10 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY july 25-31, 2024 www.montereycountynow.com news About a dozen people gathered at Bataan Memorial Park in Salinas on July 19, to rally support for the city’s unhoused population. They carried signs and chanted “sweeps are not the solution” and “we need a place to be safe.” What sparked the small gathering was a recent Supreme Court decision. In June, the justices sided 6-3—the three Democratic appointees dissenting— with the city of Grants Pass, Oregon that local governments could prohibit people from sleeping outdoors on public property, overturning years of legal protection for people without homes who have no other sleeping options. Many elected officials, including Gov. Gavin Newsom, praised the decision as allowing cities more leeway in cleaning up camp sites. Critics of the decision charge that this will allow cities and counties to essentially criminalize homelessness. Governments can now establish new ordinances concerning sleeping outdoors. In Salinas, the act is a misdemeanor. The ordinance prohibits camping on public property from 7am to 7pm and restricts how close camps can be from schools, liquor stores and other places. Angela Monique Viniegra, 45, an unhoused resident in Salinas, says she has to pack and remove her tent constantly. “Everyday day is like a start over,” Viniegra adds. Sophia Rome, Salinas’ community relations manager, says the ruling has not yet impacted the way the city addresses the unhoused community. Rome says the city focuses on connecting people with needed resources. Wes White of the Salinas/Monterey County Homeless Union says there have been recent sweeps of homeless camps on private property. Home Stand Unhoused people in Salinas and their supporters protest the Supreme Court’s decision. By Celia Jiménez For years, some residents in Del Rey Oaks, Monterey and elsewhere have complained about airplane noise from flights taking off or landing at Monterey Regional Airport. Some of those complaints arose after the Federal Aviation Administration, which regulates all the flights coming to or leaving the airport, implemented in 2015 its “NextGen” technology at the facility, part of a nationwide effort to modernize how the agency manages federal airspace. As a result, flight paths changed, creating consternation among some residents. The Monterey County Civil Grand Jury released a report earlier this year highlighting ways in which the Monterey Peninsula Airport District can better address complaints about noise, primarily through greater transparency and community engagement. The district’s board met July 17, and among the things they discussed was approving a response to the Grand Jury report, which is to be provided to Monterey County Superior Court no later than Sept. 11. Among the recommendations of the grand jury is that “MPAD develop a Citizens Committee to provide community input regarding operations and noise mitigation efforts” by Oct. 31. MPAD’s response to that recommendation is, “Will not be implemented.” Members of the board, who agreed with District Counsel Scott Huber’s proposed response, noted that the district already has a standing committee that usually meets once a month. The committee’s name is a word salad—Air Service, Marketing and Community Relations Committee—and is comprised of Executive Director Mike La Pier, board chair Mary Ann Leffel and board member Dino Pick, the former city manager of Del Rey Oaks, and also the former commandant of the Defense Language Institute. Also at the July 17 meeting, the board approved a response letter to the Monterey Fly Safe Coalition, a recently formed group of residents concerned primarily about airplane noise. The coalition’s chair, Monterey resident Uwe Grobecker, spoke at the July meeting. “I live around 400 feet above sea level,” he says, while planes routinely fly over it at 1,000 feet, just 600 feet above his house. “I can handle that two times a day…but they keep adding more flights.” Grobrecker is also miffed about the vagueness in the district’s minutes. The July 9 minutes of the community relations committee state that “There was a discussion about the noise report and the Grand Jury recommendations.” To what extent the airport district can mollify residents’ concerns is somewhat of an open question. Repeatedly at the July 17 meeting, MPAD staff stressed that it has no jurisdiction to regulate the airspace. Pick, who serves on the standing committee, says the district is taking the Grand Jury report very seriously, and that “one complaint is too many.” He believes there needs to be a better understanding between the public and the district, and thinks the standing committee is the venue to achieve that—he’s for trying it out instead of forming a new committee. Pick also notes there’s a nationwide pilot shortage, so airlines are flying bigger planes that can hold more passengers; overall, he says, flight traffic now is considerably less than the Fort Ord days of the 1990s. While a neighborhood group has formed to protest the flight noise stemming from the Monterey Regional Airport, the airport district says their hands are tied. Touch and Go Complaints about flight noise around the Monterey Regional Airport have inspired activism. By David Schmalz Protesters gathered in Salinas to decry the criminalization of homelessness and demand safe spaces for unhoused people to spend nights. “I can handle two times a day, but they keep adding flights.” Daniel Dreifuss celia jiménez
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