Vista approves enforcement of homeless encampment ban

Vista is the latest city in San Diego County to enforce a ban on homeless encampments.

The Vista City Council voted in favor of a resolution that returns to enforcing a ban that was established more than 50 years ago. Four members, including the mayor, voted in favor, with one councilmember abstaining.

There hasn’t been an encampment violation recorded in the city in four years because the encampment ban — penned in 1968 — was not enforced during the pandemic.

With the passage of this resolution, that is about to change.

"I’m disappointed," homeless consultant Holly Herring said. "Clearing encampments is cruel, and it’s inhuman, and it's not called for in our current crisis."

Herring was herself once homeless. She advises her clients to stay off the radar if you want to stay on the streets.

"Sleep in ways that don’t look like they are sleeping. Don’t make a mess. Someone’s attention will be drawn to it," Herring said.

The last "Point-In-Time Count" indicates Vista's homeless population more than doubled year over year.

The word is out about encampment bans, so many of them have gone underground. NBC 7 had to go underneath Hacienda Drive to get to one of the main Vista encampments.

Once you clear the tunnel, it’s another 75 to 100 feet toward the State Route 78 to get there. It's considered the main encampment because the homeless people go there if they need something like clothes, food, a bike or some place to stay that’s safe.

“I understand people don’t want to see the homeless running around the streets in their neighborhoods. I understand that, but you can’t just throw them away or lock them up in jail," said John Grennier, who is experiencing homelessness in Vista.

Vista Mayor John Franklin, who proposed the resolution, agrees that locking up people living on the street doesn’t solve problems associated with homelessness.

The council agreed Tuesday night to first provide outreach and services before ticketing and fines.

“You going to make me have a criminal record. I have a clean record," Vista homeless veteran Dionte Hill said. "What are you going to do? Start giving me tickets or cite me?"

The mayor says enforcement is the only leverage the city has to get people with mental illness help or help for those with addictions get into a program.

"All we are asking for is a lot where you guys could put up a big fence, lets us put up tents. You can even have security guards,” Genevieve Mendoza, who is experiencing homelessness in Vista, said.

If it sounds like tough love, the mayor might call leaving the unhoused population on the street, no love at all. Whether it helps them to get housing or just drives them to find a better place to hide is yet to be seen.

Because this is not a new ordinance, but a resolution to return to enforcement, Tuesday's decision will be enacted immediately.