By BOBBY SHRIVER
Santa Monicans worry both about homeless people themselves and the public safety and health effects of h o m e l e s s n e s s. Reducing the number of people living on our streets and in our parks will be my highest priority as a councilmember.
I will work for a regional solution. Neighboring cities need to accept their share of the responsibility. I will ask the state to determine each city’s fair share of homeless services, just as it now does for housing, and establish consequences for cities that don’t do their part.
I will work to establish a program that moves chronic homeless people into housing. We have no program for the chronic homeless — most of whom are addicted, mentally ill or both — even though they are the ones who need the most help and cause people to avoid parts of the city.
I recommend two immediate steps: 1. A “sober-up” facility in the new Public Safety Building. Rather than repeatedly jailing or hospitalizing chronic homeless inebriates, police can take them to this facility to sober up and to receive medical and social services. 2. A “housing first” approach. Many people will never overcome addictions or mental illness as long as they are living on the streets. I am investigating the possibility of using vacant buildings at the Veterans’ Administration Hospital in West Los Angeles to give chronic homeless people secure, stable living spaces connected to services.
Los Angeles has the same number of homeless people as New York City, yet receives half the funding. I will lead a coalition of Southern California cities to Washington, D.C., to secure HUD funding for this new “housing first” approach. I have lobbied very successfully for federal money to fight AIDS and poverty in Africa. I can do the same thing to fight homelessness in Southern California.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on October 12, 2004. Read the original PDF.