Gilroy's leaders are split on what to do about homelessness, and a mayor's committee is about to weigh in.
No plan yet
City Administrator Matt Morley told San José Spotlight that Gilroy has no policy on homelessness. The 2025 point-in-time count estimated 959 homeless people in the city. Gilroy has two full-time police officers who connect unhoused people with services and about 120 shelter beds at the National Guard armory on Wren Avenue. It bans encampments and relies heavily on sweeps, he said.
In May, Mayor Greg Bozzo formed a 10-person ad hoc committee. It includes Councilmembers Kelly Ramirez and Dion Bracco, Morgan Hill Councilmember Soraida Iwanaga, business owners, service providers and two people with lived experience. Its findings are due at the Nov. 2 council meeting.
The fight over Camp Hope
Camp Hope sits on city-owned land next to the Sixth Street overpass on Highway 101, behind Costco. The council voted May 4 to let residents stay month to month instead of evicting them, the Gilroy Dispatch reported. The camp is technically in violation of a 2023 ordinance against camping on public rights-of-way.
Councilmembers Terence Fugazzi and Zach Hilton raised safety and sanitation concerns in a memo. “Why should (Camp Hope) be the only one to get special treatment and a pass on the law?” Fugazzi told Spotlight. Morley said the camp has done well on order but not on cleanliness. The city held a cleanup on Oct. 22.
Aubrey Tasby, a committee member who lives at the camp, said residents are grateful. “They gave us a chance and we are a family,” Tasby said.