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SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2018 • SANTA ROSA, CALIFORNIA • PRESSDEMOCRAT.COM

OCTOBER WILDFIRES
GUERNEVILLE » ‘WHY ARE WE OK WITH WATCHING THEM DIE?’
Haulers
often Homeless deaths rise
exceed
limits
amid shelter impasse
After SR crash, county
officials confront issue of
overweight dump trucks
BY KEVIN FIXLER
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

Dump trucks hauling debris

away from fire-ravaged neigh-
borhoods in Sonoma County
have repeatedly been overload-
ed, exceeding weight limits de-
signed to ensure they are safe to
drive on public roads, according
to county officials and the com-
pany that operates the county
landfill.
The issue is coming under
increased scrutiny in the wake
of a violent wreck on Monday
at the base of Fountain Grove
Parkway, where a dump truck
descending from the hillside
neighborhood failed to stop at a
red light and plowed through a
crowded intersection, causing a
10-vehicle pileup that critically
injured three motorists.
A recurring problem with
overloaded trucks has been doc-
umented at the county landfill,
where thousands upon thou-
sands of trucks have driven
through the gates to dump rub-
ble from neighborhoods leveled
by the October wildfires.
BETH SCHLANKER / THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
Local law enforcement say
they are ill-equipped to inspect MOURNING THE LOST: Kathy Plumb, center, and Daniel Magdaleno, right, sing during a memorial service Jan. 21 for the homeless who have died in the area at Odd
trucks to ensure they are com- Fellows Hall in Guerneville. Fourteen people from the region’s homeless community have died in the past 22 months, according to the Homeless Healthcare program.
plying with weight limits. Fed-
eral officials said they are not
aware of problems and have Russian River town faces daunting challenges as street population swells
found no evidence that drivers
are hauling larger loads than al- By MARY CALLAHAN
lowed under the law. THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
It is not clear whether weight

was a factor in Monday’s crash.
Investigators are looking closely
TURN TO HAULERS » PAGE A12
NORTH KOREA
I
GUERNEVILLE
t was sometime after 4 a.m. when deputies
found Charles Muth under the footbridge,
spitting up blood.
The 67-year-old homeless man, who went by
“Buck,” was known among service providers,
family and others who lived with him on the
streets here as fiercely self-reliant, a protector
of others. Yet on this January morning, he’d

Invitation to been yelling for help in the dark, prompting a

call to 911.

S Korea may
Paramedics took him by ambulance to Sut-
ter Hospital in Santa Rosa, but it was too late.
Suffering from flu and pneumonia, he had

undercut US been camped outside in the cold and rain and

By CHOE SANG-HUN
NEW YORK TIMES
SEOUL, South Korea — North
Korea’s reclusive leader, Kim
Jong Un, extended an extremely
rare invitation to a foreign head
of state on Saturday, using the
diplomatic opening created by
had developed widespread infection, organ
failure and septic shock, according to medical
records. He died the next morning, Jan. 24.
Muth was the second person living on the
streets of Guerneville to die in the first three
weeks of this year. CHRISTOPHER CHUNG / THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
The first was Charlyne Bohannon, who ON THE STREETS: Santiago Velasquez hangs out on the side of MD Liquor & Food on Wednesday in
died New Year’s Day. A heavy drinker, the Guerneville. Velasquez has been homeless for a decade.
TURN TO HOMELESS » PAGE A14 ONLINE See more photos highlighting the homelessness crisis in Guerneville at pressdemocrat.com

Compassion, viable solutions at odds

the Olympics
in South Korea
to ask its lead-
er, President
Moon Jae-in, to
visit the North
for a summit
meeting.
Community grappling unable to compete on his own in
Sonoma County’s tight housing
Kim’s un- with how to best address market after losing his previous
Kim usual
tion,
invita-
which
plight of shelterless home.
Now and for the past two
Jong Un
was received By MARY CALLAHAN years he has paid 30 percent
by Moon with both caution and of his small income to share a

