This last Saturday, September 28, 2024, community members converged on multiple Mendocino County waterways targeting areas inundated by refuse. Volunteers did not just find simple trash to pick up but entire makeshift communities built by the Ukiah Valley’s unhoused population directly in vulnerable waterways. In the end, thousands of pounds of waste were pulled from local riparian habitats.
Volunteers met at Low Gap Park at 8:30 am to sign in for the Ukiah Valley Russian River Cleanup. Coffee and pastries from Black Oak Coffee Roasters provided energy for a morning of hauling trash. The Mendocino County Resource Conservation District (MCRCD) organized the event, along with Redwood Waste Solutions, the County of Mendocino, and the City of Ukiah.
Jessica Reid of the MCRCD told the volunteers that picking up trash in the tributaries of the Upper Russian River Watershed is important in keeping the river clean on its long journey to meet the sea. She named some of the wildlife that live in the watershed: salmon, bird species, and river otters. The MCRCD selected several areas to clean, and the groups split off to cover Ackerman Creek, Doolin Creek, Gibson Creek, Orr Creek, and the Russian River.
Volunteers went to work with the group at Ackerman Creek, having been told that there is a very large homeless camp along the banks. The volunteer instruction sheet said not to disturb any people or their belongings. But, Ackerman Creek is such a problem area that the cleanup was handled differently. The creek runs alongside Dunnewood Vineyards’ (Constellation Brands) property on the north end of Ukiah, outside of the city limits.
Mendocino County Sheriff’s Deputies and County social workers had combed through the large encampment in the days before the cleanup, rousting the squatters, and offering help from county social agencies.
When the volunteers arrived, a few groups of unhoused people sat unhappily on the edge of the cleanup area with their piles of belongings, waiting until noon, when the cleaning crews would leave.
Adam Gaska has been working with officials and posting on social media to bring attention to cleaning up the encampments at several locations around Ukiah. He led the volunteer group at Ackerman Creek. Members of the Pinoleville Pomo Nation worked on the cleanup, and the tribe provided a truck and trailer to haul away loads of trash. The MCAVHN harm reduction group also assisted at Ackerman Creek.
Paul Trouette, CEO of Lear Asset Management, donated security services for the event. Lear has a contract with the Great Redwood Trail Agency to provide security along the trail. Ackerman Creek runs under the railroad tracks and trail. Lear provides security guards to patrol the trail, on call at the request of GRTA management. Lear does not patrol every day, but is called when management receives complaints about conditions on the trail.
Though inland Mendocino County’s homeless might be visible on the streets, the health hazard represented by encampments is most clearly seen within these creekside encampments. Volunteers pulled out dozens of shopping carts, bicycles, an electric bike, two Segways, alcohol bottles, disintegrating plastics, car batteries, batteries of all sizes, tools, mattresses, furniture, mail, cigarette butts, needles, old clothes, and shoes.
A Mendocino County Sheriff’s Deputy who came by to check on the cleanup said, as he gazed at a giant pile of broken bikes and bike parts, that he wished he could return all the bikes to the kids they were stolen from.
There were several wooden shacks constructed from plywood, old pallets, cinderblocks, and tarps. Some areas were landscaped, fenced, and terraced. There were makeshift stoves and cooking utensils, concerning to see during this tinder-dry weather. Some of the shacks contained beds and furniture. There was a basketball court in a flat area where the dirt had been tamped down. Next to that was an outdoor gym of sorts, with a full-size punching bag suspended from a tree branch.
While the cleanup was in progress, a young man ignored the security guards’ warnings to stay out, and marched up and grabbed his basketball and basketball hoop, then stomped off down the creekbed.
The volunteers found gang graffiti tags and evidence of drugs and drug dealing. One of the shacks contained a pound-size bag of trimmed buds. There was also a tiny digital scale to weigh narcotic bout the size of a playing card.
The group began cleaning at the railroad track overpass and worked its way along the creek toward State Street. The cleanup ended at noon with still an enormous amount of trash to be removed.*
County Supervisor Mo Mulheren led a child-friendly volunteer group at Orr Creek, while children were not permitted at the Ackerman site due to safety concerns. Mulheren, who regularly organizes creek cleanups, reflected on the day’s efforts.
“Today, I had ten volunteers with me, and we cleaned the portion of Orr Creek between Hwy 101 and Ford Street,” she explained. Despite the ongoing efforts of local agencies, the volunteers made a significant impact. “I’m grateful for the work that the City of Ukiah Streets and Parks teams have done to keep this section cleaned up. Even with all the work that they do, our volunteers were able to completely load a dumpster and get the top of a treadmill out of the waterway.”
Mulheren emphasized the importance of community involvement, saying, “We must always remember that streets lead to creeks, and everyone can do their part by picking up any litter they see and making sure it’s properly disposed of.”
