SANTA ANA, Calif. — Street cleaners could be seen washing away the detritus from a homeless encampment in a surreal weekly ritual to accommodate vagrants who have taken over a courthouse square in California.
About 175 people from across the country occupy and stink up the entrance to Orange County Superior Court — with the blessing of Santa Ana city leaders.
The encampment has been around for about five years with no end in sight to the smelly tent city.
Santa Ana has, in the past year, made efforts to clean up the Plaza of the Flags.
Every Tuesday, in a remarkably orderly event, all the homeless move for several hours to the entrance of a nearby law library as workers in hazardous materials clothing clean the area.
The workers spray bleach into all the crevices — and even cart away buckets of feces, according to KFI-AM.
The multi-hour washing usually goes off without a hitch, as campers move their belongs and calmly go back to their original spots after cleaners clear out.
Despite the city’s best efforts, a strong smell of urine is evident along a sidewalk leading to the Superior Court entrance even after cleaning crews leave.
The homeless have been coming to Santa Ana, learning of the Southern California locale from word of mouth and websites touting available freebies.
“The website says ‘how to get fed,’ ‘how to get taken care of,'” said homeless camper Leon Hill, 63.
“I’ve met people from as far away as Nebraska and Iowa.”
The homeless — and their pets — seem to get a good deal.
“I think people come here because we have everything – churches come with food, pets get veterinary care on Sundays and there’s a clinic close by,” said Hill, an encampment resident for the last three years.
The campers are only now facing some cutbacks to their creature comforts.
Santa Ana police officers on Wednesday distributed flyers listing 23 newly prohibited items in the mini-city.
Among the no-nos: Shopping carts, furniture, rugs, generators, barbecues, extension cords, and athletic gear such as baseball bats and golf clubs.
Uncapped hypodermic needles are also banned, an item that is frequently found strewn around the area, police said.
The new ordinance — passed Oct. 17 but not enforced until Wednesday — still allows the homeless to pitch tents, as long as they’re still visible for police checks.
Police said they they routinely monitor the area from 5 a.m. to 10 p.m.
“The more lenient the city is, the more that homeless will come here,” said Robert Cue, a city contractor working in the area.
“Is it because of being a sanctuary city? I don’t know. I do know they piss and crap everywhere. There are historical buildings here, like the library. I won’t bring my kids here because one time I saw a man taking a bath in the restroom.”
A large fountain with a reflection pool stands dormant because it too had been used as a shower, Cue said.
To deal with the burgeoning homeless problem, the county turned a nearby vacant bus terminal into a 400-bed shelter that offers restrooms and showers for the plaza encampment.
Critics, such as KFI’s popular afternoon drive-time “John and Ken Show,” have repeatedly blasted the city and county for being so welcoming to the homeless, thereby increasing the population.
Santa Ana Assistant City Manager Robert Cortez said the city takes a compassionate approach because so many have fallen on hard times.
“At the end of the day, these individuals have a need and the City Council put in regulations that if you want to preside here you shall abide to what is in the ordinance,” he said. “It comes down to promoting public safety.”
Cortez said city leaders are concerned about disease as a statewide outbreak of hepatitis that started in a San Diego homeless encampment and spread to Los Angeles and beyond.
So far 672 have been reported statewide, but none in Orange County.
Additional reporting by David K. Li in New York