optimism, was the latest sign of
warming relations between the
two rival governments after an
exceptionally tense period over
the North’s nuclear weapons
program.
But the overture by the North
also risked driving a wedge
between South Korea and the
United States, its main military
ally, which has been campaigning
for “maximum sanctions and
TURN TO KOREA » PAGE A2
D
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
avid Hays had been
homeless for about two
years when he got help
that turned his life around,
including a roof over his head
and access to any support he
needs to stay on track.
Reliant on Social Security
and struggling with post-
ALVIN JORNADA / THE PRESS DEMOCRAT traumatic stress disorder, the
LIVING WITHOUT SHELTER: Buck Muth, who died Jan. 24, hangs clothing to 74-year-old, one-time gardener
dry on tree branches at Riverkeeper Stewardship Park in Guerneville in 2015. and odd-jobs man had been
house with five other formerly
homeless people, all receiving
periodic visits from a social
worker who checks in and links
them to any services or aid
programs they may need.
Hays is one person taken
off the streets of Guerneville,
where roughly 250 homeless
individuals live along the lower
Russian River. His is one life
TURN TO SOLUTIONS » PAGE A15

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A14 THE PRESS DEMOCRAT • SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2018

HOMELESS
CONTINUED FROM A1
58-year-old woman was found
disoriented and unable to rise
from the concrete in front of the
local Subway shop. She, too, died
after reaching the hospital.
Bohannon suffered from a lit-
any of disabling conditions: mal-
nutrition, liver failure, alcohol
addiction, schizophrenia, conges-
tive heart failure and Hepatitis C,
according to her death certificate.
She had lost one arm below the
elbow years earlier. The story she
told was that she had slept too
close to a train track.
People around town more or
less watched her final weeks
and years play out — her long
decline in the open for all to see,
alongside other visibly broken
individuals. Altogether, 14 peo-
ple from the lower Russian
River homeless community have
now died in the past 22 months,
according to staff at the local
Homeless Healthcare program.
The death rate is higher than
any other place in the county
with a significant homeless
population, according to county
government records.
Growing problem PHOTOS BY BETH SCHLANKER / THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
The recent deaths have rekin- SHOWING SUPPORT: Wally Glaspey, left, and Kathy Plumb clasp hands during a memorial service Jan. 21 for the homeless who have died over the past 22 months hosted
dled debate about the difficulties by the Metropolitan Community Church of the Redwood Empire in Guerneville.
Guerneville and surrounding ar-
eas have encountered in settling around Third Street, some-
on and sustaining a strategy times passed out in a doorway
to address homelessness. The or on the sidewalk, or camped
problem stymies even the coun- out in the post office before the
ty’s large cities, where homeless decision was made to close it
populations are far greater. But overnight.
Guerneville, an unincorporat- Born Charlyne Feuillard in
ed town of about 4,100, and its San Leandro, she was already
outskirts now have the largest battling alcohol addiction as
homeless population, per capita, a wife and mother in her 20s,
in the county, according to the when she worked making circuit
most recent countywide census. boards and briefly ran her own
The January 2017 count put nail salon, according to her
the unhoused population in the ex-husband, Pat Bohannon, of
river region at Concord.
248 people, more The nail business suffered be-
than 8 percent cause of her addiction, a family
of the county affliction, as did their
total. 10-year marriage, and she
Last year, the seemed resistant to any kind of
region saw the intervention, her ex-husband
largest increase said. He said he was unaware
in homeless his ex-wife suffered from any
Charlyne numbers — diagnosed mental illness.
Bohannon 20 percent — of After their divorce, she left
58-year-old any place in the home and family behind to live
woman died on county, where on a kind of commune, Bohan-
Jan. 1after she homeless- non said. Her path was hard to
was found ness actually MEMORIAL SERVICE: Norma Gann, a senior pastor with Metropolitan Community Church of the Redwood Empire, delivers her follow after that, though there
collapsed on declined by message during a memorial service at Odd Fellows Hall in Guerneville. were occasional contacts and
the sidewalk in 2 percent, reports that found their way
Guerneville. according to the Among the unsheltered, he incontinence that friends said abuse, and the daily plight of life back to him.