She also highlighted a recurring issue the community faces: “We continue to have a problem with abandoned clothing, and I plan to host a meeting with service providers in the area to discuss alternative ways to offer support that don’t lead to large piles of clothing being left in our waterways.”
Supervisor-elect Madeline Cline volunteered with a group mostly comprised of South Ukiah Rotarians. Cline said, “It’s great to see the community come together to clean up our waterways, but most importantly it underscores the need for better solutions.”
*Note: Mendocino County Resource Conservation District’s Seth Myrick asked us to clarify that the organization “did not use any funding from our contract to have Lear present at Ackerman Creek.” He said, “It is unclear to us who contacted Lear.”
He went on to say that his organization does not condone the “more aggressive approach taken at the Ackerman Creek site.” He added, “10 of the 11 other sites that day encountered no encampments, so on the whole, the vast majority of volunteers did not find encampments.”
P HEY CHECK IT OUT THERE’S ONE OF THOSE MEGA GAY POWER BOTTOM LEAR MEMBERS WHO RAIDED PEOPLE IN LAYTONVILLE DURING A BIG ASS FIRE 10 YEARS AGO AND CHOPPED ALL THE WATER TANKS ON THE ROAD UP TO THE PLACE THEY WERE RAIDING PREVENTING FIREFIGHTERS FROM ACCESSING WATERS FOR FIREFIGHTING
I honestly cannot believe our taxpayer dollars are still going to this stupid fucking militant group
?
Maybe don’t have an illegal grow in a fire prone areas. But that’s common sense and we don’t want that. Might just blame other people for for my problems like you seem to do. People like you are the reason we have 600+ homeless in this town.
My brother in Christ, Kamala Harris literally paid Lear OUR HARD-EARNED TAXPAYER DOLLARS to do that to a subdivision of laytonville, cutting tanks on houses that didn’t even have marijuana, cutting tanks on houses that had legal permitted grows. They didn’t just go after the illegal gardens, they literally went after law-abiding citizens on their way to the illegal garden.
You want to know why we have 600 plus homeless in this town? They migrated here from all of the fires. They migrated here from Paradise, from lake County, from Trinity and Humboldt County. They were given free tickets in Southern California and other states paid for with taxpayer dollars to migrate to this state.
For you to sit there behind your little keyboard and gaslight me is outrageous. How about you actually do some fucking research before you let your stupid little fingers spew out full-blown retarded government funded propaganda garbage like that again?
It is sort of troubling that this private security force is being employed to patrol what has been named the great redwood trail. I imagine they mostly do nothing but ride around armed to the teeth, ready for the taliban to show up at any moment. At least it’s a good opportunity to show off all that off-limits-to-civilians tacticool gear. I’m sure the great redwood trail agency offers a generous employment contract to the LEAR crew.
Hopefully these guys aren’t allowed to detain citizens. I wouldn’t even be surprised if the LEAR roster was stacked with guys like Kevin Murray. How would we know? Is there any Law enforcement oversight or supervision of LEAR asset management to make sure they aren’t hiring unsavory characters or engaging in misconduct?
I agree who is this LEAR organization?Has anyone done a background check on them? I thought this county was funded millions of dollars to get most of the homeless housed?Looks like that money got spent on city counsel vacations and Holiday’s.There needs to be a better job making sure our people have available housing or this will just keep on repeating.Insanity
The county does but they don’t use it they have one and it’s basically for the druggies. Then there’s the homeless that don’t do drugs and take care of the spots they are forced to camp at because there’s no where to. And when we apply for housing we’re told no because we don’t have a drug history. It’s dumb they help the drug addicts that just want to screw up there life but someone who is clean, and trying to stay on the right path gets told they can’t get help because their not a drug addict
This didn’t happen… which is super weird. Waiting for a retraction.
Note to editor: The Mendocino Country Resource Conservation District, who hosted this event, did NOT coordinate or contract with Lear Security and were not made aware that they were removing people from encampments at Ackerman Creek. Instruction from MCRCD clearly stated that there are significant stretches of Ackerman Creek to clean without active encampments.
Retired to Ukiah from SF three yrs ago. Noticed homeless were few in number here, but did see characters ’round the River at the Talmage bridge camping and leaving trash. So this article was unsurprising and the response herein is confusing. What? Do you really expect that polluting garbage is okay for the River? I didn’t hear anything about those campers making an effort to do the job of cleanup, nor should I. Cuidado, better nip it now ’cause it only gets worse. Just check out SF …
Retired to Ukiah from SF three yrs ago. Noticed homeless were few in number here, but did see characters ’round the River at the Talmage bridge camping and leaving trash. So this article was unsurprising and the response herein is confusing. What? Do you really expect that polluting garbage is okay for the River? I didn’t hear anything about those campers making an effort to do the job of cleanup, nor should I. Cuidado, better nip it now ’cause it only gets worse. Just check out SF …
I know of a couple campers in the Russian River area that do bag up and haul off their trash to the appropriate places.
