Los Angeles City Councilwoman Traci Park was joined by officials from the Bureau of Sanitation, Recreation and Parks, Los Angeles Police Department and community leaders early on Tuesday morning to announce a new initiative to help the homeless and clean up the beaches.
The open air press conference took place at the Rose Avenue beach parking lot and drew camera crews and reporters from every major local news network and newspaper.
"During last year's budget process, my team and I successfully secured funding for a Care Plus team dedicated to our coastal area. And while the Bureau of Sanitation, like every city department, faced severe hiring challenges, thanks to their hard work and dedication in filling these positions, we are launching our very first coastal Care Plus operation today, right here in Venice," Park said.
"Our oceans and beaches are home to diverse marine life, already struggling with the effects of climate change and pollution," Park said while also making a very important point that perhaps many forget about, "And of course, our coastal areas are the repository for the entire region's watershed, which means that trash and debris from across the entire city and up right here at the beach."
With regards to the homeless issues, Park said, "I'm introducing a motion today to find restroom ambassadors and beautification services so that our restrooms here are safe, accessible and welcoming. And finally, I'm introducing a motion today that will begin to fill a critical gap that now exists in our district and across the entire city, the lack of mental health treatment beds.
"Working with LAHSA (Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority) and St. Joseph center and LA County, we hope to stabilize and bring help to the highest need individuals living on our sidewalks and our shared public spaces," Park said, adding, "We're already seeing this hard work pay off."
Speaking to the Daily Press, Park elaborated on the details. "The coastal Care Plus team is a total of six individuals and that includes the truck operator [and] the environmental compliance inspectors … They are going to be starting right now, two days a week, with a goal of getting their services up at the coast to five days a week," Park said.
"They will be removing large solid waste and debris, things that are blocking, right of way excess garbage and litter … Our plan is we are out there with our field team on the ground and with our outreach teams and service providers. So we usually know and have a schedule that we're working on based on where we're having issues. I do expect that some of this will be routine care and maintenance, as well as the ability to do spot operations as needed."
Park confirmed that they were working in connection with the City of Santa Monica, but the operational range for this project is from Marina del Rey to Pacific Palisades, effectively skipping over Santa Monica, which begins at Marine Court to the south and ends at Adelaide Drive to the North.
With regards to the homelessness part of the initiative, Park said, "It's not that it's new or unique in that it hasn't been done before, it's that we are bringing additional resources to it that we didn't have … Because we're going to have these additional teams working in partnership with LASAN (Los Angeles Sanitation) or nonprofits, it naturally creates additional opportunities for engagement and housing interventions.
"Then, with the funding for the mental health beds, it addresses a particular demographic of unhoused individuals that have a higher level of acuity and need [that aren’t] suitable to just drop into a motel room without adequate supportive services. And so we have some folks like that out there. And that funding will help us identify those beds, so that we can actually make a difference for some of these folks that have been resistant and hard to help."
According to Park’s office, a budget of $848,011 has been allocated to the entire initiative.
‘Why it hasn't happened historically in the district is a head scratcher," Park said, adding, "This is something that we started shortly after I took office … It took us some time to come up with the plan, working with LA Sanitation … And then we introduced it and got it approved in last year's budget, it then took time to get those positions filled. And now that we have it, it’s up and operational. But yeah, it took a lot longer than I would have liked."
scott.snowden@smdp.com
