The City Council is considering whether the city of Sacramento will join in the creation of a public-private collaborative agency to address the problems of homelessness in the region – an issue that does not recognize political boundaries. Representatives from the city Neighborhood Services Department and the county Department of Human Assistance presented a report to the City Council Tuesday outlining a plan for creating a joint powers authority to align city and county governments with a nonprofit entity. “The JPA would be the overarching policymaking body,” Sacramento county spokeswoman Kerri Aiello said Tuesday. “Sacramento Steps Forward (a nonprofit corporation) will ultimately be

Sacramento civil rights attorney Mark Merin is once again in the spotlight. This time, he’s being quoted by the local media for his role in a federal class-action case about homeless people’s constitutional rights and personal property. And, in the March issue of Harper’s Magazine, Merin’s work with Safe Ground is mentioned. The article, titled “Homeless in Sacramento: Welcome to the New Tent Cities,” focuses on Sacramento’s homeless and the city’s ordinance against camping. These are only two of many examples of Merin’s highly visible and controversial advocacy work for Sacramento’s homeless. Earlier this week, a federal jury released its verdict in Lehr v. City of Sacramento, finding

Should a group of homeless people be allowed to camp together in Sacramento without outside monitoring? Safe Ground Sacramento, a group of mostly homeless people, says it should have the right to be “self-governing” and to operate an overnight camp independently. But a few Sacramento City Council members said they disagreed with that idea Tuesday. The City Council held a workshop on the safe ground issue as part of its weekly meeting. Over the past two years, Safe Ground Sacramento has asked the city to dedicate land for a site where the homeless could camp legally overnight. The city has an ordinance that bans overnight camping. One of the group’s key principles is that its members ar

The Sacramento City Council will discuss the idea of setting aside land for the homeless on Tuesday night, but it will not decide on specific locations for a homeless living space. Council members will participate in a workshop on the “safe ground” idea, promoted by a group that wants the city to provide a place for homeless to live together. The Safe Ground Sacramento group opposes the city’s ordinance against overnight camping. The group, composed mostly of homeless people, has pressed its case for two years, but the city has not designated an area where the homeless can camp legally. As part of the workshop, the Safe Ground group will present its ideas to the City Council. Councilma

Community leaders gathered to speak with local government to find out what is being done about the homelessness problem in Sacramento. It was a chance for the community to discuss the progress made toward more permanent housing and the setbacks that have hindered them. There was resolve that if the community efforts remain strong, the problem could be solved within the next few years. Mayor Kevin Johnson and Councilman Rob Fong were among 13 community leaders who spoke at the Homeless Forum held Tuesday in the Redwood Room at Sacramento State. “This is a chance to bring the activists to the policymakers,” said moderator and event organizer Steve Watters. Fong was the first of many to re

If you attend the weekly Sacramento City Council meetings, you’re likely to see an activist with colorful clothing address city leaders on homeless issues. Tracie Rice-Bailey, 57, has appeared at Tuesday night council meetings so frequently in the last year that she has become a familiar face at City Hall. For more than a year, Rice-Bailey and other advocates for the homeless have lobbied council members for a legal camping ground for the area’s homeless.  Rice-Bailey is a vocal member of the advocacy group that calls itself Safe Ground Sacramento. The group wants the city to reserve a space for homeless people where the city’s camping ban would not apply. Rice-Bailey, who said she was

Sacramento’s homeless are still searching for safe ground after the tent city was taken down in April 2009. On Tuesday, homeless camper and SafeGround movement leader John Kraintz, Sacramento civil rights lawyer Mark Merin, State Senate President Pro-Tem Darrell Steinberg and activists from nonprofit organizations around Sacarmento marched from Friendship Park to Cesar Chavez Park in celebration of the SafeGround Movement. They were joined by homeless men and women as they marched, sang, danced and spoke on behalf of the homeless. Using a microphone, which echoed through speakers around the stage, musicians and speakers were heard loud and clear by the crowd of more than 100. “People c

About 50 people urged the Sacramento City Council Thursday to help efforts to reserve land for the homeless. The people who addressed the City Council were supporters of the “Safe Ground” campaign, which opposes the city’s anti-camping ordinance and advocates for a living space for the city’s homeless. The recent stabbing death of 68-year-old Bernice Nickson, a homeless resident, was mentioned in the comments of some of the Safe Ground advocates. The Safe Ground supporters spoke during the part of the meeting reserved for public comments on subjects that are not covered in the agenda. Council members do not respond to citizens during that part of each City Council meeting. Comments from