San Jose’s city-sponsored removal of hundreds of homeless residents—many of them living in recreational vehicles—from Columbus Park this month proved to be a financial headache for one company when the relocated RVs sought refuge on its property.
Kellanova, formerly known as The Kellogg Company, found itself having to deal with the encampment’s stragglers near its Eggo Way facility because the city failed to directly intervene with money and services.
Jesse Greenberg, senior director of state government relations for Kellanova, told San Jose Inside the city of San Jose offered no support to help remove 20 RVs trespassing on its property to escape city police and encampment sweep teams that had moved them out of Columbus Park several miles away.
Mayor Matt Mahan’s Office said recent estimates show of the almost 400 people living in Columbus Park, about half accepted offers of shelter.
The dilemma drove Santa Clara County Supervisor Betty Duong to intervene last Thursday and draw a stalemate between the handful of police officers and about two dozen residents.
Greenberg said his firm hired city-contracted companies like Tucker Construction and Valley Services to clear out the encampment of RVs on Friday.
Just one day after defending former Columbus Park residents who were swept out, Mahan announced that he and Duong are introducing a new partnership to the Board of Supervisors for a vote this Tuesday.
“If the rest of the board agrees … we will integrate the city’s temporary housing network with the county’s Coordinated Entry System so people can move faster from shelter to permanent supportive housing when they are unable to achieve self-sufficiency due to serious medical and behavioral health challenges,” Mahan said Sunday.
“That's what this new collaboration is all about. And doing better starts by admitting that what we’ve been doing hasn’t been enough.”
RV dwellers like Yari Castillo say they turned down the city’s initial offer for motel and tent space after being among the hundreds asked to leave Columbus Park encampments on Sept. 5 because the RV dwellers don’t consider themselves to be unhoused.
Many of the Spanish-speaking RV residents say they fear for the undocumented members of their family, as residents without houses are especially vulnerable to immigration enforcement.
Now Greenberg is finding himself having to negotiate directly with his company’s squatters. But he says he doesn’t lack empathy for the restless residents, rather he said he’s prioritizing the safety of workers who may not get used to the new neighbors.
“I respect you and I appreciate what you’re doing,” Greenberg told Castillo the day before police would force them off the property. “I wish you guys good luck.”
Castillo and multiple neighbors have since found a third, undisclosed, site for temporary refuge as they risk having their RVs captured by parking enforcement and destroyed at dumpsites like Valley Services.
While the trespass warning flyers posted by Kellanova employees like senior engineer manager Jay Ramesh listed an address associated with the homeless services nonprofit HomeFirst, an organization official described the flyer as “fake” and having contained “outdated information.”
Castillo and about two dozen additional residents were initially told to leave at 7:30am on Sept. 26, but the arrival of Duong and a staffer from the Office of District 3 Councilmember Anthony Tordillos prolonged the police response until end of day.
Duong paced along the multi-acre plot of dry grass throughout the morning and afternoon as she struggled to keep her head tucked between a finger in one ear and a smart phone glued to the other — stuck between a rock and a hard place trying to reach grassroots partners.
The rock and hard place in this case being a defunct set of train tracks buried in rubble, at Highway 101 along Eggo Way.
Duong told San Jose Inside she was focused on finding quick relief for the residents in her district as the clock was ticking and did not have time for an on-site interview.
Churches contacted by nonprofit staff members with Latino empowerment organizations like Amigos de Guadalupe and SOMOS Mayfair stepped in to provide limited spaces for those in most need of safe parking.
“We’re not unhoused, we’re unparked,” Castillo said. “Come down and you’ll see how we keep this place nice and tidy, we don’t put up with criminal activity and we just want somewhere to park and be left alone—because we don’t want to see [you all] either—we just want a community.”
A spokesperson for Mahan’s office said they have no plans to expand from its two existing safe parking sites.
“The city currently operates the Santa Teresa Safe Parking Site and the Berryessa Safe Parking site. We will be opening the Rue Ferrari expansion site, the Cherry interim housing community, an additional refurbished hotel and the Cerone interim housing community before the end of the year,” said mayoral spokesperson Tasha Dean.
Duong and Mahan are expected to introduce a resolution for the city to support the county’s expansion of inpatient behavioral health treatment beds to ensure all homeless residents in need of such assistance can access it.
“On Friday, Duong did something I’d like to see a lot more of—she stood up for real change. She stood up for government efficiency. She stood up for our most vulnerable. And in doing so, she challenged the status quo,” Mahan said in his recent newsletter. “And I am hoping that on Tuesday, the entire Board of Supervisors will support the proposal.”
