NIMBYs R Us, Especially In Castaic

Not In My Backyard! It’s a chorus spreading throughout the Southland. Most don’t realize—or just don’t care—that saying no to a new homeless service center in their neighborhood just compounds the devastating problem of homelessness in our region.

Yesterday, after the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority Commission approved opening up an emergency Winter Shelter program in Castaic—even after the local Town Council voted against it—it appears that the shelter will still not open there. Here's the article.

Too many local voices are against it. Cheers to the LAHSA Commission for standing up to NIMBYism, and providing much needed leadership to ensure more people on our streets are being housed.

Here’s an excerpt out of my chapter, NIMBYs R Us:

“…we dream that our community and back yards become like Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood. You can almost hear him singing, ‘It’s a beautiful day in this neighborhood,’ as the chorus of make-believe neighbors join in, ‘…a beautiful day for a neighbor. Would you be mine? Could you be mine?’”

“Yeah right. You can shut off that archaic 45 RPM record because those images just don’t exist. Forget the make-believe neighborhood with the friendly police officer, local baker with the white hat, and the grandfatherly ‘Speedy Delivery’ messenger. These characters are pure fiction.”

“Unfortunately, the yearning for Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood or a community like Leave It To Beaver’s prompts people to fight tooth and nail to stop any social service program from invading their neighborhood. This knee-jerk response has become prevalent in both high end communities as well as neighborhoods suffering under the crush of poverty. Nobody wants them.”

“…The aura of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood is certainly more attainable if all neighborhoods worked together to solve the problem of homelessness rather than pawn the problem from one community to another. We may not all be wearing that light-colored buttoned sweater and singing those songs that attract children’s attention, but we can hope for a real community that provides real solutions to homelessness.”

Police Chief: “Where’s LAPD On LAHSA Commission?”

An interesting dialogue is going on about the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority commission. After the mayor replaced four commissioners, LAPD Chief Bratton is asking a simple question, “Where is the LAPD?”

His rationale is that if the ACLU can be on the panel, why not LAPD? Law enforcement—whether they choose to or not—play a role in solving homelessness, since they are on the front lines of street life.

However, LAHSA is both a city and county agency. So if the LAPD joins the commission, certainly the LA County Sheriff’s department should also be represented.

It’s a difficult task to please everyone.

The Daily News reports on this.

Los Angeles: A System That Barely Shelters The Homeless

Shelter Partnership, a nationally recognized Los Angeles-based research and resources agency, recently published a study—“An Assessment of Los Angeles County’s Emergency Shelter System.”

The findings are stark. Los Angeles County only has enough emergency shelter beds for 6% of its homeless population. With 91,000 people sleeping on L.A.’s streets, that figure is astounding. Compare this with Chicago where they shelter 67% of their homeless, and Washington D.C. where they shelter 55% of their people on the streets.

The study is a thorough document—141 pages and then dozens more pages of appendices. It was commissioned by the County of Los Angeles to study our existing Winter Shelter Programs, Year-Round Shelter Programs, and Access Centers.

Both the county and the city of Los Angeles have realized this glaring gap, and have recently committed millions of dollars more to provide more housing for our city’s homeless. It’s a great start.

As Shelter Partnership has recommended in their study, we now need bolder and more creative leadership in using a limited emergency shelter system to help more of our homeless population transition off the streets.

Here is the PDF file to the study:
Shelter Partnership: An Assessment of Los Angeles County's Emergency Shelter System.

The Billion Dollar Mayor: “If We Don’t, Then Who Will?”

Yesterday was a big day for housing and homeless advocates in Los Angeles. Los Angeles Mayor Villaraigosa proposed a one billion dollar housing bond to fund low-income affordable housing for the poor and homeless. Although this would still have to be approved by two-thirds of the voters, it is an ambitious, visionary step toward solving housing problems.

Last September 30th, I blogged about the “Billion Dollar Solution,” a study by the Economic Roundtable that suggested Los Angeles needs one billion dollars per year for the next ten years to solve its homeless problem.

This new housing bond proposal is NOT specifically a response to this study. Because much of these housing bond funds would provide housing for low-income working families. Not housing specifically for people living on the streets.

So as this bond meanders through the political halls of city hall, and then out to the voters, it will be imperative to insure that housing for people who are homeless get their fair share of the pot.

Thankfully, money has begun to flow to address the issue of homelessness in Los Angeles County—the county pledged $24 million, the city added $50 million, this billion dollar housing bond, and the Mental Health Act funds (literally millions to L.A.).

The next step is not just money, but LEADERSHIP. Government can spend money very quickly. Do we have the leadership to spend the money strategically, so that we are not only helping to change people’s lives, but also changing a system of care that doesn’t seem to work?

Here are two articles about the Housing Bond:

Los Angeles Times

Daily Bruin

Councilmember Garcetti Highlights Project Y!MBY

HOUSING SUMMIT UPDATE... Los Angeles Councilmember Eric Garcetti highlighted our Project Y!MBY campaign at the Mayoral Housing Summit this morning. He said this effort to engage the community to address homelessness and housing is a movement that Los Angeles should adopt.

Here's a link to Project Y!MBY.

Affordable Housing: “Pressure From The Bottom, and Collaboration From The Top”

Since the annual Mayoral Housing Summit occurred today, I thought I would highlight an article from yesterday’s Daily Bruin. Here's the article.