They can’t find work that will hire ex-felons that want to work. Catch-22 so they do what they can while still keeping their heads up.
No help from these local posing politicians to what is the underlying reasons why people can’t get or afford housing.
Here in this county we will continue to see more and more families living rough. But hey we the redwood trail.
And we are supposed to care about felons because….? Signed, victim of a felon.
Well what do you expect when rents are through the roof and there is little to no help. It will only get worse with current leadership. It makes no sense in the world a little town with next to no industry, ran down and dilapidated has these big city rents.
Amen to that, Silver!
The rents here are ridiculous. The average folk here can’t afford to pay pot grower prices. And when you are someone who has not taken of the illegal black market pot industry or any other illegal black market industry here, you can’t afford housing.. So much for the American dream… It’s the American nightmare now. 🙁
Welcome to California. You guys must be new around here.
They’ve got you right where they want you – impotently whining about rent prices when you should be fighting against wage stagnation, private equity speculation on housing, and the third-world illegal migrant invasion.
Also, since you’re apparently unaware, most of the black market pot production left the area years ago. This county only imports fentanyl and meth, and exports wine nowadays. If your children choose to stay here the best they can hope for is a future of serving dinner and drinks to wealthy tourists.
Have fun playing whack-a-mole on these disgusting encampments. Meanwhile you have created an environment where only hispanic drug gangs and other foreign invaders can thrive.
Oh please, travel outside of Mendo, or even Sonoma County. Go check out the Central Coast, the Central Valley, or even So Cal. Then you can come back to Mendocino and realize how predominantly white it is here. sMH… Talking about a Hispanic and foreign invasion… please!
Molly almost every worker in this damn town is Mexican. The mills,vineyards, any other type of hard labor job is over run with Mexicans. They work hard but why should an illegal get to have a job and then an American citizen goes for the same job and is told no. If you can’t see it you must be one of those rice white girls who has a Mercedes and doesn’t pay attention to what’s actually going on around you.
Huff some more of Matt Kendall’s and Dan Gjerde’s farts until the ghost of Hal Wagenet appears. Then call Glenn McGourty and tell him Dolly Riley sent you.
These low lifes camping out are not the result of high costs of living. They are just druggie criminals. The rest of us homeless do not do any of the things they are doing, and we do not turn down assistance. Try knowing anything about reality before commenting. You people are endangering the rest of us with your misplaced empathy.
Guess you’re not trying to get to heaven, huh? Disgusting lack of humanity
“But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard them not. So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.” I’m no follower of Christianity, but it morally speaks to me. When I read your comment I can see you do not understand the true freedom that a non judgmental stance can afford you. Who are you to judge and portray yourself as if you could ever know the entirety of someone else’s circumstances in this life. This county has no resources, has no economy, and has a general apathy towards anyone that isn’t a white delusional narcissist that defines their character with one self serving act after another. Signed someone tired of self righteous bigots.
LEAR Assett Management
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2014/9/24/1332190/-New-Marijuana-Policy-in-California-Private-Security-Firm-Raiding-Pot-Farms-in-Mendocino-County
https://theava.com/archives/34675
Thanks for posting those links. Very interesting. It sounds like these guys are indeed playing cowboy out there, possibly stealing marijuana and assets to pad their wallets along the way. Where does all the weed, cash, and other assets go when LEAR does a raid? Any sheriff oversight on that? Federal oversight seems more appropriate. Even if they’re doing a legit trespass grow eradication on timberland, where does the all the weed go?
It is telling that these men go through such lengths to conceal their faces and hide their identities. Criminals have always loved masks…
What would be the result if a landowner defended his or herself against an intrusion by these anonymous masked men with guns?
I am usually a supporter of sworn law enforcement, but this unchecked LEAR outfit smells real fishy. I hope someone is holding this outfit accountable, otherwise the implications of heavily-armed rogue military-styled contractors cruising the county are rather ominous.
You have no clue as to what you’re talking about
There it is!
Thank you for this.
Lol you act like raiding drug traffickers is a ‘bad’ thing?? Omg get a life. All ‘pot farms’ should be eliminated anyway.
LEAR out there playing Call of Duty at the homeless encampment. give me a break. meanwhile Matt lafever and Monica huettl are licking boots like a dog eating peanut butter. at least use this platform in a positive way by pointing people in the right direction. those who need help and those who want to help. simply quoting somebody who says that there is a need for better solutions is akin to saying “heat is hot”
What if Matt actually used his new SF Gate platform to investigate and report on LEAR? Dig into Paul Trouette and his self described Pinkertons.
