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CHULA VISTA, Calif. — Parents sounded off at a city council meeting Tuesday about a growing homeless encampment right next to an elementary school.
Residents raised their concerns over safety issues and criminal activity at Harborside Park. The Chula Vista City Council voted to temporarily close the park for 90 days.
“Fence it off,” said Dr. Eduardo Reyes, Chula Vista Elementary School District Superintendent. “It’s the right thing to do.”
This Chula Vista City Council meeting was packed over concerns of a homeless encampment that has caused problems right next to Harborside Elementary School.
“A few months ago, very unfortunate event. There was a dead body found next to the fence, again that faces the school due to an overdose,” Reyes said.
Councilmember John McCain is calling for a temporary closure of the park.
“What you see before you is everything from feces on the playground, drugs, razor blades and weapons left behind in bathrooms, even deaths. There’s no place for our families,” Park Ranger Program Manager Sam Alzuvaidi said.
Members of the community raised their concerns over drug use and criminal activity in the park that they say is driving away families and businesses.
“The question I often get is ‘Why don’t you help these people? Why doesn’t the city offer services?’ What they don’t understand is we have resources and we do offer services. Unfortunately, we can’t force them to accept the services,” Alzhvaidi said.
But Mama Heather who lives at the park says she keeps the park clean and without it, she will have nowhere to go.
“We don’t have it. We have nowhere to go. We have no resources whatsoever. They say they’re going to do it. They don’t do it. It’s a lot of BS. We all know it there,” Mama Heather said.
Meanwhile, a hedge barrier has also been put up around the elementary school to protect children from view and activities at the park.
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