In last week’s meeting, councilmembers voted unanimously 7-0 to extend the local emergency status of the current homeless crisis for another 12 months.
Analysis and discussion of this contentious issue was kept to a minimum as efforts were being made to reduce the length of the meeting since two and a half hours of public comment on the Israel-Gaza resolution was still to come. Moreover, the results of the 2024 homeless count have not yet been released by the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority and while they’re due any time now, comparisons could only be made to the 2023 count results in which data collected stated that homelessness in Santa Monica had increased by 15% from 2022.
Heather Averick, Director of Housing and Human Services for the City of Santa Monica, provided a presentation that focussed very much on the City’s successes, including the Pathway Home program, which has indeed proved to be successful, for 25 former homeless individuals.
Concern over this issue has been steadily rising with both local residents and business owners, but no mention was made of recent security concern related to homelessness in the city or any of the issues that have caused disruption, such as the temporary shut down of the PCH in April, the threats made to both a tourist and a member of the Legion Corporation in May or the attack on a six-year-old that prompted a video response from Police Chief Ramon Batista in March.
Councilmember Christine Parra asked why the Samoshel shelter at 500 Olympic Blvd was only at 50% occupancy, to which a spokesperson from the Housing and Human Services department said the department has been in conversation with The People Concern (TPC) about the occupancy rate and that while staff are working on the issue, the answer may be spread accross several teams.
Staff said there were likely a couple of reasons for the occupancy rate including the quality of the interior space. They said it is a typical kind of a congregate shelter with pretty basic furnishings. They said there are efforts underway to offer people more privacy, provide walls, power outlets and lights to give them a sense of privacy and dignity.
The shelter recently expanded operations to take in clients 24-hours a day.
Councilmember Gleam Davis spoke extensively about her recent visit to Vienna. She cited how, while the European capital still suffered from a homelessness situation, it was being handled in a different and more successful manner.
“Despite having 20 times more people than we do, there are only roughly three times more homeless folks. And about half of those people are simply in temporary shelters waiting to get permanent housing,” Davis said, but she made no mention of Austria’s policy towards homelessness to provide an effective context for her Vienna comparisons.
Declaring a state of emergency helps prioritize Santa Monica in requests for resources and funding from various partners and government entities. The City Council adopted a proclamation declaring a Local Emergency Order on Homelessness on February 14 of last year and not long after extended it through to May 31, 2024. According to the City, the 2023 proclamation was used to fast-track critical efforts.
The 2024 proclamation states that “The City adopted a Proclamation Declaring a Local Emergency on Homelessness … due to the homelessness crisis in the region, which continues to grow, leading to deplorable living conditions and illness and deaths of unhoused and unsheltered persons in the region.”
It includes, but is not limited to, entering into a contract with Exodus Recovery for the Services, Treatment and Empowerment Program; entering into a contract with The People Concern; working with Salvation Army to support the City’s 311 Outreach; entering into a contract with Fetterman Dunn Consulting; making a loan commitment to Community Corporation of Santa Monica for the construction of a future affordable housing development; executing a Memorandum of Understanding with Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority to begin implementation of the new Stability Voucher program; working with Los Angeles County’s Homeless Initiative; increasing the amount of monthly income assistance provided to participants and launching the Therapeutic Transport Team pilot program. The full proclamation can be found by clicking through this City Council meeting’s agenda items.
Ultimately, the motion was made to extend the proclamation of a local emergency by Vice Mayor Lana Negrete, seconded by Councilmember Oscar de la Torre and passed unanimously 7-0.