Good News From Sacramento Regarding Housing

Housing California, a state-wide housing advocacy group, just announced that the California State Legislature passed SB 1689, a $2.85 billion bond to build emergency shelter, affordable homes, and housing-related infrastructure throughout California.

Here’s what the bill will include:

The Housing and Emergency Shelter Trust Fund Act offers a greater variety of housing options for California’s middle- to low-income families in communities throughout the state. Both renters as well as future homeowners benefit from the bond’s critical programs, which include:

• Multifamily Housing Program – Builds apartments for seniors, families, and people with disabilities -- $395 million
• Emergency Housing Assistance Program – Builds and renovates emergency shelters and transitional rental homes for homeless families with children, battered women, and individuals -- $50 million
• Supportive Housing Program – Builds apartments with support services for people with chronic disabilities, such as mental illness or physical disabilities -- $195 million
• Farmworker Housing Grant Program -- Builds for-sale and rental homes for agricultural workers -- $135 million
• Cal-HOME Program – Funds a range of homeownership programs -- $300 million
• California Homebuyer Downpayment Assistance Program – Provides assistance in the form of second loans for down payment and closing costs -- $200 million
• Programs to provide infrastructure vital to home development -- $1.35 billion

Selling Drugs To Homeless People Is Just Plain Wrong

I support the LAPD’s efforts to crack down on crime and drugs in downtown LA’s Central City East (skid row). Especially when these drug dealers and criminals prey on the homeless.

Selling drugs to homeless people is wrong.

Here’s what was quoted in the LAT today: "We are tired of people bringing these types of drugs into a community that is so vulnerable," said LAPD Capt. Andy Smith, whose command includes the skid row area. "This is an organized pattern. They are bringing the narcotics down here just to make money."

While the city and the 9^th Circuit Court will duke it out on whether the LAPD can ban homeless people from sleeping on the sidewalks and streets, it makes sense for law enforcement to at least counter the rampant crime and drug dealing in the area.

YIMBYs Unite!

The LA Times editorial board addresses NIMBY (Not in my back yard) issues straight on this morning. It’s nice to have the editorial board join the YIMBY (Yes! In my back yard) movement here in Los Angeles.

As part of this movement, the Hollywood community (political officials, social service agencies, faith groups, businesses, law enforcement, and residents) created the Project Y!MBY initiative to counter NIMBYism and encourage more housing and services.

Here are some of the comments in the editorial:

It's hard enough to get homeless people the services they need so they can begin to get their lives together. The task is made all the more difficult when local residents and officials stymie attempts to provide such services simply because they don't want them in their neighborhood. Until Los Angeles realizes that everyone has to be part of the solution, it will stay the nation's capital of homelessness.

Homeless services needn't destroy the fabric of a neighborhood. And studies show that they don't increase crime or decrease property values. What they can do is help keep the most vulnerable from becoming homeless and help others find housing quickly.

Kudo’s also to a terrific agency, A Community of Friends, who were highlighted in the editorial.

LA City To Fight 9th Circuit Court

The Los Angeles City Council voted in closed session to appeal the 9^th Circuit Court decision that stops the city of Los Angeles from banning people from sitting, lying, or sleeping on public streets and sidewalks. The case presented to the 9^th Circuit Court was backed by the ACLU.

So, is law enforcement the answer to ending homelessness?

It’s a sensitive and emotional issue. On the one hand people who are struggling with poverty and then end up homeless on our streets should not be considered a criminal, or breaking the law for being homeless. That’s cruel.

On the other hand, sometimes people struggling with mental health issues, battling substance abuse, or simply feeling hopeless, don’t have the capacity or simply are unable to find the resources to help them get off the streets.

So also, the local “housed” community (residents and businesses) “pay the price” of poverty and homelessness engulfing their community. And feel helpless.

I’ve always proposed the “Clean Streets, Not Mean Streets” approach to integrating law enforcement and homeless services. Allow the community to “clean up” its streets, if there are enough beds and housing for the homeless.

But there is the “timing” issue… Do we wait until all the resources are available before a community can start “cleaning up”?

Why not compromise… allow the community to clean up the streets, when there are available shelter beds (usually in the morning, before noon there are available shelter beds). When the shelter beds are full for the day, allow law enforcement to stop “enforcing” the ordinances.

In the meantime, encourage our community to increase the number of beds and permanent supportive housing units, so that one day we can truly enforce these ordinances 24/7.

I also believe that there should be a stronger “triage” system… teams of social workers, mental health workers, and law enforcement doing triage on the streets. So that we can figure out who really needs help, and who are the “predators” on the streets taking advantage of the void of law and of homeless people.

The bottom line is this… we desperately need to help get these hurting people off the streets and into permanent housing. It means both sides compromising their “principles” and working together to consider this a crisis of humanity.

My Civic Duty...

I'm on jury duty tomorrow--Wednesday--so I won't be posting...

Pimp My Kart…

There is an interesting art exhibit to educate the public on homelessness that is occurring in Miami. It is an art exhibition called, “Pimp My Kart.” (A take off on MTV’s “Pimp My Ride.”) Here is the weblink… www.pimpmykartmiami.com.

Local artists recover old and abandoned shopping carts, convert them into works of art, then put together an exhibition to raise donations and awareness for the homeless of that city.

It sounds like this approach may be coming to L.A.

The Battle Wages On For Homeless Veterans

A quiet fight to house 500 homeless veterans in West Los Angeles is going on from Los Angeles all the way to Washington, D.C. (Here is an article on this.)

The proposal, led by Santa Monica City Council member Bobby Shriver, is to build 500 permanent supportive housing units on the Veterans Administration grounds in Westwood. It makes sense. With 17,000 veterans who are homeless in Los Angeles, and a large facility in Westwood that already serves veterans, why not build this much needed facility?

Other local leaders of this project include L.A. Council member Bill Rosendahl, Santa Monica Council member Richard Bloom, and others.

But for every important project to help the homeless, there occurs those in the local neighborhood who are against it. Local homeowner’s associations are also lobbying against the proposal.

The decision on whether such a project will be built will be made by Secretary of Veterans Affairs, R. James Nicholson.

500 new permanent supportive housing units for homeless veterans would be a significant boost to the quest to end homelessness in Los Angeles.