Trouette claims LEAR often coordinates and cooperates with Law Enforcement. Time for some FOIA requests.
The biggest problem I see with the homeless, there is no reprocussions for their actions so they refuse any kind of help. It’s easier to steal from stores and hard working people for the things they want with no fear of being arrested or any legal reprocussions. So therefore they will continue doing what they do. Until there are strict laws set in place we will continue to see this defacement of properties.
I agree with you to an extent. The homeless need to play by the rules and laws of their communities or else face consequences. The community base in Ukiah, like many areas throughout Ca, have made this situation way more destitute. Not to mention high inflation (heavily related to the lack of housing nationally). Housing and/or opportunities to buy housing or have a way of life in the community has eroded for many folks (many of them are locals). Many have either left the area to places where they can have a life or else go the ways of mad max and live off grid and abide by no law and order. Mendo (and Ukiah) local zoning has made it damn near impossible to develop really anything over the last 20 plus years. There was already a housing shortage before Covid so this shouldn’t surprise people on the outcome of having mad max communities scattered all over the country, including Mendo, after a few years of bursting inflation. Quite a Tragedy.
I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who came out to help clean our creeks and rivers. That Ackerman creek is the same one where a woman overdosed a few months back and a recent shooting around the same time. We need to have consequences for these people ruining our creeks. I want to go down and clean but, don’t want to get stabbed doing it.
That’s why I asked for the support of MCSO and accepted Paul’s offer of security.
I was at the local rite aid the other day. Walked out of the store and hopped in my car. Grabbed a piece of litter out of the air that tried to fly out my door. Then I heard a bang bang bang! Three shots from a small caliber pistol sounded like. I looked around and no one hardly flinched. Just carried on like it was a backfire on a vehicle. Not one homeless or unhoused person, (or poor soul who is just trying to survive another day in the elements wondering what the fuck they are going to do when the rains hit. LEAR and local sheriffs just roughed them up, and now strangers were going through their shit. It may well be shit, but it was their shit. Maybe if the cunts put out some dumpsters and garbage receptacles they would get used. they took my busted up bike some toys for tots brat ditched for the brand new one he got next year. Gonna have to try a piece together another one with some of the shit that’s been in the river for decades.) So then I went to work nothing amiss. Until a few teenagers came down sick. Turns out they took some sort of legal drug and were overdosing. Some unhoused woman called it in on her cell phone. One of the only bills she has left and continues to pay. Registration, insurance, storage unit fees, all things of the past. She wondered what happened to all her possessions in her unit when they foreclosed. Perhaps a landfill or better yet out in the fucking ocean where humans continue to dump shit. Same place as the river’s been dumping tons of garbage and humans waste for generations. Everyone should have feel the turmoil of having nothing and no one for a year. On their own with no one who pays heed to their strife. Then perhaps they can comment on things they currently know nothing of . F -LEAR. F-Trump. F -law enforcement. F-lying bastards politician cunts. F-you. I need to cook my meal and boil my water to survive. OMG! There is dry grass. What is Cal fire fags doing this ridiculously hot week? Burning in JSDF! Stupid idiots the lot of you
Jackson demonstration state forest. . My bad
I come into your space. Go through your shit. Call it trash and throw it away. Rough you up. Tell you to vacate premises. Same thing happened last week. Never know when you will be harassed and abused by wild pigs with badges. Or other asshole humans. Or the bear that keeps tearing up your shit. Especially the one in brooktrails leaving trash all over. Maybe we should kick the homeless bear out of the woods? What the fuck? The bear is probably sitting around eating whatever he can find and then, o yes! That bear shits in the woods. Or on the path, or next to the creek. Let’s evict the bears! Do like in Idaho and start killing them if found ripping bark off trees damaging the valuable timber. Sure we relocated the bears their but we didn’t think they have to eat drink and shit
Hey cunt Michael Jonathan Rainwater AKA Coward Cunt Can’t triple axle into a running scared shartruecel. That’s were you run in the direction of a fight and when you get close enough to see that Carroll Joe Stout is your enemy resistance fighter ,Yahweh for short. Then you immediately do a running about face shitting your pampers diapers in a full on shittruecel while screaming at Yahweh that you just remembered you want to be a peaceful person and stand trial for your assisted suicide by 666 .556 caliber NATO AR platform bullets delivery to your upper above the belt body the way you aided and assisted the other terrorists who shot Carroll Joe Stout on October 10th. 2021 at a hotel in NE Portland Oregon. It was a Hampton Inn but Carroll Joe Stout is Jesus Christ the real Yahweh and 666 bullet holes were in his long sleeve under armour shirt, I got shot in the dick a few times as well. Michael Jonathan Rainwater AKA Coward Cunt Motherfucker you stole the lottery ticket I bought and signed it was what got you and the Thrall Family Kenny and Kelli anyway, 1.6 Billion Dollars and you took the one lump payout of over 750 million dollars you are going to be put before a firing squad and put to death. You think you can survive that Coward Cunt Motherfucker? I Carroll Joe Stout who is the real Yahweh who is the real Jesus Christ promise you this. I survived more than 666 bullets of the same caliber. High Treason you trader. I will not fail for I Am Yahweh Undefeatable.So come to the table. I promised you I will Ressurect you 49 times and put you back dead and that is Seven Fold. For you are the woman who is living in the lap of luxury and fornicating with the sexually immoral by way of they are your victims and you like to fuck the dead. Riddick is what happened to you when you were two by two Rabbis that gave you your Circumsission for being the real Theodore Bundy in your prior life Necrophilia is your way Dead Ted. ??????????????
