Activists Vow Camp-Out on Solano to Protest Albany Bulb Eviction

Opponents of the city's planned removal of people living on the Albany Bulb are planning to hold an overnight encampment on Solano Avenue after the Monday night City Council meeting, a member of the group said.

The group also plans to rally and speak at the council meeting, said Lesley Haddock, a supporter of allowing the Bulb's estimated 60-70 inhabitants to continue living in tents and makeshift shelters on the city-owned property.

The plan for the Monday actions was decided by a group of about 50 people gathered for a "Solidarity Camp-Out" on the Bulb Wednesday night, Haddock told Patch. They are allied with recently formed "Share the Bulb" group, whose Facebook page was launched Aug. 20.

After the council meeting, the protesters plan to "march up Solano Avenue and camp out there to demonstrate what it will be like in Albany if 64 people are evicted from the Bulb and have no where to go besides the streets of Albany," Haddock said. 

They plan to spend the night at a location to be determined, she said.

The group opposes the decision by the Albany City Council to ask police to begin enforcing the city's no-camping law sometime this month at the Bulb. The city's long-term goal is make the property part of the McLaughlin Eastshore State Park.

The Monday City Council meeting agenda does not have any items on the city's plan to remove the Bulb dwellers, but it does include a closed-session discussion on a related lawsuit filed against the city on Wednesday.

That suit, whose plaintiffs include Bulb resident Amber Whitson, accuses the city of violating state mandates to facilitate affordable housing and says the people living at the Bulb are evidence of the "chronic homelessness" caused by the lack of affordable housing in the city. The city so far has not issued a response to the suit.

Public comment on closed-session items can be made at the beginning of the session, which begins at 6:15 p.m. at City Hall. The regular council meeting begins at 7:30. Any action taken in closed session is supposed to be announced at the beginning of the regular meeting.

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