2017 point-in- was known for offering assis- kept people at bay as she found exposed to the elements and po- He said Bohannon had been
time survey. tance to those in need, partic- it increasingly difficult to stay tential mistreatment or violence homeless in the East Bay and,
No year-round shelter or ularly vulnerable women like clean and clothed. Before his by others. perhaps, Sacramento, before
homeless service center exists in Bohannon. death, Muth said he had helped Large percentages have dis- fond memories of a family va-
the community, and the coun- She was a volatile person her clean up and change hun- abling conditions to start with cation home along the Russian
ty’s latest plans were soundly whose outbursts, friends said, dreds of times. — mental illness, chronic health River drew her to Sonoma Coun-
rejected last year by a vocal con- masked a tender, generous dis- But the substance abuse that conditions, traumatic brain in- ty. Friends said she had often
tingent of local residents who position but tested the compas- helped put Bohannon on the jury, substance abuse, post-trau- tried to get into the Villa Grande
raised concerns about public sion of those who encountered streets also provided a means to matic stress disorder, and other house and once moved in with
safety and nuisance behaviors her. survive them, observers said. issues that both lead to homeless- a number of friends before she
in close proximity to a public A wife and mother earlier in “They have nothing to look ness and are exacerbated by it. was caught and turned out.
school and rural neighborhoods. her 20s, she was estranged from forward to, and if they do, they The homeless existence also In town, she stayed within
For the region’s sole local family members and unable don’t know what it is,” said San- is linked to increased rates of close range of the Subway and
elected representative, county to manage the chronic health tiago Velasquez, 53, who shared infectious disease, diabetes, neighboring MD Liquor and
Supervisor Lynda Hopkins, in ailments she suffered. In her his own experience with alcohol heart disease, liver disease, skin Food store frequented by many
just her second year in office, it’s
final months, passersby could abuse and is homeless. and foot problems, seizures and downtown homeless. About
proved one of the most vexing observe visible skin lesions and behavioral health issues, among a block north is the nonprofit
challenges. badly swollen feet. Deadly existence other problems. health clinic that serves more
“It’s really tragic that people She shared what little she had The national life expectancy “I think of it as end-stage than 240 homeless residents.
are losing their lives on the with friends, though she seldom for those who are homeless social dysfunction,” said Jared Clinic officials would not say
streets of Guerneville,” Hopkins had enough clothing or bedding ranges from 42 to 52 years old, Garrison-Jakel, a family if Bohannon was among them,
said. “A lot of people say, ‘Well to keep herself warm. Others according to the National Coali- practice doctor and homeless citing privacy laws governing
why hasn’t something been took advantage of her, stealing tion for the Homeless. In Sono- medical services director at the patient medical records.
done?’ It’s because there is no money or property, friends said. ma County overall, the median Russian River Health Center She sometimes stayed at the
easy solution.” Her intoxication led to unso- age at death is 81. in Guerneville. “It’s a terminal winter shelter opened in the
Homeless residents here cial behavior that drew unwant- At least 100 homeless indi- condition.” local veterans’ hall December
have access to county mental ed attention. Alcohol, said one viduals — an average of 20 a through March but preferred to
and medical health services, downtown resident, Debbie year — died in the county from A troubled life be on her own, friends said.
an overnight shelter during the Gulling, seemed to transform 2013 to 2017, most in the 45-to- Bohannon’s fate seemed ob- Friends in the street commu-
coldest months, and other help Bohannon from a “very sweet 64-year-old age range, according vious to many who watched her nity remembered her as “beauti-
provided by public and nonprofit and loving” woman when sober to the county’s Office of Vital decline. ful,” “a great woman.” But even
agencies. But the safety net is into “a different person.” Statistics. There were at least It’s unclear when she arrived they were aware of a temper
inadequate for the most vulnera- But by the end, drinking was 26 deaths among the county’s in Guerneville, but her record that could overtake her.
ble, officials say. all she had, friends said. Cheap homeless population last year, of law enforcement contacts Tim Miller, executive director
