In business amongst homessless
Local merchants face transient activity
“It’s a cycle, and (sometimes) never-ending,” Travelodge front desk manager Judith Rojas said, referring to the constant clean-up and policing of her business to keep daily transient acMike Olivas, maintenance supervisor at the Travelodge in Yuba City, shows where trash and many other objects are left for the maintenance staff at Travelodge to clean up.
tivity at bay as best she can.
Rojas said Travelodge, located off Gray Avenue and Highway 20 in Yuba City, is in an ideal location for business, given the amount of services available and traffic that the hotel receives daily.
Rojas said unfortunately that also brings a significant homeless population into the business during daytime and evening hours.
“I have seen people grab the entire breakfast and take off,” Rojas said. “We can usually point out who they are (but) that’s something we deal with in the mornings everyday.”
Rojas said the Travelodge’s guests, many of whom are not familiar with the area, have taken notice of the amount of transient activity.
She said about 10 to 20 percent of guest reviews mention the homeless situation. “It affects our business,” Rojas said. It also affects the daily maintenance duties that Mike Olivas and his staff have to conduct in and around the property.
Olivas said the amount of trash left around the property is astounding.
“It’s to the point where you can’t go behind any bush or look behind anything without finding it,” Olivas said. “It’s all over the place.”
Olivas said access to a community restroom would be beneficial to the area.
Yuba City Police Lt. Jim Runyen said homeless calls have “dramatically increased over the years.”
He said the current camping ordinance allows for a gray area in terms of enforcement.
With regard to private businesses, any type of harassment can lead to action taken.
“In the sense anyone can be asked to leave the store,” Runyen said. “When it gets to be too much they call us.”
Runyen sympathizes with local businesses and knows their primary concern on a daily basis is to make money.
The local parks, however, require a much different enforcement tactic, Runyen said.
Runyen said the police cannot bust just anyone who wants to sleep on a bench.
“There has to be some sort of violation,” he said.
Runyen said one of the transient hot spots in town is off Gray Avenue and Highway 20, likely because of the services at that location.
Aaron Suarez, who’s cut hair at Lifestyle Barber Shop on Gray Avenue across the street from Travelodge, said he and his co-workers see a lot of transient activity.
Suarez said police are rarely called, but there has been some vandalism and camping in the parking lot. He said if cars have been in the parking lot for longer than two days then they are asked to leave.
Not all businesses on Gray Avenue and Highway 20 have issues with the homeless. Gerald Russell, store manager at The Mattress Haven, has had very few cleanup problems with transients in the area. In fact, on days when the weather reaches triple-digits like this week, Russell encourages them to sit by his business and cool down. “I’d be in favor of helping in any way I can,” Russell said.
Marysville
The businesses on D Street in Marysville have long encountered the homeless over the years, some more than others.
Skip Bertsch, of Skip’s Music Cafe, had the suites directly above his business broken into recently. While he doesn’t know for sure if the homeless were involved, Bertsch said he has his speculations.
Bertsch looks at the transient population as a mixture of two vastly different people.
“There’s great people who unfortunately are in a bad situation in life and they’re on the streets,” Bertsch said. “There’s another whole element where not only are they homeless but they’re using.”
Dana Burroughs, owner of Sissy’s Attic on D Street, said she recently encountered a homeless individual who began smoking marijuana just outside her doorway.
“He proceeded to roll a joint on our property,” Burroughs said. “So I go to the door and say, ‘You can’t do that and he said, ‘Yes, I can. I can do whatever I want.’”
With regard to removal of individuals off business property, Yuba County Sheriff’s Office Public Information Director Leslie Carbah said it centers on the location of the patron.
“Businesses can only enforce removal of unwanted patrons inside their business,” Carbah said in an email. “They can only do so outside if transients are impeding traffic or employees to and from the business. Simply loitering or panhandling is not illegal if they aren’t impeding traffic or people.”