One man was arrested on Tuesday morning at Sausalito's Dunphy Park while crews came in to disassemble a tent encampment.
Police-led crews used heavy equipment, including a bulldozer, to tear down plywood structures, which unhoused residents first constructed after the city on Friday ordered them to leave by 6 a.m. on Tuesday.
Robbie Powelson, the 27-year-old president of the Marin Homeless Union and a part-time camp resident, was arrested after stepping in a confrontation between a police officer and an older resident of the camp, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
"They just want him out of the way because he rallies people," part-time resident Guy Kelley told the paper.
Now, there's a chain-link fence around the area, which is partially on private property. Sausalito Mayor Jill Hoffman said it’s going to remain fenced off for a while.
"I hope that there won’t be another encampment that grows up there," Hoffman told KCBS Radio. "That would not be optimal, certainly not for the people seeking shelter because all of the services are down at Marinship Park and all the social-service people are meeting people down there. (It) makes it much easier for them to find people and get them into the shelter system."
Marinship is a nearby park that includes a sanctioned area for temporary camping. Hoffman said it has public restrooms, with mobile showers stopping by a couple of times per week in visits from social services officials.
Sausalito officials had tried to move the Dunphy Park encampment to Marinship for more than six months. Art Festival organizers canceled this year’s iteration last month because of the encampment’s looming move to Marinship Park, where the festival is typically held.
Organizers claimed moving the encampment "would negate the use of the park" this year and potentially beyond.