You will,never get money from the rich. Because the rich nly want money to become wealther.
“Don’t make fun of the poor because that’s where you came from, and don’t make fun of the rich because that’s where you’re going”
I was asked by Sheriff Matt Kendall to help clean up Ackerman creek a few weeks after writing an op-ed about it being unacceptable to allow our creeks/tributaries to be damaged by transients and people abusing drugs. I told our sheriff in order to clean the creek, the people living there needed to be evicted as they are the source of the damage and garbage.
Paul Trouette of Lear Asset Management heard about the plan to clean up the creek and told me of the cabins, terracing of the stream bank and likely drug trafficking. He offered his company’s services to provide security and clean up labor with a priority on taking down the cabins. His companies services were entirely donated and he paid out of pocket for the labor. His company does security for the Great Redwood Trail and other business owners. Through his work on the GRT and surrounding businesses, he became aware of the cabins and the impact to the surrounding area hence his desire in dismantling the embedded encampments.
Of the volunteers that helped, two came via MCRCD’s Street to Creek Clean up campaign. Former 2nd District Supervisor John McCowen and a relative came out of their own interest. Lear Asset Management provided two clean up workers and 4 security officers. Pinoleville Pomo Nation had three tribal members and Terri McCartney who works for the tribe present. Add myself and Monica Huettl. In total we had 10 people working to demolish the cabins and clean up garbage. MCSO deputies came by during the clean up multiple times and made one arrest for outstanding warrants.
I spent part of today coordinating resources for a follow up clean up for this coming Saturday, September 30th as there is still tens of yards of trash and debris to remove. I am lining up dumpsters to be delivered to the site. I reached out to people who work in Social Services to send outreach/social workers out to the site again to make contact with anyone attempting to reestablish the encampment to notify them that the over all goal is to finish the clean up and evict everyone before the rainy season. I have been told that many in the encampment have repeatedly rejected offers of assistance and are recalcitrant toward the programs that are available.
The amount of damage to the stream bank is appalling. There has been massive soil movement to build terraces and staircases, devegetation, clearing of trees and underbrush, holes dug into the stream bank and stream bed to defecate into, dozens of large batteries with broken cases, along with trash and debris. It is going to take a lot of work to restore the damage done much less improve the riparian area to a point to where it could become prime habitat supporting salmonid species or keystone species such as river otters.
I will be putting out posts via social media looking for volunteers to help me with the ongoing effort. I reached out to people at Pinoleville to get their help again as well.
Edit.
October 5th for the follow up clean up.
I look forward to being there with camera and questions. Thank’s fir the heads up!
Ok wannabe cop. Thanks for opining on the dangers that unhoused people present to our waterways. So, where shall people go instead? Water is essential to life and the folks roughing it need water as much as the next do. It’s so kind of the sheriff to ask volunteers with negative views against the poorest people in the world to help out with evictions. Makes his job cheaper and easier to get someone else to do his dirty work.
Question: compared to the recent terracing the unhoused did along one creek, how much earth moving did the timber industry do in this county the previous 150 years?
Lol it’s embarrassing how much you ignorants cry for these low lifes. You do realise what they really are, why they are there? It isn’t because they can’t get a place to live. They reject help on purpose because they can’t do drugs, or commit violent crimes if they get in the system. I am a virtuous, real homeless mother, not on drugs, disabled, cannot get help, because ALL the resources are wasted on the scumbags you cry for, who also assaulted me btw. Pdos, rpists, m*rderers, traffickers. But hey, carry on with your misplaced empathy, while thinking it makes you a good person. It doesn’t. You are a flying monkey enabler.
Yep, For Real !! =)
– & 9 thumbs downs ??!! – Wow, obviously the truth hurts and the finger pointing ‘ high and mighty’ who prefer to live in their delusion are feeling bruised.
