The Sun
Sunnyvale's Newspaper

Neighbors say Armory causes problems

By Steve Enders

Neighbors living across from Sunnyvale's U.S. National Guard Armory homeless shelter on Maude Avenue say transients are causing problems around their homes, and they're tired of it.

Mary Drake lives across the street from the shelter and says that the problems caused by homeless residents coming into and leaving the Armory every day have gotten progressively worse. This year, she said, is the worst it's ever been.

"Whatever you can imagine happens," Drake said.

Transients commonly go through neighbors' trash cans, looking for anything valuable, she said. They openly use drugs, litter and urinate on people's property, she said.

The armory's employees and volunteers, however, don't think the problem is as widespread as Drake claims.

"We just make sure people who are hungry get fed and have a place to stay," volunteer Nathan Dobbs said.

He said that only a couple of people ever complain, and that "it's just a part of life" that some people cause some problems.

He also says that it's the police's job to make sure people are respectful of the neighbors' property.

Mitch Bucuk, a security guard hired to patrol the shelter, said the police are often called upon if anyone gets out of control.

"If I call the police, they're here in less than two minutes," he said.

Bucuk said that for the most part, the people using the shelter are well behaved and never cause any problems. Occasionally, he said, the shelter turns away drunk individuals who might be disrespectful of adjacent properties.

Sunnyvale Public Safety Capt. Steve Pigott said that during this time of year, complaints about the shelter usually rise because of the increase in people looking to it for help. Winter is also the only time the shelter is open, from November through March.

In addition, he said, when people are turned away from staying at the Armory, they sometimes get upset and cause problems.

The area is routinely patrolled to prevent the type of disturbances that Drake said are occurring around her home, he said.

The Emergency Housing Consortium runs the shelter at the Armory, in addition to two others in San Jose and Gilroy. Maury Kendall, spokesperson for the Emergency Housing Consortium, said he's surprised that anyone is complaining in Sunnyvale because he's never been contacted by the city.

He would expect neighbors near the Gilroy site, which shares a parking lot with an elementary school in a residential neighborhood, to voice the most complaints, he said.

"The community [in Gilroy] is totally supportive of the shelter," Kendall said. "We've never had any problems there."

A possible solution, Kendall said, would be to educate neighbors about the program. "The best solution to ['not in my backyard'] problems is to get those people into the shelter to see what's really going on," he said.

The San Jose shelter dealt with residents' concerns by creating a community council made up of police, business leaders, neighbors and City Council members. The group meets monthly to discuss the state of the shelter. Because of the lack of complaints, there's never been a need to do that in Sunnyvale, he said.

Still, Mary Drake said an incident in which a homeless man was hit by a car in front of her home is reason enough to consider developing a similar solution in Sunnyvale.

"A lot of these people need more than a place to stay and something to eat," she said.

According to Armory residents, they are already getting more than that.

Mark Hutchings, a 32-year-old paid employee at the shelter, is trying to get back on his feet after a recent 16-month stint in Alameda County Jail.

Hutchings, who has a wife and child living in San Jose, is homeless and has been working at the shelter for three weeks. He also recently got a job at a local fast-food restaurant. Without the shelter or determination, he says, he wouldn't be feeling so fortunate.

"My wife needs the support," he said. "I'm just trying to get my life back together, you know?"

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This article appeared in the Sunnyvale Sun, January 7, 1998.
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