The recent losses thus carry vodka that was her staple bev- and 24 the year before, though dates to 2003, according to the of the nonprofit West County
a particular sting for some town erage, and drinking and living the data only reflects those who Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office. Community Services, which man-
residents. on the streets, exacted an ever- could be identified as homeless. The records show 46 arrests for ages the winter shelter, said unso-
“It’s slow death out here,” saidgreater toll on her health. She Experts say homeless individ- offenses including public intox- cial behavior among the homeless
Greg Kestel, whose downtown seemed unable to care that the uals routinely succumb to the ication, trespass and various often reflects being “cold, wet,
office provides a window on the combination would cost her her combination of poor nutrition misdemeanors. uncomfortable and in pain.”
suffering. “We can do better.” life, friends said. and hygiene, sleep deprivation, She was a fixture downtown, Bohannon, he said, “often was
She appeared to suffer from untreated disease, substance often drinking or panhandling in obvious discomfort.”
Disparate cases Jeff Bridges, co-owner and
Muth and Bohannon were general manager of the down-
among a group of about two town R3 Hotel, said he once saw
dozen highly visible individu- Bohannon kick a scrawny puppy
als who for many comprise the in a rage and called her out for
face of Guerneville’s homeless it. Hours later, in an apparent
population. Their presence moment of clarity, Bohannon
in the downtown area, often turned up with a friend and
loitering or sleeping in liquor asked him to take the young
store parking lots, is a continu- animal since she was unable to
ous source of anger, frustration, care for it, he said.
disgust and sorrow for residents, That dog, now 5 years old,
merchants and visitors to this remains Bridges’ companion and
perennial tourist destination. was a source of kinship Bohannon
Their relatively high death seemed to feel toward Bridges.
toll, in such close quarters, is a She would run up and hug him
distressing mark in town that whenever their paths crossed.
pains those aware of the losses. “Ultimately, I have to say I
But a look at the troubled lives think she had a huge heart, and
of Muth and Bohannon shows she went through a lot of prob-
just how formidable a public lems in her life,” Bridges said.
challenge homelessness pres- “She had a lot of demons she
ents. was dealing with. My heart goes
In life, the two friends stood out to her.”
in sharp contrast to one anoth-
er. Muth was a wiry, lucid and An unforeseen loss
dependable figure, according Muth’s death, in contrast,
to fellow homeless residents. A stunned his companions.
counterculture vegetarian, he Friends said he appeared
valued independence but main- CHRISTOPHER CHUNG / THE PRESS DEMOCRAT reasonably healthy even a day
tained connection with family STREET COMMUNITY: Kathy Plumb, right, who is homeless, sings a Grateful Dead song while hanging out with Jerry Garcia or two before he found himself
members, attending large family Trujillo on Wednesday in Guerneville. The town of Guerneville and its outskirts have the largest homeless population, per capita,
events several times a year. in the county, according to the most recent countywide census. TURN TO HOMELESS » PAGE A15
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT • SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2018
SOLUTIONS
CONTINUED FROM A1
put back together against the
odds.
“I love living there,” said
Hays, a 45-year resident of the
area. “It’s working out for me,
definitely.”
One county official calls it
“quiet work” — the steps that
get Hays and others like him
into scarce, stable housing —
efforts that go on largely under
the public radar by people from
nonprofits and public agencies
chipping away, person-by-person
at a problem that confounds
many places across the nation.
Any success comes nowhere
close to clearing the streets and
bridges and river encampments
of people too impoverished, too
hopeless, too addicted or too sick
to find a way out on their own.
But these days, it’s what can
be done in Guerneville: inter-
ventions tailored to the specific
needs of individuals or families,
integrated where possible with
housing support along with
addiction counseling, medical
treatment and mental health
referrals.
Still, it’s a long way from the
grand scheme that for several
years guided public debate about
the area’s growing and under-
served homeless population, as
county officials and community
leaders struggled to find an
acceptable site for a year-round
overnight shelter and service
center where homeless people
could spend their days and con-
nect to help.
The area is one of the only
homeless hubs in the county
