Two months after a Pacoima mother launched an online petition asking the LAPD and Los Angeles City Council to remove a growing homeless RV encampment on Bradley Avenue near the Pacoima Wash, “nothing has really changed so far.”
“The only thing they did was they removed a few … vehicles that people had left abandoned on the street,” said longtime area resident Teresa Paniagua, who addressed the Pacoima Neighborhood Council about her concerns at their regular meeting in mid-May. Two weeks later, she was interviewed on television about the encampment by a Spanish-language news program.
To Paniagua’s surprise, a representative from the office of LA City Councilwoman Monica Rodriguez contacted her directly in mid-June to let her know cleanup efforts would soon be underway along Bradley Avenue, which is located across the street from the house she shares with her husband and their four children. But her excitement was short-lived.
Paniagua’s daughter Daniela (who requested that her last name not be used), said the city put up temporary 12-hour tow-away signs along a densely packed area of the homeless encampment on Bradley Avenue. Once most of the encampment vehicles were out of the way, they removed the deserted RVs that hadn’t been moved and cleaned up the street and sidewalk.
“One of my neighbors who had signed the petition reached out to me when they saw that the street was clean and empty and said, ‘Oh, my God, we did it! This is what happens when we’re united – things get resolved,’” recalled Daniela, who helped her mom create the Change.org petition in late April.
But as it neared 6 p.m. later that same day – the end of the designated tow-away period – she saw numerous RVs lined up and waiting to park along Bradley Avenue again.
“It makes no sense. They let them come back and now there’s trash piling up again,” said Daniela. In addition, she said they’ve recently seen RV tenants setting fireworks in the middle of the street.
On June 17, the councilwoman posted a video on Instagram showing the removal of four RVs and one camper shell from Bradley Avenue that were identified as abandoned, and the cleanup during the 12 hours the remaining occupied RVs were temporarily forced to vacate the street.
“Except that they are right back,” responded one commenter on Rodriguez’s post. “They were gone for only 16.5 hours.”
A representative of Rodriguez’s office told the San Fernando Valley Sun/el Sol there were 19 RVs on Bradley Avenue when the June 11 cleanup operation began, and that 13 remained as of the most recent official count on June 25.
“That was it,” said Paniagua. “They cleaned up that one day, but then they let the rest of the RVs and trailers return, and the same thing has kept happening ever since – the people who live there let their trash and junk accumulate on the street and now it’s becoming a disgusting mess again.
“Unfortunately, it’s starting to look almost as bad as it did before,” she added
Reuben Garcia, chair of the Public Safety Committee for the Pacoima Neighborhood Council, said he surveyed the RV encampment area and took photos last week. Garcia said he hopes to schedule a meeting in July to discuss concerns raised by Paniagua and other neighbors, including loitering and community safety issues, and said he is trying to coordinate the meeting with the new homelessness liaison for the LAPD and a field deputy from the councilwoman’s office.
“I counted about 16 RVs [on Bradley Avenue] on June 19,” said Garcia, who said he believes more should be done to address the RV encampments and homelessness in general. “That was just the motorhomes – there are trailers and other vehicles as well.”
Paniagua said the number of RVs on Bradley Avenue “really exploded last year.” The family and other community members have reported they believe there’s a link between the encampment and a spate of burglaries in the neighborhood. Surveillance video shows burglars jumping the fence surrounding Paniagua’s house during daylight hours on more than one occasion. She said they had stolen tools, three brand-new drills and the catalytic converter from her husband’s truck.
“I believe they have to do more than just clean up the street for one day,” said Paniagua. “We’re worried about the safety of our home and our families.”
To view the Change.org petition, go to: www.change.org/p/are-you-tired-of-the-rvs-homes-invading-our-neighbors-let-us-put-a-stop-to-the-invasion.
In Councilwoman Monica Rodriguez’s Instagram post about the homeless RV encampment on Bradley Avenue in Pacoima, she encouraged constituents to report RVs via email to Councilmember.Rodriguez@lacity.org, or by calling the following district offices: Sunland-Tujunga: (818) 352-3287; Sylmar: (818) 756-8409; or Pacoima: (818) 485-0600.