For months, drivers of Highway 4 in Antioch have been treated to scenic views of homeless encampments along the creek near Slatten Ranch in the City of Antioch.
On Friday, updated drone footage shows multiple homeless encampments with cut fencing, garbage, graffiti and a creek full of trash.
- March 22 – Over 100 Evicted from Antioch Homeless Encampment along Wilbur Ave which had multiple RV’s, broken down vehicles, tires, trash and more.
- April 8 – In this cleanup, 26 people were evicted from the field above Slatten Ranch at Neroly near Laurel Road at the Lindsey Detention Basin. During the operation, Code Enforcement, the Care Team, Public Works, and the County’s C.O.R.E. Outreach team worked together to conduct the abatement. 18 vehicles with expired vehicle registrations were towed. Officers located two striped motorcycles and an industrial floor sweeper, all suspected of being stolen.
Contra Costa County Point in Time Count
Data was released for the Contra Costa County 2024 Point in Time Count which showed 471 more residents experiencing homelessness than in 2023. The data was released via Supervisor Candace Andersen which shows that this year, 2,843 were experiencing homeless compared to 2,372 in 2023.
The data also showed that the City of Antioch had the largest increase in homeless population in the county (79), with the City of Pittsburg at the second largest increase (52) when compared to 2023. It should be noted, the City of Antioch had the second largest increase in the county from 2022 to 2023.
Previous Stories:
- June 13 – Stolen Vehicles Catch Fire at Homeless Encampment in Antioch
- June 3 – 2024 Point in Time: Contra Costa County Sees Increase in Homelessness
- May 10 – San Pablo Approves New Homeless Outreach Services Partnership
- April 9 – Updated: Homeless Encampment Removed Along Highway 4 in Antioch
- April 9 – State Bipartisan Audit of Homelessness Spending Released
- April 3 – Video: Drone Footage Along Highway 4 in Antioch Shows Homeless Encampments
- March 22 – Over 100 Evicted from Antioch Homeless Encampment
- Feb 4 – Antioch Touts 82% Success Rate With Homeless Program – it should be noted, the city has never provided any data on this 82%, any documentation, or metrics on how they came up with this success rate.
41 comments
This is an environmental catastrophe. This must be cleaned up immediately.
Our entire civilization is an environmental catastrophe! Just because these people can’t afford to send their trash somewhere else doesn’t mean they are any filthier that you and I
So wonderful to have statistics documenting failure. What will those in charge try next? Cleanups displace homeless to become a problem at a different location and cycle repeats. Survey should have asked level of education and if they self medicate. State spent in past five years $20 Billion on homelessness and what did it achieve?
Sounds like you’re blaming those in charge….how about blaming the community for their past electoral decisions. People were warned, but they still wanted growth. You guys got your growth and MORE-SOME. Back then the majority of voters were old folks living in their gated Summer Set communities. They went to the polls and said build, build, build. Prominent farm land owners and their selfish minds got their money and ran, not giving a dam about the quality of life for the future families. John Slatten said don’t be afraid of change and forget about the small town feeling….thanks Slattens for giving us the change you were talking about.
Walnut Creek has 1/4 the homeless per capita as Antioch and I suspect a higher tax base. Pittsburg is doing is doing somewhat better on that comparison, but notice Lafayette had few enough homeless people it was not even listed along with several other locations. It is not appropriate that the municipalities with the lower incomes, where the poorest people get squeezed out and become unhoused, should have to bear the financial burden of the homeless problem and leave the richer communities to have others commute to take the lower paying jobs in their zip codes.
What’s your solution?
For starters recriminalize certain drugs to allow Judges to again be able to give addicts a choice of long period of incarceration or drug treatment. Coupled with a three to five year probation which violated would result in incarceration.
Along with repeal of Prop 47.
Plus it is long past due for democrats to be voted out of office.
But if criminals are criminals, why will they abide by the laws you pass?
Addiction is a public health problem, guy.
An addict has to hit bottom and decide they are sick and tired of being sick and tired.
Superior Court Judges used to be able to force a bottom and Prop 47 destroyed that very effective tool. In past 40 years have witnessed profound changes in people Judges were able to bring about in persons I have counseled. Addiction is a slow form of suicide and since Prop 47 far more people are dying.
20 billion. Yeah sure. Cite the source.
