Council Takes on Two Sides of Homelessness Issue

Following nearly an hour of comments from overwhelmingly supportive community leaders and residents Monday evening, the Pasadena City Council dealt with the pressing subject of homelessness with two very different agenda items.

The first item was a motion for the Council to support an official City policy of Permanent Supportive Housing. According to Housing Department Director Bill Huang, there are, at last count, 530 known homeless persons in Pasadena , and 352 of them are without a bed on any given night.

“We don’t have 352 beds for them, either,” said Huang. But as he pointed out in his staff report, “Research and experience have overwhelmingly shown that investments in permanent supportive housing are extraordinarily effective in reducing homelessness, as well as being cost-effective.”

“Providing permanent supportive housing and services as needed can help to ensure that homeless individuals remain housed, even among persons with severe substance abuse and mental health conditions.” said Huang.

In his presentation, Huang pointed out a number of hardcore, longtime homeless Pasadena residents whose lives were changed by permanent housing.

Explained Huang in his staff report, “The City of Pasadena began focusing on a crisis response system with rapid connections to permanent supportive housing in 2011, the report continued. This model combines affordable housing with vital support services for individuals living with mental illness, HIV/AIDS or other serious health problems.

The effects of providing permanent supportive housing are clear, Huang reported, informing the council that that homelessness has consistently decreased in Pasadena since 2011.

A linear forecast trend based on the City’s former service model, which did not include permanent supportive housing, estimated that 1 ,543 would have been homeless by 2016, as opposed to the 530 that were reported homeless during the 2016 Homeless Count. As a result, 66 percent fewer homeless were counted in 2016 than were expected under business-as-usual predictions, representing a 56 percent reduction from 2011.

Based on the staff recommendation, the City Council unanimously passed the following policy statement: “The City of Pasadena believes that decent, safe and affordable housing is the right of every Pasadena resident. Furthermore, a key long-term solution for homelessness is the provision of permanent supportive housing. Therefore, consistent with the Housing Element, and to the extent feasible, the City will seek to promote a balanced geographical dispersal of affordable housing, including permanent supportive housing throughout the City.”

The statement will be incorporated into various City housing and planning documents including the Housing Element, the Five-Year Consolidated Plan, and the Housing Department’s annual Action Plans.

There are currently five permanent supportive housing projects operating in Pasadena, according to the Housing Department staff report, including the recently completed Mary’s Place, which was awarded “Supportive Housing Project of the Year” by the Southern California Association of Nonprofit Housing. The remaining projects are Centennial Place, with 144 units at 2351Holly Street; Euclid Villa with 15 units, at 156 South Euclid Avenue; Hestria House with eight beds, at 1395 E. Orange Grove Boulevard, and Navarro House with six beds at 1516 Navarro Street.

The second item on the homelessness issue— the first reading of the city Municipal Code’s new ordinance regulating “camping” in the city, was far more difficult. The ordinance, consisting of two sections, would place new restrictions on sleeping on city streets as well as aggressive panhandling.

The first part of the ordinance, now labeled Section “A,” makes it a misdemeanor to “camp, erect, maintain, or occupy any tent, lodge, structure, temporary or makeshift shelter, or unattended installation or display in any park or upon the grounds above specified, except in places designated for such purposes.”

The second section of the ordinance placed added four more restrictions, two of which were eliminated in the final approval of the ordinance. The first new section of the ordinance, called Section “B,” stated that, “It is unlawful for any person to place his/her personal property upon any street. alley. sidewalk. or crosswalk so as. in any manner to hinder or obstruct any person from freely passing by; such property may be removed from the public way or place by the City if the owner of such property is not present or is unable to remove the property. A notice of such removal shall be given to the owner and or placed at the location from where such property was removed. Such property shall be stored by the City for at least 30 days.”

In addition, a new section C now states that, “It is unlawful for any person to impede the progress of another or to hinder or obstruct any person from freely passing by on any street alley, sidewalk, or crosswalk for the purpose of soliciting, asking or begging for money, or to approach any. person in any public way or place in a threatening. coercive or menacing manner, for the purpose of soliciting, asking or begging for money.”

The new sections were added in an attempt to curb what the Council called “aggressive panhandling,” by the homeless.

As ACLU attorney Michelle White testified, “This ordinance is aimed solely at the homeless. They are the only ones this ordinance could possibly effect.”

Resident Ernesto Nijera framed the argument against the ordinance differently, saying, “Don’t overburden the police department with homelessness.”

“I look forward to the day when no one is homeless,” said Pasadena resident Ed Washataka. “but until that day, we cannot arrest our way out of homelessness. “Use the Housing Department for the homeless problem, not the police department,” Washatka added.

“This is such a difficult issue,” said Councilmember Andy Wilson. “Where will they go? And is this the best use of police resources?,” he asked.

Following nearly an hour of public and council discussion, the Council voted to eliminate two additional sections—Section D, which would have prohibited sitting or lying in any doorway, street, sidewalk or alley in certain designated parts of the city; and Section E, which delineated the exact streets on which the ordinance would be in effect.

The new ordinance, with the new approved modifications, will go into effect immediately.