Sacramento small business owner wants solutions from city for homelessness
SACRAMENTO -- A Sacramento woman says she's spent nearly a year trying to find a solution to a growing homeless encampment across from her family's 40-year-old landscaping business but has had no support from the city.
Patricia runs her family business on Morrison Creek Drive, near Florin Road, and the encampment consists of trailers, cars, and tents that run nearly the entire length of the block.
She said her first report to the City of Sacramento was last summer, and she's made multiple reports since to code enforcement, 311, and City Councilmember Eric Guerra.
Still, she said, the problems have grown.
"I don't feel safe. I don't feel safe at work. I don't feel safe in general," Patricia said.
She shared examples of theft and damage documented by the business security cameras that include a man, who appears to live in a trailer across from the business, cutting through the fence and driving off in one of the work trucks through the gate.
This has happened at least twice, she said, and in one instance, cameras captured another man abandoning the work vehicle nearby and walking back to a trailer near the business.
"Isn't this what the city does? [It's] supposed to take care of its citizens?" Patricia said.
On Tuesday, the city council held a public workshop on homelessness with a focus on new solutions to create more temporary housing.
