera move quickly up Soledad Street in Salinas, moving wood pallets as fast as they can. Dixon and Cabrera, both unsheltered, are gathering the little bit that remains in the wake of a sweep of the Chinatown neighborhood on the morning of Monday, July 26. By noon, there isn’t much left where, just hours earlier, tents lined the street. As they pick up the last two pallets, several rats scurry away from what had been their hideout.

Some unsheltered people, like Dixon, welcomed the sweep. “It’s a great idea,” she says, adding that having a clean space to stay was part of the guidelines to stop the spread of Covid-19. Dixon says she cleaned outside her tent regularly, but not everyone did the same: “They should keep it clean.”

Salinas City Manager Steve Carrigan says the conditions in Chinatown were unhealthy and adds Salinas has a National Pollution Elimination Discharge System permit that requires them to keep parks and waterways free of trash.

The city has done sweeps of Chinatown’s encampments in the past, and one reason they are doing it now is to clear the way for the Lake Street Sewer project, replacing the sewer lines from Lake Street to Market Way and California Street to Bridge Alley; work will start on Monday, Aug. 2.

Carrigan says the city sent outreach workers to the area two weeks in advance to inform residents about the upcoming sweep and to sign people up for services. (The sweeps were scheduled to continue July 27-28 in other areas in Chinatown.)

Glenn Powell says workers doing the cleaning took several of his belongings, such as furniture, bikes and appliances he normally repairs and resells, but he wasn’t mad about it. “They gave us some warning,” he says. “They do what they have to do.”

But from the perspective of homeless advocate Wes White, co-president of the Salinas/Monterey County homeless union, this isn’t the time to remove people from their settlements, due to Covid-19. White says the city should invest in services such providing showers, bathrooms, laundry and kitchen access instead of doing sweeps.

City Councilmember Steve McShane says, right now, the county, the city and nonprofits are working better than they have in the past decade to address homelessness. He says the outreach and events like the Covid-19 pandemic “forces a conversation of what next step is available,” to help unsheltered individuals.

“The new formula I’m observing includes outreach, cooperation and trust,” he says. These efforts include the SHARE Center, a shelter jointly operated by the city and county, that opened on May 31.

“When people say there are no available beds that’s not true,” Carrigan says. As of July 27, Salinas has 202 shelter beds, and 42 of those are open.

Carrigan says Chinatown looks a little better after the sweeps but the city still has to think about long-term solutions. “People will not invest in Chinatown unless they see the city’s commitment,” he says.