Even though he had plenty of warning, moving day came too soon for Randd Leinke.
In three years of living on the Ventura River bottom, he managed to collect piles of bicycle parts and mounds of clothing. His bamboo-lined compound was crammed with walkers and wheelchairs, golf bags and beach umbrellas -- all of it jealously guarded by an ill-tempered mutt named Petey.
So when Ventura police arrived at daybreak Tuesday, at the launch of an unprecedented river-bottom relocation and cleanup, the 52-year-old tree trimmer was scrambling to clear his encampment and leave his riverbed home for good.
"I'm trying to get all of the important things out," said Leinke, removing wheelbarrow loads of personal items destined for storage. "I think we could have all stayed down here, but I don't think the city saw it that way."
Racing against predictions of winter rains, police, community leaders and homeless advocates embarked on a campaign to relocate the more than 150 people who make their home on the dry riverbed on Ventura's west end.
Officers pushed through the underbrush in near-freezing temperatures, uprooting transients in plywood shacks and nylon tents. Police cruisers and fire trucks snaked along river-bottom trails, tires crunching to a stop at camp entrances previously marked with orange paint. Sheriff's deputies on horseback rode herd on the operation from atop a nearby levy.
Authorities have been warning about the effort for weeks.
Transients were permitted to remove their belongings and store them free of charge before cleanup crews arrived to haul away the discards. Police plan to post the area permanently off limits, signaling an end to a vagabond village that has drawn the down-and-out since at least World War II.
"I didn't really want to get out at this time, but that's the way it is," said Leonard Biga, 52, who spent the morning moving his belongings to higher ground after two decades of river-bottom living. "I don't think they'll be able to keep people out. This place has been here a long time."
The river-bottom dwellers were directed to an assistance center called Camp Hope, a three-day shelter at the National Guard Armory that will provide medical attention, pet care and other services designed to get the homeless back on their feet. When that ends, the winter warming shelter will open at the armory, giving the homeless somewhere to stay until spring.
