Abandoned homeless trash along city streets and property — along with other illegal dumping — has been greatly reduced over the past year.

It’s because Manteca leaders opted to augment city crews already stretched thin with daily tasks such as park and street maintenance by contracting with Manteca Property Services.

On any given day Manteca Property Services removes from city streets:

*80 to 150 large garbage bags of trash.

*an average of 10 shopping carts with the peak being 37 carts in one day.

*assorted appliances, mattresses, couches, and larger items.
It is a service Manteca may have to forgo due to revenues not keeping pace with municipal expenses.

Vielka Guarascio, the city’s Homeless & Housing Services Manager, shared how the city is tackling trash primarily left around Manteca by homeless as well as illegal dumping by other residents on Wednesday.

It was part of a 38 minute community meeting on the city’s homelessness response efforts that took place on the City of Manteca’s Facebook page. The video of the meeting is still posted.

The clean-up effort is citywide with a heavier emphasis on downtown, Library Park, alleys, and other public settings.
The city has worked with the property services firm since Jully 2023.

The firm also assists with Caltrans efforts to clean up areas along the freeways.
The contracted service is in addition to efforts by the city’s parks and solid waste crews as well as community resource officers to remove trash.

Team efforts to clean up homeless trash from encampments take place on a weekly basis.

The city meets weekly with Caltrans District 10 to target homeless encampments on Moffat Boulevard as well as the Highway 99 and 120 Bypass corridors.

Citizens can report garbage, junk and debris issues to the city of Manteca’s government outreach via app or the web site, calling the non-emergency Manteca Police line at 209-456-8101, or submit a customer service request to Caltrans District 10 at Csr.dot.ca.gov

Guarascio, along with Manteca Police Community Resource Officer Matthew Smith, touched on:

*the unsheltered emergency shelter at 555 Industrial Park Drive.

*outreach efforts.

*city clean-up endeavors.

*progress on the navigation center.

*community engagement.

*enforcement of anti-camping and quality of life ordinances such as a ban against urination in public.
The unsheltered emergency shelter has 50 beds for overnight use — 25 for men and 25 for women.
The male dorm is at capacity while the women’s dorm is at 16. There is a waiting list to get into the male dorm.

In order to enforce the anti-camping law, two of the “filled beds” in the male dorm are dedicated at all times for use by the Manteca Police.

When officers approach a homeless individual who is illegally camping, the officers will offer the option of a shelter bed.

If the individual accepts the services, the His Way Refuge Center team the city contracts with to operate the shelter will conduct an intake process to verify if they have ties to Manteca.

If they are from out of town, His Way will communicate with the appropriate jurisdiction and reach out to shelters and services in that area. His Way will also arrange transportation to that jurisdiction.

If the homeless person refuses the bed, police will cite them.

On any given day, the emergency center provides services to between 70 and 80 homeless.

They include:

*three meals a day.

*daily showers.

*clean clothing.

*hair cut station.

*computer station to search for jobs and compose resumes.

*transportation.

*24-hour on-site security.

*food, kennels, washing station, and assisting with vaccinations for pets.

Case management includes access to a San Joaquin County Human Service Agency representative for access to Medi-Cal, Cash-Aid, Cal-Fresh and Section 8 housing.

There is also a representative from Ready to Work San Joaquin that has success in placing homeless in jobs.
There is a recovery night every Thursday as well as sober living environment programs.

The shelter will be adding behavioral health treatment.

Every other Tuesday  county and community based health care, Caltrans, Manteca Unified School District, Salvation Army, probation representatives and faith-based organizations conduct outreach to homeless encampments throughout the city.
Officer Smith encouraged businesses to take advantage of the trespassing ordinance that Manteca recently named more muscular to help police more effectively deal with the homeless and others who are loitering.

In a nutshell, the program involves posting specific signage available from the city.

If such signs citing new ordinance language are posted in clear sight, Manteca Police when passing on patrol will have the legal authority to get any loitering person to move on.

They will be able to approach loiterers — with their body cameras on — and point out the sign that the camera will record, and point out the sign clearly shows they are not allowed to loiter.

Such a recording will provide evidence needed for successful prosecutions if those approached do not comply to an officer’s lawful request for them  to leave the property.

The move making Manteca’s anti-loitering ordinance more robust comes after a sharp increase in mostly homeless individuals  sitting or lying down outside of Manteca businesses such as convenience stores, banks, and other concerns.

Private property owners are responsible for paying for the  signs and installing them.

And they need to be placed in a visible location and enough of them placed for the property’s size so responding officers can reference the sign to those that are suspected to be loitering.

Violators will be subjected to fines. More importantly, police officers will have the authority to order violators to move.

 If they do to comply they could be subject to arrest.
The municipal code amendment basically will allow police to go after loitering and trespassing on private property.

Unlike the city ordinance that requires the property owner to file a letter with the police department and periodically update it throughout the year, the postings of the signs will suffice to give police the authority to enforce anti-loitering rules.

Guarascio noted that based on municipal revenue and expense trends, passage of the Measure Q ¾ cent sales tax on the Nov. 5 ballot will avoid ending private sector contract that has led to the robust citywide cleanup as well as avoid a cutback in overall homeless services,

To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com