California has spent $20 billion over the past five years dedicated to the state’s homelessness crisis, including funneling money toward supporting shelters and subsidizing rent. Still, homelessness grew 6% in 2023 from the year prior, to more than 180,000 people, according to federal “point in time” data. Since 2013, homelessness has grown in California by 53%.
https://www.cbsnews.com/losangeles/news/scathing-report-criticizes-accountability-of-californias-homeless-funding/
Why have you been bathing them after they are through stealing?
…if you build it, they will come…
Cut fences, dumping trash and we’re sure human waste in the storm channel. Someone said, environmentsl disaster. How about a CONTINUAL environmental disaster. All along storm channels vagrants can be found camping along creeks and channels. Think of this. This watershed drains into Lake Alhambra and then our river, approximately 25 yards from the city’s drinking water intake. Toilet to tank comes to mind. What about residents surrounding Lake Alhambra? The city needs to pass an ordinance prohibiting camping 500, 1000, 2000 feet next to storm channels. At a minimum. For goodness sake, do something opposed to the same old tried and proven failure steps being taken. They are a total waste of public funds.
You realize that in winter time when it rains sewage overflows into the storm drainage system.
Its inevitable, which is why we treat and clean our water before it reaches our homes and businesses.
We can only hope that they clean it enough.
Walnut Creek has 1/4 the homeless per capita as Antioch and I suspect a higher tax base. Pittsburg is doing is doing somewhat better on that comparison, but notice Lafayette had few enough homeless people it was not even listed along with several other locations. It is not appropriate that the municipalities with the lower incomes, where the poorest people get squeezed out and become unhoused, should have to bear the financial burden of the homeless problem and leave the richer communities to have others commute to take the lower paying jobs in their zip codes.
As for someone who wants to “recriminalize” some things, a ballot measure to repeal Prop 42 has qualified for the November election. Prop 42 made a lot of crime start to pay in California about 10 years ago. It hot snuck past voters because they said it would save money on prisons and give it to schools or something like that.
Antiochs true billboard.
Well Lamar and his cronies invite homelessness to our city so they can vote for them for city council. The homeless living in Antioch can vote even if they recently came from another city, state or country with no previous Antioch home address. I understand that they can use the city hall as their address of record. I guess I can use it too if I wanted to vote in another District. I was appalled that this is legal. I also was told that Tamisha was having her cohorts running around the city to register the homeless to vote. And surprise!!!!! She won by three votes. Gee, I wonder who filled out the ballots and mailed them in? Yeah, right!!!!!!
Homelees people don’t have the time or desire to be involved in voting for anything let alone city council.
They have time if you bribe them.
Sadly people assume homelessness is due to drug use and or poor choices not recognizing the fact the cost of living has sky rocketed to insane amounts and wages have been playing catchup for years. In just the few short years having the displeasure of renting in antioch my rent bitterly doubled almost causing myself to become homeless. Instead of displacing hundreds of people why not offer tiny homes or some type of sustainable more appeasing living quarters in the areas in which they have already found their homes. By displacing these people again and again is doing nothing but destroying some piece of hope one might have had.
It is all of those things – drug use, alcoholism, high housing costs and don’t forget mental illness. Which are the greatest causes is a matter of opinion, but based on my observations, I’d say housing is not the primary cause and providing subsidized or even free housing doesn’t not cure the behavioral problems at the root. Mental illness and the lack of mandatory inpatient treatment are primary.
You are absolutely correct.
You’re delusional and clearly have never been to one of these encampments or associated with anyone that does.
As the continue greed of capitalism continue to grow, income gap between worker and CEO continue widening, corporations buying up housing, Republicans fighting against a living wage while lobbying for the corporations of many different industries like Target Walmart and oil companies as they make records profits during a time of inflation then we should expect to see homelessness grow, drug addiction grow, and the rich exploiting the poor in hiring thieves in organized theft of stores.
That is so true. What gets me is I can go to a gas staition on one part of the bay and pay 6 dollars for gas and right on the other side of town it’s only 419? That just means they don’t HAVE to charge 6 dollars they just choose to because they are greedy selfish people. They should put a cap on how much they can charge. Rent too it’s just ridiculous how much rent is. This is a sad world. People better wake up before they don’t make it to a better place.
“The greed of capitalism” is not the cause of the homeless problem. Why do you think we have so many clamoring to immigrant (legally or otherwise) to the U.S.? It’s the opportunity of capitalism. Do you see mobs lining up to immigrate to Iran, Veneuzuela, North Korea, et. al?
you allow filth to set up illegal camps and cry about the environment? are you libs really that stupid?
