Lauren Hansen, a staff attorney with the Public Interest Law Project, a Bay Area group that “advances justice for low-income people and communities,” told New Times that the negotiations center on how the city enforces its municipal code and whether it can provide adequate shelter to the homeless.

“We’re concerned that the city, when they go out to sweep encampments, that they don’t have available or appropriate shelter before they conduct encampment clear-outs,” Hansen said. “They can’t cite, arrest, or fine people living outside with nowhere else to go.”

While she said she couldn’t speak about the specifics of the settlement talks, Hansen noted that the city cannot rely on the 40 Prado Homeless Center and its 124 shelter beds as a cure-all solution for the crisis.

“Not everybody can stay at Prado, either because there’s not space, sometimes it’s closed due to a COVID outbreak, or it’s not appropriate because of a disability or some other health issue,” she said. “Absent available shelter, the city does not tell people where to be on public property, and they’re left figuring out where to rest without getting cited.”

Read the full story by Peter Johnson in the New Times here.

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