As a real homeless person, not a druggie, and a vulnerable member of society, thank you for helping our community. These people do not want help. They are mostly criminals, and they pose a threat not just to our environment, but our physical safety. I was assaulted by one of them.
Who are you to judge anyone. There is one judge and it’s not you.
Carroll Joe Stout is the judge of Revelations of Jesus Christ to John
The Last Judgement Revelations 20; 10-15. My 46 th. Birthday given to me by way of the kidnapping murderers who kidnapped me the real Jesus Christ (Born Christmas Day 1973) is October 16th. 1974 or Revelations 20;10 -16. Hind sight for me is always 2020 Barbara Walters style.
Boo!!! How dumb!! Your the only True ‘low life’ of them all! Your down at the bottom, in the same predicament, yet you have your hand up waving as to signal an S.O.S. I’m not with ‘these people’ .. Ha! “One of them” who? In what circumstance? Did u file a report? I doubt it, and it probably Never happened.. you @$$ puppet!! What good are you? You offer No solutions, making comments about the problem people forced to exist somewhere and yet no interpretation of the failing bs ‘efforts’ to house them like for one the obvious mis-allocation of the funds that were meant for that. Or the people ‘put in charge’ (the True Criminal$) of (mis) -management (/embezzle it) to give you fat hogs and ongoing ‘reason’ to point your F-in finger! They don’t want help ? What help? Get Real lady.. At some point in these people’s lives a chamber of events happened a crumbling, and an array of frail support ropes. Have your heard some of their story’s? Because they are Traumatizing, gut wrenching, horrifically Sad!!.. They and their families got the short end of the stick, in-justice fell heavily on them, they were failed by all, including the system and the very one’s ‘offering help’ You got any of the answer’s and solutions for that and also past tense and future? In this land of the free home of the brave, Your not allowed to be anywhere, sleep at night or you literally can/will be Arrested!! Nor Keep Anything that’s yours, unless it’s on you at All times, on your mark get set Go-!!! See what kind of life that leads!! No wonder some of these Poor Souls ‘do drugs’ maybe if they could have, keep, be, Believe, heal, have actual life rafts, real support, guidance, options, space, resources, quality of life, they could actually and finally take a deep breath and LIVE !!!
Thank you volunteers!
Needless to say…I’m overwhelmed knowing that encampment has been eradicated. Unfortunately, it has taken over a year to do this, and from what I’m reading in this article, it is much larger than the one that was there last year. What’s frustrating to me, is knowing the California fish and game and the Mendocino sheriff department were fully aware of the encampment that existed in that very same creek last year in June 2023. They did check on the creek from what I’m told, but they didn’t take care of it in its entirety and left it to fester into what it has became to be this year in 2024! I will never forget that date ,June 30, 2023…nor will I forget finding my beloved little dog killed internally within the encampment , left deceased on a trail for the flying overhead vultures. For me and my little dog…it was too little too late.
Actually, the encampment was broken up last year. I volunteered for the Streets to Creeks clean up last year and was at Ackerman creek. There were two small abandoned ply wood sheds, if you could call them that. There was an intoxicated guy passed out, sleeping in the creek. He eventually woke up and stumbled off. Besides that, there wasn’t anyone in the creek. So someone either told people to move on prior to the September clean up or they moved on their own accord.
This encampment was built out just in the last few months. I only put eyes on it a few weeks ago when I was told of its existence and scale by our sheriff.
I’m sorry about your dog.
The encampment are unfortunate, but thanks for stepping up and cleaning the waterways, so deeply appreciated,
Big thanks to the volunteers who took action and did something about it. For the folks who only want to bitch and moan, why don’t you show up on October 5th and lend these volunteers a hand? Instead of complaining, do something about it.
I’m not going to play deputy and evict people from private land. But our sheriff is too lazy and he knows it’d be a disaster because his department’s violent tendencies would take over. Civil rights lawsuits are harder to press against ignorant volunteers.
I will volunteer my time and truck if my waste disposal and gas costs are covered. I can’t afford to buy the contractors bags and pay the dump fees, and especially the gas to haul the waste. I used to do it all the time. Brooktrails; multiple dump sites where houses are yet, if ever to be built. Tomki creek basin. Outlet creek basin. As much as I could whenever I could. I got hollard at and questioned by concerned passersby all the time. Accusing of dumping. Makes me smile the thought of the taste of crow in the mouth when truckloads of junk disappeared. Not easy work either. Rolling tires back up the steep embankments and mountains they were tossed from. But yeah I did it. Can’t afford to anymore much as I’d like to. At all anymore really. Now I just get sick to my stomach thinking about it and how if I had the funding, I could clean this shit up full time. And the presence deters more dumping… May be easier to make waste disposal easier, cheaper, sliding scale EBT whatever, I need help to take out the trash or I let it pile up. Free dumpsters? Free dump days? Want California clean? Don’t make it so ridiculously expensive to dispose of Chinese garbage that should never been allowed in the country to begin with. 6months break buy another Chinese junker. Disposable this disposable that, but no where to dispose of it when times are tolling. Yeah try putting up free garbage disposal appliance disposal. Cheaper and easier than dump cleanups. Where is all California garbage going these days anyhow? Half way back to China?. Yeah its in the ocean. You see and hear about floating junk pile? What about all the shit that sank?
