California Authorities Destroy Boats And Clear Floating Community

the average price for this view of richardson's bay in sausalito california is more than 1.5 million but the city and its neighbors under agreements with the state conservation commission have been relocating a makeshift community of boats living here for free katie allerton and michael ortega both grew up on these boats i go back three generations of people who live on the water so we walk around the town and people know my mom they know my dad they know my grandma and they know my son now too their son iggy is the fourth generation of what's called being an anchor out but he could be the last curtis hovel chief of the richardson's bay authority is tasked with removing boats that aren't seaworthy and have overstayed a 72-hour time limit in 2019 when he began there were 190 boats here today it's down to 88. what what makes this boat dangerous why is it unacceptable to leave it out here what gives me heartburn is the fact that i've never seen this boat move in the two years i've been on the job i'm i'm very confident that the engine is inoperable so if that boat went adrift it's going to be a hazard to the occupant it's going to be a hazard to other people on the anchorage god forbid if it collides with their boats but hovel who often has to destroy what someone considers their home is constantly confronted while we toured the community residents who know to watch for hovel approached in dinghies he took a boat of a friend of mine that died and two days later he went and took her boat the woman that was married to my friend took the boat before she got home and crushed it out here spreading lies for reporters today who are you we're from nbc news where are you from i'm i'm from texas i've had a boat anchored out here this is now my sixth year how is it living there here i love it out here i don't even have to lock my door at night when a boat is towed ashore it's crushed here right next to where the former residents have been relocated it's extreme trauma when you're out on the water and that's your last resort what where where does it stop where does it end people here are saying our homes have been stolen they're now sleeping in tents within sight of the place where their boats are destroyed when they're destroyed can you sympathize with their feelings they feel very betrayed here yeah i i can't understand and our intent was to remove unoccupied vessels and vessels used for storage and i i realize that's tough people are considering them their homes and this picturesque county one of the most expensive housing markets in the nation doesn't have enough beds for everyone marin county supervisor stephanie moulton-peters says there is a way the boats can remain it just takes money but if people are willing to make their boats seaworthy and then they can stay for another few years but advocates for those displaced from the boats say these policies are upending lives you can't make someone homeless because their home might present some risks there are a lot of ram shackle houses on land that we don't kick people out of because while there might be an increased risk we want them sheltered you know people say we're all in the same boat during this pandemic that's not true we're all in the same storm but we're in very different boats and michael and katie say for them and their son it goes deeper than that when the mayflower came to america first thing they did was anchor their boat off the shore so i think they should just respect people who want to carry on that tradition hey nbc news viewers thanks for checking out our youtube channel subscribe by clicking on that button down here and click on any of the videos over here to watch the latest interviews show highlights and digital exclusives thanks for watching

Channel: NBC News

Views: 663,271

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Id: rT2vXlplEXY

Length: 3min 49sec (229 seconds)

Published: Sat Jul 10 2021