Affordable Housing is obviously a problem throughout the region. Most people cannot afford to buy a home in Los Angeles County. Even renting has become a tough mountain to climb.

Drive down Central City East (skid row) in downtown Los Angeles, and you will see the obvious outcome of this tight housing market—homeless people fending for themselves on the streets.

Building more luxury apartments and lofts, in place of low-end housing units, only puts pressure on an affordable housing market that is imploding. So there are many in downtown Los Angeles that are saying, “Enough is enough.”

I have a chapter in my book that is titled, “Build Our House On Sand.” Here is an excerpt:
__________

“On the outside it seems simple. Why not rejuvenate decrepit urban centers with high-end residential complexes that hug commercial office towers so people traveling to work don’t have to trek hours on the freeway from their suburban hideaways? It’s reverse migration, alleviating the decades-old trend of suburban flight.

“But those who fight for the rights of the homeless and poor cry foul. Gentrification is a sin, they say. Many believe that allowing the gentry, or the high class, to move in and displace the poor and working class is an outrage. The displaced can barely cover a month’s rent, let alone purchase high-end residential lofts. To build towers of the American Dream that replace towers of poverty, is surely an insult to those who can only dream of a better life, so say the advocates.

“Urban renewal is not so simple. Does renovation trump displacement? Or does displacement justify halting urban renaissance?”
__________

Gentrification is a battle that pits developers against advocates. All because there are not enough places to live. If we had enough affordable units, this battle would be moot. People would have a place to sleep, and developers could build their luxury condos. Finding a solution becomes a “win-win” for everyone.

So let the advocates put pressure on community leaders to provide the means to solve our housing crisis.

A $50 Million Commitment By L.A.’s Mayor

Most of the local papers are reporting today that Los Angeles Mayor Villaraigosa is committing $50 million to service-enriched housing for the homeless. These funds will be added to the L.A. Housing Trust Fund. This fund was created by former Mayor Hahn, who promised a $100 million fund. It had only reached $50 million, until Mayor Villaraigosa’s pledge yesterday to double the amount to $100 million.

The mayor will be talking about this new commitment today at the Mayoral Housing Summit.

Earlier this year, the County of Los Angeles committed $24 million for new homeless services. The commitment of nearly $75 million to serve and house the homeless is an exciting new step forward in the campaign to end homelessness in Los Angeles.

The big question now is… how will they spend this money? Will it be strategically used to help reduce the number of people on the streets? Let’s see what happens.

Here is the LA Times article.

Here is the Daily Breeze article.

Lancaster Doing Its Part To Care For County’s Homeless

While some communities throughout Los Angeles County are saying no, others are saying Yes. Starting November 1st, the Lancaster Community Shelter will be opening up its Winters Shelter Program—a total of 45 shelter beds—for people living on the streets. Here's an article about it.

This program will shelter people from the cold and wet winter weather until March 15th.

The shelter director says that “more and more homeless people are coming to the Antelope Valley in search of a place to live. Some believe they can get some low-rent housing, but that’s not really here any longer.”

The shelter is also giving out motel vouchers to homeless families.

If more of the 88 cities in Los Angeles County would pick up the slack of homeless services, we could reduce the number of people living on our streets. Let’s hope other communities catch on…

L.A. Homeless Count Goes Local

Earlier this year, the Los Angeles County-wide homeless count was conducted. The overall county number was released this past June. (The number was 91,000 people who are homeless.)

Sometime in November, the local numbers will be released. Jurisdictions throughout the county will be given numbers for their area. Here is an article about this.

I wrote about this in a Los Angeles op-ed piece last July. Here is the op-ed piece. The “homeless numbers game” is high stakes political maneuvering at its best. Where the numbers are, there also goes the money. Where the numbers are low, the funding gets reduced.

For example, if the Westside of Los Angeles and the City of Santa Monica would have a low number from the count, federal/county/city funds could very well be reduced. That means the current homeless providers would have to cut their programs and services because funding cuts. Can you imagine the political and local response to that?

So areas throughout the county are obviously nervous. In my opinion, this “numbers game” takes away from community stakeholders putting their energy into solving the problem. Instead, people are fighting for their “piece of the pie” rather getting together to find out what is the best way to use limited resources to create solutions.

Can’t Solve A County-Wide Problem Unless The Whole County Participates

Recently, the Castaic city council unanimously voted against a proposal to house a temporary winter shelter program in their city. The Winter Shelter program is an emergency housing program for homeless people that starts on December 1st and ends March 15th of every year. The idea is that rain and cold weather occur during this period, and homeless people need a safe and warm place to go. So the county funds additional beds during this period.

Here is a link to the article.

Without cities around the county picking up their responsibility to shelter the homeless in their own areas, our community ends up with a contentious debate over homeless “dumping.” Why should one area of the county be the “dumping” ground for the rest of the Southland? Areas such as Venice, Hollywood, and the infamous downtown Skidrow.

NIMBY (Not in my back yeard) is alive and well in Los Angeles County.

L.A. Council Committee on Homelessness Proposed

On Friday, Councilmembers Jan Perry and Bill Rosendahl proposed a new committee to tackle Los Angeles's homeless problem. The goals would be to study what other cities are doing on homelessness, how to expand shelters in L.A., and how to access the new Mental Health Act funds.

Councilmember Perry represents much of the downtown Los Angeles area and Councilmember Rosendahl represents Venice, both areas that have a homeless problem.

Here's an article about this.