So you are “evicting” these people on the behalf of which landowners? Go be homeless somewhere else I’m guessing.
As I stated before there isn’t really any available “services” and what needs to be addressed is why are our community members homeless and jobless?
Maybe some of these homeless community members could join the asset managers for work or even participate on one of the many special district boards!
Just a thought.
Yes, the landowner has given us permission to evict people trespassing.
Rivers are subject to the Public Trust doctrine which protects natural resources for public use and enjoyment. Public trust doctrine also makes it a crime to harm the shared resource.
It is a crime. All those people are criminals anyway. They should be in jail, not polluting our water, and terrorising communities.
By that logic all of the generations of settlers have a lot to answer for considering how they absolutely destroyed the natural order of things in this county. You want to talk about terrorizing communities they used to hunt my people with dogs and still do to this day, nothings changed just the faces telling the lies and manipulating how they are viewed in the public eye. One could also make the point that destroying peoples belongings when thats all they have with your private sector cronies is terrorizing. As long as it doesn’t happened to you tho right? And as long as you’re not the one excuse my French getting f***ed?
Sheriff Kendall is asking you to help because he can’t do it right according to the governor’s executive orders. He’s lazy and not interested in actually working. He said it himself this spring-he’s working for free since May. Now many people might scratch their heads when a guy who makes 278K annually says whether he works or not he draws the same salary and that means he’s working for free- but that’s the logic of a guy on his last legs professionally. Heck he got you to work for free while he gets paid a thousand dollars a day while claiming he’s working for free. He’s got you right where he likes you.
I expressed a desire to clean up our community to make it more attractive with a focus on our waterways.
Our waterways and shared environment are also vulnerable. Are you suggesting it’s ok to allow people to pollute them? Why should being homelessness make it acceptable?
I’m suggesting you guys don’t play cops. Let actual cops be cops. When our sheriff says he’s working for free when he’s actually making a thousand dollars a day AND he has non cops doing his job… he’s just freeloading.
Clean up the waterways for sure but do it according to the state law and the governor’s new executive orders.
Regardless of the Sheriff’s overpaid wages; any effort by the community to clean up the area would help the community. No one is saying there aren’t structural issues in the law enforcement bodies.
Maybe stop simping for low life criminals, and addicts, and instead worry about the rest of us homeless who are not doing that crap. Yeah, I’m one of them. I mean, can’t you read? Gangs, drugs, ex felons? You do realise they hurt other people, right??
My volunteer work won’t be expended on this one Lucy. I’m not interested in degrading the hardest hit people in the county for likes from our sheriff’s facebook page.
Lol none of the scum you are simping for are ‘hardest hit’. You are just an immoral supporter of violent crime. Stop pretending tour have any values. You expressly do NOT care about vulnerable people. You are a fraud enabler.
Let’s talk about all the beaten, and rped, and mrdered mostly women, and children at the hands of these ‘campers’ shall we?? You still obviously cannot read either. Or you would express concern about them, the victims, not the perps.
Where’s that sheriff who’s working for free when we need him?
Lucy are you retarted? Just asking
I’ll take a job!
It’s funny watching the poor attack themselves while the pigs sew seeds of despair and division.
Disappointed in the Sheriff that assumed all the bikes were stolen from kids. People throw away bikes all the time. Quit being a jerk.
Adam Gaska ruined what was and has always been a beautiful gesture made by local volunteers who care about the environment and the place they live. He turned this cleanup into something militant and dark, and now the poor volunteers’ work is overshadowed by his callousness. Shame on him.
Thank you Adam!!
Someone has to do it!
In case anyone forgot, Adam proposed a refugee camp of sorts to help people and provide safety. He isn’t callously disregarding anything. Trash cleanup is no longer about the odd tossed tire or trash washed off the street. It’s about full on addicted communities with open sewer, and no trash service living in the fucking creeks!! What do you all want? To let babies get born in that creek?!! To just let them be and become another mysterious body found in the river? Compassion is getting those people out of that rinky dink shelter before a winter storm collapses it on some poor drunk! Yes Adam thank you!!
