Lee Gerner Park ‘squalid’ with homeless encampment, group says

Marinscope

The growing issue surrounding of the homeless encampment at Lee Gerner Park in Novato will be dialed up on Tuesday as a group of concerned citizens plan to gather at the park on Tuesday to hand out flyers about the conditions at the park.

The group issued this press release on Monday.

June 28, 2021Who: Concerned Citizens of NovatoWhen: July 29th, TuesdayWhere: Lee Gerner Park in Novato

Tuesday is the red letter day for the City of Sausalito to remove homeless squatters from Dunphy Park.
The Novato City Council has also chosen to enact legislation that will allow for the removal of the illegal homeless encampment at Marin County’s Lee Gerner Park, as unsheltered homelessness has quickly become a top community concern, according to the Federal Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Tuesday, June 29th at 5:00 pm, Concerned Citizens of Novato will gather at the Farmer’s Market at the Town Square Shopping Center to pass out flyers and remind the Novato City Council that the eviction date for our town is almost here.
“July 9th is the date that the City of Novato has promised to start enforcing the newly created legislation to move these individuals away from the area used by the Public Library for Children’s programs and away from the commercial businesses that have been vandalized by some criminal elements in the Park,” says Tief Gibbs, a Novato business owner and organizer of the protest.
“We are out here today to remind the Council that over 2,000 people signed petitions and lobbied the City to clear out the park in order to protect the sensitive eco-environment at the Novato Creek, where the River Otter (an endangered species) is quickly disappearing,” according to Nancy Abruzzo, a citizen activist.
Others in the neighborhood have vocally complained to the Council on Zoom meetings in the past about the sex offenders, probationers, drug abusers and even children who are staying inside the shady park and using a communal kitchen which was built during the pandemic.
“A squalid park is not the proper environment for anyone, let alone children or animals, and it makes no sense to allow these encampments to grow bigger along with criminal complaints. My girls and I live two blocks from the park, and young males make threatening noises and frighten all of us. We have to do better by our homeless population and keep our community safe,” said one Mother who wishes to remain anonymous. 
Gibbs and Abruzzo say they want the City Council to enforce the laws that they have enacted, and that the entire community is watching and hoping that they do the right thing. 
“Lee Gerner Park and other homeless encampments have been taken over by a certain population. But the parks belong to ALL of us,” said Gibbs.