To address public safety and nuisance issues, San Clemente leaders say they are looking for a broader approach to enforcing the city laws among a growing homeless population congregating at its beaches and in canyons, around the downtown and at RV parks.
The City Council looked at hiring a private security firm to establish a more visible presence as a deterrent to bad behavior being reported at North Beach, including at the Metrolink train station platforms and the trailhead leading to the popular beach trail.
Councilmembers said they’ve become increasingly concerned by reports from residents of illegal activity happening on public property. Complaints have included alcohol and drug use, smoking, littering and indecent public exposure, they said, especially in the beach area and along streets in San Clemente’s downtown. A host of complaints have also been lodged about illegal parking in some of the towns’ camping and RV areas and in neighborhoods between Avenida de la Estrella and Avenida Calafia, officials said.
Councilmember Gene James prompted a last-minute meeting to discuss hiring the security firm, but some of his colleagues were more interested in seeing what the Orange County Sheriff’s Department, which the city contracts with for police services, could do, along with adding more city resources such as code enforcement officers and rangers while still looking at private security contractors and possible bids for their services. City staffers will be getting back to the council with options at its April 18 meeting.
Julie Crandall, who said she represented the group Disability Rights of California, told councilmembers using a security agency and “targeted enforcement will hurt unhoused people, many of whom are disabled. This proposal hurts San Clemente and subjects them to targeted discrimination.”
James is proposing a 60-day trial period using Gatekeeper Security Services, which he said the city of Oceanside has used with success, to…
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