HOMELESS VS. THE CITY OF POMONA

Lawyers representing fourteen Pomona homeless residents have filed a lawsuit against the City of Pomona to stop them from confiscating and discarding their belongings. Among the items taken were food stamps and general relief debit cards, medication, state identification cards, birth certificates, Social Security cards, tents and family photos. The lawsuit also states that the loss of family photographs, letters from loved ones and the ashes of deceased relatives have prompted great emotional pain. Many if those who are victim to the unfair acts are homeless people between 20 and 70 years old who have been long time Pomona residents. According to the lawsuit, the city violated the homeless residents’ fourth amendment rights to “be free from unreasonable seizures of their property by seizing, confiscating, and destroying plaintiffs’ property without a warrant or sufficient justification”.

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The city of Pomona has agreed to not confiscate property when the owner is present. Property left unattended can only be taken forty-eight hours after written notice, but it is then stored in lockers for ninety days rather than it being discarded of. An eight-page document outlines the agreement and all stipulations for when and how property can be taken. Any property taken must be stored within one mile of City Hall and must be accessible to the owner to retrieve it. The city has made it very clear that they want to help reduce the number of homeless in Pomona.

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Homeless residents of Pomona will now be provided storage lockers for their property and will be allowed to sleep in public places until shelter beds exist for all of them. The city has agreed to build 388 lockers for the property of the homeless people. The new agreement also prohibits laws against tents, personal property, and sleeping on public property. Enforcements on these laws might resume after sufficient accommodations exist for these people. The 15-point Pomona settlement goes beyond the issues in the lawsuit by addressing the topic of overnight camping. Enforcement must stop until there are more shelter beds in the city than the unsheltered population in the most current count by the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority. The 2016 count found 366. The settlement also requires the city to pay $49,000 in damages to be distributed among the plaintiffs.