By MY WRITE BY BILL BAUER
In case you hadn’t noticed, City Hall has dramatically increased spending on homeless programs over the last couple of months.
Recent additions to homeless spending include funding for Ed Edelman’s second year as city’s homeless czar, surveys on services, a rent subsidy to a city-contracted homeless services provider and the establishment of a homeless community court.
Nothing illustrates City Hall’s Pollyanna approach to the issue more than the disingenuous statement made by City Councilman Richard Bloom during a July 3 press conference announcing the new community homeless court. Bloom said, “No one wants to see homeless people get sent to jail for not having a place to live.”
Bloom, an attorney, knows better. Nobody here goes to jail for not having a place to live.
Legitimate law breakers are usually cited for infractions and misdemeanors such as drinking in public or trespassing on private property. Only if a person has criminal warrants or has committed serious offenses could they go to jail.
LA County has promised $500,000 to help fund the homeless court for a year. City Hall coughed up another $1.2 million for services, including permanent housing for the chronically homeless and chronically homeless inebriates.
“City officials expect to reach an estimated 150 to 200 chronically homeless individuals at the end of the one year pilot program... County officials estimate that the city now spends about $8,000 per homeless person for police, paramedic and jail services — not counting LA County jail, court and hospital expense,” according to published reports (SMDP, July 4, 2006, page 1).
Officials say they don’t know how much the program will cost per homeless individual. But if you divide $1.7 million by 200 persons — the maximum estimated that might participate — the average cost per person for this program alone is $8,500.
Don’t think that these beneficiaries won’t still be using police, paramedic and other city services. Years of anti-social behavior and their associated costs aren’t going to stop overnight no matter how many caseworkers and other programs are deployed.
While Bloom and city officials wax enthusiastically about how a homeless court will open the door for training and jobs, the truth is that most participants aren’t going to adopt a socially acceptable lifestyle. Experts in both law enforcement and homeless services tell me that service resistant street people will milk and abuse the program as long as they can.
Santa Monicans concerned about health and safety issues are disgusted by the negative image our army of vagrants projects to the world. While many residents demand more police action, paradoxically, they also want more homeless services.
While it feels good to provide services, they’re still a magnet for vagrants and transients. The few highly-publicized success stories aren’t about Santa Monicans, they’re about people from Atlanta, Houston, New York or “name a city” because they “couldn’t get services in their hometown.”
I’m gratified that people get help, however, we all pay for it in higher taxes and an increasingly dirty and dangerous community.
City Hall has been providing an array of services for over two decades and have spent literally hundreds of millions of dollars, yet we have many more unhoused vagrants and transients than ever before.
Many city-subsidized giveaways of food and clothing enable a street lifestyle. Out-of-towners who feed here sustain and prolong the misery. Local businesses and individuals wrongly think handouts encourage them to go away. In reality, all of this is akin to feeding bears in Yosemite. Do-gooders usually find themselves in over their head, besieged and victimized. Ultimately, it leads to even bigger problems.
Public Ignorance impedes dealing with the problem intelligently. Recently, a spate of letters to this newspaper orchestrated by a hotel-backed political group contained solutions for solving homeless problems. Unfortunately, many of the “solutions” such as “feed indoors” and finding housing” are already being done.
Suggestions such as “enforcing vagrancy laws” will be difficult considering that loitering and vagrancy laws were expunged from the California Penal Code more than 25 years ago when they were deemed unconstitutional.
Dealing with our homeless problems with blind optimism, false promises and worthless suggestions is like putting a fresh coat of paint on an unsafe rust bucket. It might look good for a while, but it’ll kill you on the highway. (Bill)
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on July 17, 2006. Read the original PDF.