Filth. Why not call them vermin like your hero? You have no compassion nor solution. Sit down.
Yeah, Ive been recording them a few times a week for months and almost nothing has been done.
My name is Celina Mercedes Barahona i’m the CEO of the spiritual world 🌎
I have been trying to rebuild another shelter for the community I was going to some put some money back in to the city
I also thought maybe tiny homes were the shelter was before??1.
I’m one of those people that live on this trail and you think we want to be there?! No way! But y’all don’t really do anything for us but talk bad on us! Careful with your words because you could be among us sooner than you think with the way this economy has become! I never thought I’d be here and trust me I HATE IT TOO!! Im a single female who stays by myself and have had strangers come in my tent in the middle of the night trying to touch me and it’s seriously scary to sleep at night! But thanks for basically labeling us as drug addicts and low life parasites/pests…that really does great for us and makes us really wanna do better…I hope you are happy in your homes and love diving your Tesla’s around….must me nice!
Do something about your life to make it better. There is many resources out there to help your kind and none of you want it because of their rules.
One of these professional criminal camps full of drug addicics and theives set up by my home and have been stealing cars cutting them up for almost 2 years, and recently robbed me of almost 20k in dirtbikes and quads. Many reports have been made to police and city of antioch nothing has been done with response from city is “Homelessness isn’t illegal ” vote for Bernal this election drain the swamp.
Many union construction members by contract can only get work through referrals from their respective unions. If there’s no job calls they go on unemployment. When that runs out and still no job calls they go on welfare if possible and in a lot of cases become homeless. Contra Costa County is built out and doesn’t have a lot of work in the construction trades.
My point is not all homeless people are drug addicts or mentally unstable or lazy so it irritates me when people paint homelessness and homeless people with such a broad brush. The causes are myriad. The solutions are slow in coming or non-existent. There is a lack of empathy and understanding towards the problem and I fear it will get way worse before it gets better.
“Opportunity Lives Here”
My suggestion is look at all empty lots like the old Kmart lot has been empty for years, after removing all the homeless people with trailers from Wilber Street they are scattered why not open that space provide garbage bins, bathrooms, showers charge them rent space like 20 dollars a month for space to live and not travel into residential areas
Wise advice !
Cities and county would actually save money not having to cleanup encampments.
Providing basic needs would be a fraction of what is now being spent. Costs less to be proactive than always being reactive or current method of rousting, cleanup and repeat could be permitted to continue.
Have a few designated locations where basic needs, counseling, mental health and other services could be more efficiently provided. Is too bad many of politicians spend majority of their effort seeking free face time with media then grandstanding instead of facilitating good ideas like you suggested. Perhaps voters will wake up and take out the woke garbage.
I would also like to know how much was spent on the little green buckets for every household in Contra Costa County and are you seeing any results from this suggestion? A total waste of taxpayers funds and the person who convinced this to pass should be FIRED should have used it to open spaces for homeless travelers Garbage cans, toilet facilities
You paid for that with your garbage bill. This and that ate totally unrelated.
Not all homeless are addicts or mentally ill. However even those that come to homelessness because of real life tragedy, or not having enough money to afford housing, sometimes end up in addiction or with a mental illness as it is not easy to be homeless. Constantly having everything you own or get back thrown away and told to move along, really makes people give up or give in. And why they don’t utilize the services offered. Most of the money for homelessness, is squandered by bad actors (providers, expert advisors, and the cities and counties themselves). As for placing adults in programs with rules or jail. How is that helping. It further robs ones dignity. They are real people, with real stories, and real lives. They really don’t want to live out there where there is not much of a choice but to survive by any means possible. But to say you can stay here as long as you never leave without a senior resident, can’t go to bed when I want, can’t smoke cigarettes, can’t date, can’t have any contact with the opposite sex, can’t have a relationship, must participate in all day curriculum, can’t eat in your room, can’t have your phone, and constantly having staff search through your belongings or other residents stealing your stuff. Not to mention still under the stress that someone may assault you because they are having a bad day.
I ask you, if you lost your housing tomorrow. How would you feel having everything you do limited and confirmed to these terms. It’s not a better choice than being outdoors. It doesn’t solve anything. Mabey one out of 20 actually receives some sort of housing in the end. And certain people there just isn’t housing for. Mostly singles without kids.
Have a little compassion and can everyone mabey muse there brains and think of some more human ways to help these folks out.
Thanks for listening to my rant,
Formally homeless living 15 years on the streets,
Yes miracles do happen