Albany Bulb and Beach: Litigation Updates and Prospects for Progress

Events in Albany rarely make national news, so it was interesting to see the mansion of camper 'Boxing Bob' in the New York Times and on Slate.   A quote by the admiring photographer described the Bulb as "one of the last places where homeless people can feel self-reliant & safe" in the Bay Area. 

To most of us, 'safe' is not the word that comes to mind when we look at the mansion or at the rest of the encampments, nor is 'self-reliant' a concept we associate with the residential occupation of a public park.   

The feelings of the campers matter . . .  but the reality of their situation matters more.  Helping them to get out of the encampments into safer accommodations, and to become as truly self-reliant as they can be, should be a higher priority than preserving their illusions.  

The City Council and its staff and counsel deserve congratulations that the mansion has been dismantled and the population of the camps reduced from roughly 70 inhabitants to roughly 40.   This may feel slow, but it is still progress. 

On the litigation front, a settlement conference in the camper litigation (Cody v. Albany) was held on April 3.  The federal court's records indicate that no settlement was reached, but that the campers' lawyers were to provide the city's lawyers with "a specific proposal on a potential approach to settlement discussed at the settlement conference".  No clue as to the potential approach to settlement under discussion was disclosed at the City Council meeting.  So the city as a whole must wait and see. 

An encouraging fact is that from now until April 18th, Alameda County is compiling a list for a 'housing first' program that it calls "Home Stretch", which may help connect any Bulb campers who want housing to secure appropriate places.  Hopefully, campers who might qualify for help will not be deterred by the pending litigation, or by the hope of a settlement that will keep them on the Bulb longer.  

One wonders if the campers might actually be better served if they were to be pressed sooner than later to move off the Bulb into the city's emergency shelter, so that they are motivated not to miss the deadline to apply for housing.  We can only hope that outreach by the city's contractor, and perhaps assistance from the campers own advisors, will be enough to persuade them to put themselves on the County's list for this program and any others that might help. 

On another litigation front, the organization called SPRAWLDEF has won its CEQA suit to overturn the East Bay Regional Park District's approval of the Albany Beach Restoration Project.  The park district will now have to make a decision about its next steps. 

It would be nice if users of the Albany Beach and other local residents could have an opportunity to weigh in on the park district's decision.  This is just another example of a situation in which a liaison committee that brings together the city and the park district in local public meetings would help have a more meaningful voice in decisions of importance to us all.