without such a facility. Its win-
tertime shelter, open December
through March in the veterans
memorial building, offers beds,
restrooms and dinner for up to
50 clients.
But all plans for a year-
round homeless facility in the
area have been shelved after a
proposal to purchase a 9-acre
Armstrong Woods Road ranch
for that purpose devolved into
bitter conflict that divided the
town a year ago. The project’s
$1.2 million in funding, allocated
since 2013, remains untouched.
Evolving federal guidance
and policy approaches had
something to do with it, shifting
focus and public dollars away
from short-term homeless
shelters like the one sought in
Guerneville since 2010.
The latest emphasis is on
longer-term housing solutions
that include case management,
behavioral health and other ser-
vices for those who most need
support, or temporary assis-
tance for less vulnerable people
who require minimum help.
But the deaths last month of
two longtime homeless resi-
dents, Charles “Buck” Muth
and Charlyne Bohannon, have
heightened attention, renewing
debate over how best to tackle
an issue that tests the compas-
sion and resources of far larger,
wealthier communities.
“You cannot allow this to just
keep on going how it is,” said
Jeff Bridges, co-owner and gen-
eral manager at The R3 Hotel
in downtown Guerneville. “It’s
ridiculous.”
Flashpoint for town
Guerneville, home to 4,100 res-
idents, and the surrounding Rus-
sian River area has the highest
rate of homelessness in Sonoma
County. It accounts for less than
1 percent of the county’s popula-
tion but more than 8 percent of
its homeless individuals.
The town’s median income is
just shy of $47,000, compared to
$66,833 for Sonoma County as
a whole, according to the U.S.
Census.
That may be one factor in
the growing number of people
becoming homeless in the lower
Russian River region, where the
homeless population spiked by
20 percent last year. At the same
time, the countywide figure,
which peaked at 4,539 individ-
uals in 2011, continued to fall,
reaching 2,835.
HOMELESS
CONTINUED FROM A14
camped under the footbridge,
too weak to walk.
“He was very meticulous
about his person and a very
keen mind,” said friend David
Hays, 74. “It’s totally shocking ly intellectual, known for his
that he’s gone.”
Born and raised in Baltimore
before a new job assignment for
his father sent the family west, looked out for those most in
to Vallejo, in 1966, Muth was the need or at risk in homeless cir-
oldest of eight children, all of cles, friends said.
whom attended Catholic schools,
his siblings said.
He grew into a free-spirited,
nonconformist, who roamed
the nation as a young man and
held “a strong desire not to opt
into the system,” they said. A
For the entrepreneurs and
merchants who have sought to
breathe new life into the town’s
tourism-based economy, the
issue is especially galling. They
describe routine encounters
with public intoxication and
drug use, litter-filled campsites, the neighborhood.
public toileting and frequent dis-
regard for behavioral norms, all is that they have to sneak these
of it hindering economic vitality. things into local neighborhoods, Wertz said.
The timeline of recent set-
backs is well known in town.
After a series of downtown
fires broke out during the 2015
Christmas season, including two dents of Guerneville, or FROG,
arson fires — one of which gut-
ted the downtown health clinic
— residents became intently
focused on the issue, angrily
speaking out about mounting
public safety and nuisance con-
cerns, though no evidence sur-
faced that a homeless individual they note, people who aren’t
was responsible for the fires.
About 400 people turned out at same behavioral health burdens open drinking and intoxication.
a public meeting January 2016,
many berating public officials
for doing too little to rein in the
problem.
Last spring, the proposed
Armstrong Woods Road ranch
purchase provided a similar
flash point, launching several
new neighborhood groups,
political signs and harsh words. er in the area.
Opponents noted the site’s prox-
imity to the local grade school
and homes, as well as fears that
augmenting services would
draw more homeless people to
the region.
At one point, someone threw
the severed heads of several
wild boars onto the property in
apparent protest. An earlier pro- ers who cluster downtown, or as of the county’s Community De-
posal to use an old tavern and
inn west of Guerneville, though to impose homes for substance
less controversial, evoked simi-
lar blowback.
Then last fall, a large outcry
erupted when the county consid- devise solutions have brought
ered financing the purchase of a stakeholders closer together,
five-bedroom home in Guerne-
wood Park for use as permanent sentative for the Guerneville
supportive housing intended for Community Alliance. The
