As San Diego Tickets Vehicle Dwellers, Advocates Warn Fines and Towing Policies Are Pushing the Poorest Residents Deeper into Poverty
“Enough of the city trying to balance the budget on the backs of their poorest residents,” said attorney Ann Menasche at last month’s RV dwellers protest in San Diego.
Menasche was one of many who gathered in Civic Center Plaza on February 10 to protest the city’s decision to resume ticketing people living out of their vehicles. The group, now forming an advocacy organization called RV Tenants Union, consists of lawyers, activists, and San Diego residents living in RVs.
San Diego is ticketing some of its poorest residents, pushing them deeper into poverty and closer to street homelessness. Most RV residents aren’t living in vehicles by choice — they’re there because they have nowhere else to go.
Many who attended the protest said that the tickets only make it harder to find housing. One of the attendees, Andre Parish, 57, said that he and his wife hoped to transition into a retirement complex. But that hope is quickly fizzling out as they’ve racked up over $4,000 in citations.
“The tickets are killing us,” he said.
They are just one of many RV dwellers and families who are drowning in tickets.
Inadequate Safe Parking Sites
Local leaders argue that the city has already provided a solution: safe parking sites around the city, including a large one by the airport.
However, Menasche and the Parish couple both point out numerous issues with accessing the H Barracks Lot. Menasche believes the lot is an inadequate offering. Not only is the lot open only overnight, which can be difficult for residents working late or on evening shifts, but it’s also difficult for those who are disabled or low-income — those who may not be able to afford gas or drive to and from the parking site each day.
NIMBYs Argue RV Dwellers Are Blocking the View
Another resident, Yvonne “Eve” Macias, 52, said she can’t make the 10 p.m. curfew. Working late at a local yacht club near the beach makes it impossible for her to park at the H Barracks safe parking site every night. In addition to tickets, Macias has also been towed, resulting in charges exceeding $400.
Pressure from NIMBY (“Not In My Backyard”) residents has pushed many California cities to adopt parking bans and ticketing policies.
In San Francisco, RV parking is limited to just two hours. Last May, the city of San Francisco counted 437 RVs being used as housing, yet the last safe parking site was shut down in March.
“They are basically forcing people out of RVs, and what this means is that we lose an alternative to being on the streets, so more folks will be on the streets,” said Jennifer Friedenbach, executive director of the Coalition on Homelessness in San Francisco.
San Francisco’s Rapid Rehousing Offer Falls Short
Like San Diego, local leaders in San Francisco offer a less-than-adequate solution to RV dwellers.
The city of San Francisco will assist those who are willing to relinquish their vehicles in exchange for alternative housing. The program, costing $8.2 million and operating for only 2 to 3 years, will assist just 65 people of the 400+ RV dwellers in San Francisco.
This is not a solution to mobile homelessness. In fact, it will likely increase unsheltered homelessness in San Francisco as it inevitably pushes many RV residents out of their homes. Asking RV dwellers to give up their only shelter, in exchange for a chance at short-term rental assistance, is a recipe for disaster. It makes the poorest residents even poorer.
In Los Angeles, RV Dwellers Are Getting Their Homes Destroyed
Last October, Assembly Bill 630 was signed into law by Governor Gavin Newsom. The law gives counties greater authority to tow and dispose of inoperable RVs, even when they are being used as homes. When the vehicle is towed, the agency is required to send a notice to the owner at their registered address. At that point, the owner, or resident, has only 30 days to reclaim the RV and pay any necessary fees to release it. This, of course, comes with a handful of issues.
For one, someone living in an RV likely no longer receives mail at the registered address. Second, residents may struggle to afford the fees required to release their RV home. This process will almost certainly increase street homelessness in Los Angeles.
Why Do Services Need to Come with Punishment?
There are striking similarities between how Los Angeles, San Francisco, and San Diego are approaching RV dwellers – punishing those who have been priced out of housing in their cities.
Across California, we see cities offering “services” alongside punishment. Homeless encampment sweeps do this regularly while claiming it is the only way to get unhoused people into shelters. Cities conduct sweeps, confiscate tents, personal belongings, medications, and more. The same is being done to RV dwellers when they are ticketed, and their RVs are banned and destroyed.
It’s a high price to pay for a very temporary solution. Homeless people do not disappear when sweeps are conducted or their RV homes are destroyed. They are simply displaced with fewer resources to survive.