HANDLING HOMELESSNESS

Weeks ago, a tangle of well-worn paths led off a Los Lunas ditchbank and into illegal encampments, where unhoused people had set up make-shift shelters.

Now, as the Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District begins cleaning up the bosque, what’s left behind is a scattering of lone shoes, book covers, Legos, clothes and, in some spots, human waste.

In late June, the district issued three-day notices to vacate people camping in the bosque southwest of the Daniel Fernandez Memorial Bridge and began clearing out trash and illegal dumping on July 1.

MRGCD Chief Operating Officer Eric Zamora said the district issued about 30 to 35 notices. When the clean up began, Zamora said about a third of the people they had made contact with had already vacated the area and he anticipated more would leave as the district works its way south along the ditch towards the city of Belen.

The district’s efforts to clean up dumping and abandoned campsites, as well as urge people to vacate the area, began just as an opinion was issued by the United States Supreme Court which empowered cities to fine, arrest and/or ticket those experiencing homelessness.

In light of the ruling, Zamora said the district won’t be changing its approach to the situation.

“We started with abandoned sites and trash. Hopefully, as people see more of our presence, they will vacate on their own,” Zamora said. “If we get to the point where we need to trespass folks, we will call on law enforcement to assist with that.”

There is a decreased presence of unhoused people in the areas that have been cleaned up, he said, and district personnel are giving people the chance to clear out their belongings.

During the clean up, the district partnered with the staff of the Valencia County Resource Center in Belen, which offers all community members connections to a myriad of local resources, including shelter, food and transportation.

Resource center director Noelle Chavez said about 30 unhoused individuals have accepted case management services from the center.

“I think just in that area (near Main Street in Los Lunas) there were 50 to 60 people,” Chavez said.

Chavez said some of the homeless people camping near the river bridge have most likely moved south and are being seen in other parts of the community. She estimates about half of the people she and her staff usually see haven’t made contact since the notices were served three weeks ago.

“Some did say they had a place to stay with someone. I don’t think they are necessarily outside, but I think they found places to stay short term,” she said. “Most of the folks we talked to were interested in housing, and about half were interested in employment. Some folks did have (Social Security Disability Insurance) established but couldn’t quite figure out the system navigation to get into housing. We were able to start that process for a few people.”

Zamora said the cleanup efforts of the illegal camps will be ongoing, probably through the end of the year. The crews that went in are the same district employees tasked with daily maintenance and operation of the district’s irrigation ditches and infrastructure.

“The other thing people need to know is while we have the equipment to move big items, the amount of trash left on the floor of the bosque will probably take a wider community effort,” he said. “We’re not sure how to do that safely because we are encountering drug paraphernalia and residue. We have to find a way to do that clean up safely.”

Unhoused since 2010, Doug, 54, used to live in El Cerro with his uncle. He didn’t specify how that living arrangement came to an end, but now Doug is camping in the bosque and, “every day, I have to go out and hustle. I don’t panhandle. I don’t use and I don’t drink either.”

Instead, Doug sits outside businesses with permission with his dog, Oreo, to “let God work.” Now, he’s hoping God will continue that work and along with some local agencies, help him get into a house. He receives SSDI and was recently diagnosed with skin cancer.

“They want me in a house before I start treatment,” he said.

Doug added he’s already survived a bout of lung cancer and leukemia as a child.

There’s a vacancy in Albuquerque if he can pull together the $1,100 needed for first and last month’s rent, plus the damage deposit. A trip to the MidWest New Mexico Community Action Program office in Los Lunas is a bust.

Since the housing is in Albuquerque, he has to get assistance from an organization in the Duke City. Case workers with the resource center begin making calls in the hopes of connecting him to an organization that can help.

The hustling Doug does has taken him out to Grants and up to Albuquerque, but he says it’s safer to stay in the bosque.

“Some places are violent and dangerous, especially in Albuquerque,” he said. “This area, it’s mostly good ones. There are some addicts but mostly we try to help each other.”

For 16 years, Pat Jaramillo has worked for the Los Lunas Open Space Division and is now the supervisor. He’s seen the number of unhoused people in the bosque grow from two or three to 20 or more, noting some are from the community and have families here.

“You ask them some of this stuff and they’ll talk to you some, but they don’t bare everything as far as why. They all have different reasons,” Jaramillo said.

Jaramillo said while most of the people he’s met know about available services, they “basically just want you to leave them alone and let them do their thing because with those services there’s rules. Whether it’s temporary or even overnight housing, they have rules. Some have mental and substance abuse issues that take more than just housing.”

Acknowledging the situation is frustrating for everyone, including open space staff, Jaramillo said, “we are limited to what we can actually do. That’s the hard part — trying to balance what do you do, what can you do, what is even the right thing to do? No matter what happens there is always going to be somebody that is not going to be happy about it.”

The Los Lunas Police Department receives numerous complaints from the public about the homeless population daily, said Chief Frank Lucero.

“I had an individual call and ask why the police department couldn’t load members of the homeless population in a van and take them somewhere else. That’s definitely against the law; that would be kidnapping and false imprisonment,” Lucero said. “I think there’s a lot of things members of the community may not think about when it comes to the challenges we face with the homeless population. It’s not necessarily a police department problem. It’s bigger than that. It’s a state and nation-wide problem.”

Los Lunas Mayor Charles Griego said the issue is county-wide, noting “there’s not a boundary limit to whose issue this is. It’s a human issue and has many different aspects.”

One of the aspects the village has to consider is how the behavior of people who are unsheltered is affecting the rest of the residents, the mayor said.

“We are being as proactive as we can be within the limits of our jurisdictional ability and we’re being compassionate. They are human and we can’t lose sight of that,” Griego said, “but people also have the right to expect to be safe in their community.”

Griego said the village doesn’t have the authority to compel people to be housed or remove them from public property unless they are otherwise breaking the law.

“People have a right to be on public property and walk down the sidewalks,” he said. “If they are trespassing on private property, that’s a different matter, but the remedy to that is usually a citation.”

Lucero said his department is enforcing all the laws and ordinances it can, including enforcing trespassing at local businesses.

“If there is harassing behavior or any kind of assault that occurs, we obviously enforce that. Something else a lot of the community doesn’t perhaps even know about is a lot of our panhandling and vagrancy ordinances have been deemed unconstitutional, so it’s very difficult for us now to enforce ... standing on a public sidewalk, as long as you’re not obstructing the flow of sidewalk traffic, holding up a sign is considered to be exercising your First Amendment right of free speech,” the chief said.

(Editor’s Note: News-Bulletin staff writer Felina Martinez contributed to this article. Part III of this series will be published next week.)