chronic, high-priority homeless group’s members have lodged
individuals in need of coordi-
nated, long-term support for
treatment of mental illness, sub- code of conduct for clients of
resident of Monte Rio for years,
he worked as a carpenter and,
later, in a glass store. But he
chose to live outside after the
death, about six years ago, of a
longtime girlfriend with whom
he had shared a trailer parked
off Bohemian Highway.
A thin man with long gray
hair and whiskers, he was high-
chess skills, though he played a
lot of cribbage, as well.
He helped pick up trash and
“Buck was a force to be reck-
oned with, in a very peaceful
way,” said Kathy Plumb, 63, one
of those who said she had bene-
fited from his protection.
Muth’s 86-year-old mother,
along with most of his surviving
stance abuse disorder or other
problems.
That proposal, too, was
dropped due to cost, though
not before the prospect of what
one opponent called “derelicts”
moving into the house had riled
“The attitude of local agencies increasing (for programs), so
and this is not a place that’s
going to allow that,” said local
attorney Mario Torrigino, a
member of Friends and Resi-
which formed to oppose the
Armstrong Woods Road facility
and remains active in the debate. Beverage Control into tougher
But homeless providers and
advocates push back, saying
long-term housing is clearly the store’s parking lot is a common
best way to solve the crisis. Also, gathering place for homeless
homeless have many of the
and are still allowed to live in
neighborhoods.
“We’re not going to get
them any better leaving them
in a parking lot all day,” said
Dannielle Danforth, director of
housing and homeless services
for West County Community
Services, a major nonprofit play- population “is like building the
Reliant on triage
The political lines thus drawn and support services county-
are still evident in lingering
distrust of county government
and nonprofit partners, as well
as service providers in general.
Some critics view them as “en-
ablers” of drunks and drug us-
heavy-handed authorities eager velopment Commission, which
abusers and the mentally ill on
unsuspecting neighborhoods.
Recent community efforts to
said Jeniffer Wertz, a repre-
complaints about lax enforce-
ment of laws and a downtown
siblings and their families, were
among a large group of friends
and local service providers who
gathered to remember him at a
recent memorial service, sharing
admiration and affection for him.
“I always thought he was out
here by himself,” the youngest
brother, Dave Muth, of Sac-
ramento, told the group as he
cried. “And I see today that he
wasn’t.”
The roll call of 14 Russian River
homeless residents who have died
since April 2016 has become a ral-
lying cry of late. Those who knew
them or helped them want more
done to ensure a brighter future is
not beyond reach for others.
“Why are we OK with watch-
ing them die?” said Jeb Heibel,
homeless health care manager
for the West County Health
Centers.
A15
viders underscore the patience
required to build trust with
homeless clients who present
the most complicated cases.
Mental illness, physical and
psychological trauma and sub-
stance abuse, as well as general
poor health are all pitfalls.
“Just the needs of this
population are dynamic, and
it takes time,” Sonoma County
Health Services Director Barbie
Johnson said. “There is no
political expediency to it, and it
takes time to build relationships.
It takes time for people either
to want to engage or sustain
engagement in treatment or
services.”
All the while, divisive politics
can contribute to “a kind of
paralysis” over trying to find
sites for needed facilities, such
as the supportive housing of
the sort Hays enjoys, said Jenny
Abramson, the county’s home-
less and community services
manager.
Many in the community feel
they’ve been left out of the
conversation. They also are
frustrated by the lack of ser-
vices and progress, and “their
knee-jerk reaction is, ‘We don’t
want anymore than we have,
BESIDE HIS and what we have mostly is not
BELONGINGS: Taking going to make that much of a
advantage of the warm difference,” Abramson said.
sunshine after a few There has been some for-
days of rain, Buck Muth ward movement, however. The
spreads his belongings nonprofit West County Health
on the ground to dry at Center is moving its 2-year-old
Riverkeeper Steward- homeless health care program
ship Park in Guerneville into a larger building adjacent
in 2015. A fixture in the to its current, modular home,
Guerneville homeless where an array of existing med-
community, Muth, at ical, psychiatric and social ser-
left, who stands bare- vices will be expanded, Program
foot at his spot in the Manager Jed Heibel said.
park, died on Jan. 24. Two staffers from the nonprof-
it West County Community Ser-
ALVIN JORNADA
