LOS BANOS, Calif. (KMJ/KFSN) — The encampment near Los Banos police headquarters has been transformed into what almost looks like a mini subdivision, with neat rows of tents.
“Yeah they cleaned everything all up,” said Robert Anthony.
Robert Anthony has been living in the encampment that used to be plagued by piles of trash, fires, and crime.
“But we had too much stuff here anyway, needed to be gone,” said Robert Anthony. “They hooked us up with some nice tents. Everything’s been going alright.”
Like many cities across the state, Los Banos recently passed a no-camping ordinance, but instead of chasing people away, they’re bringing them together and surrounding them with resources, along with essentials for clean living, like toilets and dumpsters
“The city has the mindset now to where, since it’s all centrally located and everything there, they wanna bring services to them,” said Pastor Stephen Hammond, Bethel Community Church. “I think it’s a lot easier than to try to bring them out… In fact, we have a shower trailer that we’re in the process of donating to the city. So it can be there onsite.”
Each person has their own tent on their own lot.
To stay, the Police Chief says they need to keep their plots clean and follow the law.
With headquarters right next door, they’re keeping a close eye.
“We do a lot of essentially foot patrol in the encampment between public works, police, and code enforcement, and the idea there is to reinforce the rules, which again are very simple and consistent with the rest of the community,” Chief Ray Reyna, Los Banos Police Department
City leaders are quick to admit, this isn’t a solution, it’s a stepping stone. It gives them time to build permanent housing, but also prepares people to accept that help when it’s ready.
“Probably within the next three months we’ll have bridge homes, the city councils looking at that and staff and we’ll make decisions on that and then like I said a little over a year we’ll have our One Tree Housing development, with small tiny homes with 58 units will be in Los Banos,” Michael Amabile, Los Banos Mayor.
Those projects are being funded with nearly 12 million dollars, the city received from the state in 2024.