That’s ridiculous. You’re aware homeless people are allowed to give birth in hospitals and go into buildings like regular people, right? Gaska did this at an event that he didn’t create himself. He could have done this any other time, but instead he used this event, the volunteers and the homeless to make himself look like a white knight. Now we’re talking hot button issue politics and about him, instead of all the good that was done by our citizens today.
Its going to rain! They’re in the creek!!
If they can go indoors , well? They’re not! They’re in the creek! Giving them permission to live in the river beds isn’t the answer! Its just out of sight, that’s why ya’ll are ok with it.
If its no big deal, why not just let them take over the Jc Penny’s building and parking lot?
How about putting large dumpsters around those areas to make it easier for them to get rid of their trash? And ask them politely to do so for the most part, the homeless. We’ll throw things in the trash. But in those encampments that they have, they need a way to get rid of The trash
Because they’re on private property!
You’re on stolen propety O.
Then offer the fine constructor of that shack, to shack up with you!
Also, tell that to Pinolleville! They want them outta the creek too!
Pinollevile is a bunch of Mexicans. Half of them are selling the drugs to these guys.
How do you think they can afford their seasonal raiders tickets.
i have to say..as a witness to the progression that led to these encampments existing in these more remote areas..The local police were apparently given orders to tell people found within city limits living unhoused to “move to another location or go to jail” and when asked where to go the answer was always, “we cant tell you where..just not right here”… They eventually run these people to the outer lying areas where it becomes unlikely they will seek or have a convenient way to access resources to help them find better solutions to meet their needs.. The threat of jail and the city of ukiahs desperate need to take on the appearance of having solved its homeless problem brings people in need of help to areas that need to be protected.. i wonder This will add to the already negative view the public has of these people ao that when the day comes to round them up like animals nobody will see a need to come to their aid.
It seems at least within this comment thread, that functional people are so sympathetic to these (insert favorite word ep homeless, unhoused, multi generational trauma survivors, poor, crazy people) non conforming people that they’re saying let them live in the creek AND provide them with trash service, based on the premise that loggers in the past destroyed land so its ok if the druggies build a slum in the water ways. What delusional nonsense are we talking here!!? And can I just stake a claim on the river too? I’ve always wanted river front property of my very own! Back to the land!!
You’re correct O! what Mendocino needs is an extralegal paramilitary force to solve the problems of poverty and Plutocracy!
Ok truthsayer, I give up. Let them live in the creek. All boundaries are imaginary afterall. The people of Pinolleville are conquered and actually should feel bad for these campers on their reservation and invite them to live as part of their tribe. Maybe they could get more nunerous and take over all our waterways since we have no water issues in California. Let’s just give them free trash service, and each insured person in the state could take on one transient as a dependent. Sarcasm is best served annoying
Looks like FOIA requests need to be filed about Adam Gaska too. Deploring the conditions of the environment are one thing. Deploring marginalized humans is another. Pretty obvious the hierrachy involved seized upon Hillary Clinton’s idea that some folks are deplorable.
Adam Gaska claimed here to be cooperating with Matt Kendall and LEAR. Def time for FOIA requests!
Don’t destroy that evidence Paul and Matt!
I’ll talk to Rob Bonta tomorrow. Not hopeful. Not like the State gave a shit about setting Kevin Murray free.
It’s easy to talk conspiracies when you don’t know how anything works. Private property and public creeks are not for your friends to live in. Kick rocks.
Would you classify Kevin Murray as deplorable and or would you want him living next to you in the creek? How do you know the people in that creek aren’t a bunch of Kevin Murray’s?
Dipshit truthsayer
Hey truthsayer….nobody “stole” any land. Natives fought amongst themselves for years over resources. Then the spanish came and took more from them. Then the Mexicans came and took more. Then the euros came and took more. Every thing was fought over. So do we return it all to the first group? Why stop there….all this land was manless until the ice bridge. Maybe we should all leave? Dumbass….indians don’t have any more of a claim than Columbus. You’re an idiot.
Why don’t they reinstate the inmate cleanup program? Seems like a win, win, win to me. The inmate gets time reduced, county gets cleaned up, and cost the county less to house the inmates.
Half of these Pinoleville natives are on drugs and would be homeless if they didn’t stay in their grandmothers house until they were 45 punching holes in the dry while looking at themselves in the mirror holding a bottle of E&J
Someone is outing themselves. Projecting like crazy. Maybe that was your life but I see a community coming together to make a change. Tell your grandma I miss her frybread and try and have some Native pride.
He speaks the truth! He has repaired their damage from the lack of emotional control.
Who really is projecting now?
Just a thought.
The drunk Indians stereotype could be any reservation. I merely am stating that they sound like they had a rough upbringing and instead of starting rumors about that tribe being Mexican drug dealers. Be a better person i know it’s in you. Also frybread.
Ukiah should be named Scumville.