NOTE TO READER: Don't be
fooled. This is not a council that wants to help homeless people.
This council has already put up no parking signs 5AM to 7AM in the industrial
zones to roust homeless people in cars. Failure to leave can result in
both a camping violation citation and expensive parking tickets or their
vehicles towed. This council recently banned begging on 95% of the public
sidewalks in the day and 100% of the sidewalks at night on pain of a $162
citation. Also Homeless Services Center meetings
are open to the public --- unless the Board has recently voted to close
them. The County of Santa Cruz did nothing to end homelessness a few
years ago when they had a record surplus budget, despite this coincided with
record numbers of homeless on the streets. Now they are going to wring
their hands and say they can do nothing without more money. Who can
believe them?
If they really wanted to help
homeless people, the council would start by lifting the Sleeping Ban which
makes homeless people criminals for the act of falling asleep at night.
Surely cuts in cops, courts, and jails would result in a saving of precious
city revenue. Don't hold your breath. One other item: the Sentinel
failed to report that 36 homeless people died on the streets of Santa Cruz
county in 2002. Not newsworthy?
--- Becky Johnson
FROM THE SANTA CRUZ SENTINEL:
January
2, 2003
By DAN
WHITE
Sentinel staff
writer
SANTA CRUZ — Reducing
homelessness, even over a long-term period, is a slippery goal for any
community. But the City Council on
Tuesday will add suggestions to a countywide "five-year strategic plan on
homelessness" intended to take a big bite out the problem by 2008.
The plan is the work of county
and city staff, service providers and homeless advocates, with additional data
from a consulting firm. It will be discussed at the 3 p.m. session of the
council’s special meeting.
Among the plan’s goals: a
significant increase in affordable housing targeted at people who are homeless,
and better coordination of care for people with mental health and drug
problems.
Some other goals: cutting in
half the number of low-income residents who become homeless each year; cutting
in half the number shut out from constantly filled emergency shelters; and
ensuring that 10 percent of homeless people each year get jobs that pay a
living wage or better.
Service providers say the plan
will be a blueprint to help the city and county coordinate services, and that
the document will help the area compete for federal funds for low-income
housing.
Homeless people interviewed at
the Homeless Services Center on Wednesday were sharply critical of the city’s
attempts so far to address homelessness, and offered suggestions for the new
plan.
Some repeated an oft-voiced
need for a lot to park motor homes or other vehicles in for the night, which
would make it easier for people to save money for a security deposit or rent,
they said. Others said the homeless need more help with getting a high school
or college education, as well as with learning the responsibility of paying
rent and saving money.
Many criticized leaders for not
giving the homeless more voice in the services they’re provided. Homeless
Service Center board meetings are not open to the public and nobody from the
homeless community sits on the board, said Laurie Russell, who lives in her
van.
"It’s hard having other
people make decisions about your life," she said.
According to a recent staff
report, some council members have expressed concerns about "the plan’s
credibility" in light of the fact that the county has not had an approved
housing element since 1992.
Mayor Emily Reilly said the
council will review the broad plan and "try to pick some priorities, and
make sure we’re not letting funding or services slip through the cracks."
She also said the council must focus on a few specifics because the economy is
likely to be "dismal" next year.
Vice mayor Scott Kennedy said
he had serious concerns about funding for many aspects of the plan. He said he
was worried it could turn into an "exercise into futility" by raising
expectations unfairly at a time when the economy has tanked.
"Without new revenue what’s
the point?" he said. "The plan doesn’t break down the different
objectives according to what they would cost nor does it indicate where to get
the money."
Kennedy said he would be glad
to see the plan used to get more state and federal funds. But he said that
money was "a long way off" because of the economy and the decline in
philanthropic contributions.
Homeless Services Center
Director Ken Cole said a strategic plan "won’t immediately get anybody off
the street" but said it would help local governments "get the maximum
amount we can from the federal government and use it wisely."
He said such a strategy is
especially important when funding is limited.
"If you want to succeed in
competition for scarce resources you need to have this plan. But it goes beyond
that: What are ways to break the cycle of homelessness?"
Paul Brindel of the nonprofit
Community Action Board, which works to provide shelter and other services for
the poor, said the plan is "not just to get the money. It is pretty much
an inventory of resources and where are the gaps."
Brindel said that in a recent
survey, 3.2 percent of the county’s housed residents said they had been
homeless locally at some point during the year. That works out to more than
8,000 people. A shelter would have 27 units and would serve 75 to 85 people
including children.
Brindel said the figure was
more than double the previous year’s number.
"It gets even worse when
you look at people who are under 25, and it’s more like 14 percent for that age
group," Brindel said. "That’s incredible."
One major goal of service
providers is mentioned in the plan: a planned new homeless family shelter.
The project is now in the early
fund-raising stages.
"We’re closing in on 50
percent of the goal," said Cole.
He said there have been
commitments of $2.5 million so far including $700,000 from the Packard
Foundation, and $500,000 from the state’s Emergency Housing and Assistance
Program.
Contact Dan White at dwhite@santa-cruz.com.