Edelman gearing up
CITY HALL — Santa Monica’s homeless czar hopes that after his year-long contract expires, he will have helped the city make significant strides in dealing with its down-and-out.
Edmund D. Edelman was appointed at the Dec. 13 Santa Monica City Council meeting to help bring regional cohesiveness to the growing homeless problem. Although his responsibilities won’t begin in earnest until after the holidays, he hopes to hit the ground running.
“I’m trying to learn as much as I can about the programs that are going on in Santa Monica that have been effective,” Edelman said. “Eventually, I will talk to people in the region so we may become aware of programs that could be effective to reach the homeless.”
In January, Edelman is expected to meet with representatives from Gov. Arnold Schwarzen-egger’s office, county supervisors, and Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. He hopes to present each with some of his own ideas to help alleviate the regional homeless problem and glean, in turn, what they hope to see happen.
Edelman, who will answer to Lamont Ewell, the incoming city manager, will earn $200,000 for his one-year appointment, according to Judy Franz, City Hall’s spokeswoman.
His philosophy toward homelessness is that many social service groups currently expend too many unneeded resources to accommodate the homeless population. As a result, the homeless put a drain on the system using money that would have been better spent putting roofs over their heads.
“Taxpayers are paying the cost of people living on the streets and not having shelter,” Edelman said. “These people often have to be arrested because they have done something wrong, or they collapse because they don’t have access to medical attention.
“From a taxpayer standpoint, I believe it’s wiser to give them shelter and treatment than having to pay for ongoing incarcerations and expensive hospital stays.”
Edelman has a workplan in place, developed by former City Manager Susan McCarthy, that includes helping to create a regional mental health court, whereby certain homeless individuals may be removed from the criminal justice system in exchange for their willingness to undergo treatment.
City Councilman Bobby Shriver — who proposed the concept of the homeless czar — is excited about Edelman’s appointment Edelman’s well-connected and respected, Shriver said, with a history of championing homeless causes.
Edelman served as a Los Angeles county supervisor from 1974 until 1994, during which time he was responsible for creating the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority. That agency, charged with providing homeless services for the county, is expected to release in coming weeks the most up-to-date demographic information on the down-and-out.
That demographics are expected to be used to better address homelessness in the region, officials said.
Edelman also is known for establishing the Skid Row Mental Health Center in downtown Los Angeles, as well as creating the detox program at the Weingart Center and the first drug court in LA County.
He has also assisted U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Harry Pregerson in expanding services to homeless veterans at the West LA Veterans Administration facility.
In addition to his service as county supervisor, Edelman served on the LA City Council from 1965 to 1974 and held many intergovernmental posts, including chairing the Metropolitan Transportation Authority Board in 1994 and the Countywide Criminal Justice Coordination Committee, which he founded.
Shriver admits he’s coming to the belief that homelessness in California is so out of control there may need to be new laws enacted to require that cities pay their fair share to address the problem.
He said part of Edelman’s task will be to determine the feasibility of a regional or state homeless authority.
“The concept of a regional homeless authority is a great idea, but it’s also the 800-pound gorilla,” Shriver said. “It needs to have legal authority, and Edelman will hopefully find out if that’s possible.”
Edelman said what drew him to the position was the opportunity to help the down-and-out and the challenges associated with it.
“It’s a daunting task,” he said. “But when I read the (job description), I thought to myself, ‘Hey, that sounds like something I might be qualified to do.’”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on December 16, 2005. Read the original PDF.