On July 29, the Davis family of Santa Rosa received a Notice of Violation from City Code Enforcement. Seven counts. They have until August 8 to comply, or the City says fines begin up to $5,000 per violation, per day, cumulative, with every day counted as a separate offense. The letter also threatens a criminal citation.

Here is what those seven counts are about: unhoused people living on public property next to the Davises' house.

Not on their land. In the drainage culvert along Finley Avenue, which belongs to the City. The notice says so itself — seven separate times it describes the culvert as “adjacent to” the property. The only thing the City alleges on the Davises' actual property is a pile of tree limbs on the front lawn, which they are clearing.

Everything else is about a strip of public land the Davises do not own, cannot legally enter without a City permit, and have no authority whatsoever to police. The City's instruction to them was blunt:

“Remove the individuals camping in the culvert.”

No private citizen can do that. Only the government can order people off public property. There is no law in Santa Rosa making a homeowner responsible for what other people do on the City's own land and we have read all seven sections the City cited to find one.

Why the Davises?

Merlin Davis is a friend to the unhoused.

On Wednesdays, when Santa Rosa Police sweep Finley Avenue every Wednesday seizing and destroying people's belongings, the Davises open their door. People come onto their property for coffee and donuts and a place to stand safe from the police.

Repeatedly, police officers coming to take unhoused peoples have expressed disdain towards the Davis family for being neighborly with unhoused people on Finley Avenue. The police have escalated vulgar threats and comments, finally threatening the Davis family with code enforcement.

In July, Code Enforcement came multiple times taking photos. The only issue they found with the Davises property was a pile of branches in a side yard. But the real issue they had were the Davises opening their doors to the unhoused, providing safety and comfort from state sanctioned violence.

This should concern every property owner in Santa Rosa

If the City can hold you liable for who stands on the public land in front of your house, then no homeowner in this city controls their own exposure. And if it can do that because you were kind to the wrong people, then being a good neighbor becomes a legal risk.

The people in that culvert still have nowhere to go. Citing the neighbor houses no one. It only spreads the harm.

Tell the City of Santa Rosa to withdraw this notice and leave the Davis family alone.