‘It sends a clear message’: New ordinance proposes fines for sending homeless to Fresno

FRESNO, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) – Fresno City Council is set to hear an ordinance that would make transporting homeless people into the City of Fresno illegal.

Under the Anti-human Transportation and Abandonment ordinance, any municipality or agency found relocating homeless people to Fresno without proper coordination or consent could be subject to fines.  

Fresno City Council President Mike Karbassi and Councilmember Nick Richardson sponsored the ordinance and introduced the legislation on Wednesday alongside Clovis Mayor Vong Mouanoutoua and City Attorney Andrew Janz.

Both Richardson and Karbassi said the ordinance seeks to protect Fresno’s homeless-related resources. 

“We’ve done a really good job of providing wrap-around services and quality solutions for those who want to accept services. And when you do that, you become more attractive, unfortunately, to other municipalities that just want to shoo the problem away,” explained Karbassi. “Another thing to consider, you have people that aren’t well, but they’re unhoused, but they may have family in the area. If another municipality is tricking them into leaving their county to get them out of sight, out of mind, that’s just completely irresponsible and there’s no compassion there. So, part of this is actually about being compassionate to the unhoused. We are here to punish behaviors of other municipalities that may choose to do something that will now be illegal.”

Richardson said, “It sends a clear message up and down California using Fresno as a terminal for trafficking is not an option. Try it and we will see you in court, unless I see you first. As before, law enforcement personnel will be picking up individuals camped in sensitive locations with the expressed end goal of getting them to the treatment location best suited for their needs.”

Under the new ordinance, any relocation would have to be approved with proper coordination or consent.

Karbassi explained, “Let’s say there is a shelter in Contra Costa County and there’s a bed here in Fresno, and they’re working with the Marjaree Mason Center. That’s completely sanctioned because they know they’re coming here and there’s a bed for them. I’m talking about someone getting a windowless van and putting people in there behind their will or saying ‘Here’s a free meal, get in this van’ and just transporting people to the City of Fresno.” 

According to Janz, drivers conducting drop-offs or anyone in the chain of command connected to the illegal transport would face a misdemeanor charge which comes with a maximum sentence of six months in jail and a fine of up to $1,000.

Fresno Police would be in charge of enforcing the ordinance and the city attorney’s office would prosecute the cases. 

“This gives law enforcement and my prosecutors yet another tool to hold bad actors accountable,” Janz said. “These laws apply to everyone, all government agencies. It doesn’t matter if you’re wearing a badge if or if you work for a county or a city, in another area of our state, you will be held accountable.”

Homeless advocate Dez Martinez is the Director of the nonprofit We Are Not Invisible. She explained her first reaction to finding out about the new ordinance.

“Like, is this serious?” she asked. “I’m so exhausted from the waste of time that our city council does, you know, they want to make decisions about the unhoused community.”

Martinez expressed her frustration about the way the city handles issues affecting the homeless, including the guidelines on warming centers which community members protested against on Monday. 

“Every night I’m seeing so many people shaking from the cold, or I don’t have enough hot chocolate. When I don’t have enough hot chocolate, when I run out and people run up and say ‘Hey, can I get some?’ I’m just like oh my God, what do I do?” she explained. “I know what it’s like to see people with frost on them to walk up to somebody and their blankets are covered with ice. I’ve seen so many dead bodies that people don’t understand the trauma. I’m so afraid now, traumatized. When I pull up to somebody laying there, I literally had to have somebody else with me because I can no longer go and pull a blanket back.”

In regard to the new ordinance, she believes a better solution would be to find a way to send those affected back home.

“Do we have people here in Fresno that are not from here? Yeah. Why are we not fighting to get them back home,” she said. ” The solution is to start working with the county so we can return these individuals that are stuck here on parole and probation back home where they want to go, where they have support, and they have the love of family and they have a roof over their head.”

The ordinance will be introduced to the Fresno City Council on Thursday, Jan. 30, 2025.