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# Homeless liaison’s power in question
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/homeless-liaisons-power-in-question/
- Published: 2005-05-21T15:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-23T07:11:10.000Z
- Author: Ryan Hyatt
- Tags: Community, Santa Monica Airport, #archive-import, Homeless, Homelessness

*Homeless leader’s impact would be reviewed in a year*

SM AIRPORT — Representatives from nearby cities say they would support a regional homeless leader, but question how the Santa Monica-appointed official would be empowered to affect a regional problem.

Members of the westside Council of Governments homeless issues subcommittee spoke favorably on Friday of the city of Santa Monica’s decision to hire a regional homeless leader, while sharing concerns of how the new leadership role would be perceived by surrounding city and county bureaucracies — the support of which they say will be necessary if the new position is to prove successful.

City staff asked COG representatives at the Friday meeting what qualities they would like the person who holds the new person to have.

Besides a show of fundamental interest and support, these homeless issue representatives from Beverly Hills, Culver City and Los Angeles had questions about what the new position would entail.

Natalie Profant Komuro — director of policy and strategic planning for the Los Angeles Homeless Authority, an organization created by the county and city of Los Angeles to address homeless issues — wanted to know how the new position would be empowered to act effectively within the region.

“Would this be a symbolic position, or would this person have control over budgets?” Komuro said. “If The homeless liaison regional position has been spearheaded by Councilman Bobby Shriver and voted in at the April 26 City Council meeting.

At that meeting, the council directed staff to begin exploring how the high-profile regional leadership position could be created and successfully filled. The sole purpose of the person who holds the position would be to solve the problem of chronic homelessness in Santa Monica and the surrounding region.

The regional liaison will be hired on a contractual basis, and the position’s effectiveness will be reviewed after one year, Shriver said. The person will likely be hired for one year, paid as much as $200,000 and report his or her results directly to City Manager Susan McCarthy. The regional liaison would be responsible for advancing programs such as the sobering center, a mental health and drug court, year-round housing through the Veterans Administration, and chronic homeless outreach.

City staff will be returning to the council in coming weeks to present more information on the position’s possible job description and recruiting.

Meanwhile, Councilman Richard Bloom — who voted against the creation of the position at the April 26 council meeting and serves as the City Council’s liaison to the COG homeless subcommittee — said he believes the new position, in conjunction with current regional efforts, could be successful in tackling the homeless problem.

“I hope (the creation of this position) does not turn into a jurisdictional conflict,” Bloom said. “We need to make sure we work together. There is a lot of energy going toward this issue right now, and we have to make sure we’re working on a solution for the region.”

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on May 21, 2005.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/052105.pdf?ref=smdp.com)