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT vices, a frequent partner, will be-
gin working under the same roof
providing financial and housing
guidance, case management and
other support necessary to help
people find work and shelter.
Laundry and shower facilities
will be included in the program,
contributing to better health and
improved appearance that might
the existing winter-time home- smooth the path toward housing
less shelter run by West County and employment.
Community Services. Guerneville also is one of the
She also said help for those in county sites for a $16.7 million
need must be balanced with con- federally funded pilot program
cerns for the larger community. dubbed “whole person care” de-
“There is a lot of suspicion, signed to extend medical, mental
because while the funding keep health and other services to indi-
viduals whose frequent contacts
does the homeless population,” with law enforcement and emer-
gency medical personnel reveal
Many residents wish county chronic, unmet needs.
sheriff’s personnel would do Also, more than $400,000 was
more to police public intoxica- allocated by the county last year
tion, urination, trespassing and to the West County Community
the like. A renewed and focused Services toward an effort called
effort is underway to lobby the “rapid rehousing.” It has housed
state Department of Alcoholic eight homeless individuals
and 25 people at imminent risk
enforcement of the liquor license of homelessness since about
at MD Liquor and Food. The December, said Tim Miller, the
group’s executive director.
The program offers temporary
customers. Some neighborhood assistance with rent, deposits,
activists claim the store enables utility bills or other hurdles
necessary to secure housing for
County Supervisor Lynda someone who can demonstrate
Hopkins, the area’s lone elected the ability to be economically
representative in local govern- self-sustaining after a set period
ment, concedes that trying to of time.
find solutions for the river while Another chunk of county
the county as a whole is still funding, $50,000, has been put
working on a long-term, unified into an emergency relief fund
strategy to reduce the homeless intended to prevent struggling
service workers, particularly
plane while we’re flying it.” those affected by seasonal cut-
Officials have sunk millions backs, from falling into home-
of taxpayer dollars into housing lessness.
Overseen by Wertz’s group,
wide in recent years but with the Guerneville Community
little to show in Guerneville for Alliance, the grant in its first
the investment. month kept two families housed,
“We don’t have a system that’s she said.
highly functioning,” said Marga- “There is no easy answer,
ret Van Vliet, executive director because it really is a little bit of
everything, and at some point
just figuring out what works
oversees affordable housing right and just doing it even if
development and economic aid there’s going to be backlash,”
programs outside city limits. said Danforth.
Work is underway to improve “There’s going to be haters.
coordination and integration There’s going to be detractors.
countywide, but she described There’s going to be people who
the approach in Guerneville as say what they say.”
“more triaging to the very best
of our ability.” You can reach Staff Writer
Mary Callahan at 707-521-
Slow progress 5249 or mary.callahan@
While exasperated residents pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter
urge quicker action, service pro- @MaryCallahanB.
Hopkins, for her part, said she
has been dwelling on a comment
made at a recent supervisors’
Ricardo” and Charlyne, “the
one-armed bandit.”
Mel Wallace, perhaps her
meeting, when a speaker de- closest friend, said the service
scribed access to affordable hous- helped her feel better. Days be-
ing as a question of morality. fore she had wept as she recalled
“I do feel fundamentally that the 18 or so people she had seen
it’s inhumane to have people die prematurely, many addicted
dying on the streets,” she said. to alcohol, like herself.
In mid-January, three days Dying in their 50s, they had
before Muth fell ill, many in the missed out on a third of their
Russian River homeless com- lives, she said.
munity gathered to remember Wallace, 57, knows she is at
those who’ve died among them. similar risk but said she does
The service was held in the Odd not know a way out.
Fellows Hall and hosted by the “I don’t know the door,” she
tiny Redwood Empire branch of said. “If there was a door, I’d
the Metropolitan Community find it.”
Churches.
Daniel Magdalena sang You can reach Staff Writer
and danced in memory of the Mary Callahan at 707-521-
deceased, remembering the 5249 or mary.callahan@
likes of “Wild Bill,” “King Tut,” pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter
“Fisherman Mike,” “Ricky @MaryCallahanB.