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After months of lax enforcement, the Mountain View Police Department says it plans to resume enforcement of vehicle registration in the city, starting this week. The announcement has worried community advocates, who say that more time and money is needed to get older RVs up to code.
Expressing their support for the unhoused living in vehicles in Mountain View, about 20 community members showed up to participate in a protest rally at City Hall ahead of the council meeting on Tuesday, May 15.
Chanting “Go slow, don’t tow,” the protesters held signs that underscored the dilemma of registration enforcement. Fining and towing peoples’ homes before resources are in place only further exacerbates the problem of housing insecurity, said Edie Keating, a Mountain View Housing Justice demonstration organizer.
Since February, police have taken a light hand to enforcing vehicle registration, according to Mountain View police Chief Mike Canfield. The slow-down occurred after police went out and ticketed 12 RVs and towed four vehicles for registration violations on the same day, Canfield said, adding that the towed vehicles were not being used as homes.
That one-day action in February caught community organizations by surprise; they had helped assist vehicle dwellers with these issues in the past, but were not prepared to cover the fees at the time, Canfield said. The organizations asked police to hold off on enforcement so they could shore up resources and help with registration compliance, as well as other needed repairs to older RVs.
Seeking to partner with the community, the police agreed to not rigorously enforce RV registrations, Canfield said. But enough time has passed since then, he said, and it’s important for the city to resume its normal operations and be consistent across the board when it comes to law enforcement.
Communicating these intentions, the police department circulated a flyer that laid out the city’s vehicle enforcement regulations. A parking citation for expired registration is $50, while recovery for a towed vehicle is $186. Expired registrations of more than six months also can be towed, according to the flier.
There has been no shift in priorities or changes in the city’s philosophy or approach to vehicle registration, Canfield said, adding that police circulated the flier to help the community better understand its processes. The police also don’t have any immediate or coordinated plan to ticket or tow vehicles, he said.
The flyers have been a source of anxiety and apprehension, with residents concerned about what this means for the unhoused who can’t afford the ticketing and towing fees, on top of the possibility of losing their homes.
The repair work to many of the vehicles also is a big undertaking, but with a little more time, the resources will be available to help vehicle dwellers with these fixes, along with registration and smog compliance, Keating said.
The Los Altos Mountain View Community Foundation is expected to receive $50,000 in funding from Santa Clara County that will go towards RV registration and any needed repair work. But the funding likely will not be received until August at the earliest, according to Keating, which is why advocates are asking the police to hold off on enforcement for a few more months.
María Marroquín, executive director of the Day Worker Center, attended the rally and spoke on behalf of many of her clients who live in RVs. “We struggle and need to fight for every little thing,” she said. There used to be a lot of RVs by the center, but with changes in city regulations that have put limits on where oversized vehicles can park on the streets, that no longer is the case. Now, RV dwellers are being squeezed out again, she said.
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It’s a home on public land. This is not the RVs’ land.
If there are no limits, why even have laws? The poor and the rich follow the same rules.
It that registration enforcement limited to RVs or streets where RVs are still allowed? Does MVPD make these registration checks in our downtown parking lots? Are these flyers limited to RVs? If targetting only one type of vehicle, sure sounds like selective enforcement by the City, not a great look.
No, parking monitors and such ticket registration violations all over the city as they have for years. How do I know? I received on Mercy Street and it was a vehicle I forgot to register.
But this community advocative group is only speaking for a small group of people that do not property tax to our community. The. Police Department’s “Community Outreach Officer” was suppose to be moving these RV’s even in the designated spots ever 72 hours with a no return for 24 hours. This officer or group has failed at this task. That was last year up to current date.
It’s the same story by these groups. Oh we need more time. It’s not “go slow don’t tow.” It’s more like Hurry up! You Suck!” Full support to enforce just like the cities around us.
Either we enforce laws, or why have them? If we aren’t going to enforce registration laws, then I guess I don’t need to smog and register my vehicle either?
Vehicle-registration laws weren’t written for vehicles being used as homes. That justifies the city’s reluctance to enforce them in this case.
Also, civil rights are not conditioned on paying tax. I’m disgusted that I even have to explain this. RV dwellers don’t pay property tax. So what? Neither do churches. Are you saying that activists can’t speak up for churches?
Vehicle-registration laws weren’t written for vehicles being used as homes. That justifies the city’s reluctance to enforce them in this case.
lol. A vehicle being used as a home….is a vehicle. People use vehicles as lots of things: restaurants, libraries, refrigerators. It’s still a vehicle.
Citizens are welcome to use VEHICLES however they want, however they must obey the VEHICLE CODE.