Homeless Corner..Problem Worsens! Pomona Leaders Continue To Do Nothing About Homeless Issue!

 

by Ron Williams
Reitired LA County Sheriff
Pomona Homeless Advocate

The first dusting of snow in the local San Gabriel Mountains last week and the near-freezing weather conditions the homeless have to endure in a nightly basis living on the streets of Pomona are nothing compared to the frigid conditions provided by the City Council, Mayor, and Planning Department. After eight years of stone-walling and side-stepping on Senate Bill 2 (2007), the Planning Department submitted a half-baked plan to the Planning Commission on four locations which may satisfy the mandate but will do nothing to alleviate the homeless problems in the city.
For eight years, the State’s Housing and Community Development Department has been responding to the cities’ Housing Element with a directive to the City Manager, Linda Lowry, and the Planning Manager, Mark Lazzeretto, to provide an adequate zone so someone with a heart to help could provide the assistance the homeless desperately need. The cities’ response for eight years has been, “Just give us a few more months.” (refer to http://www.hcd.ca.gov/) Finally, on December 9^th, after eight years, the city of Pomona Planning Department unveiled their long awaited blueprint to eradicate homelessness in Pomona to the Planning Commission. Planning’s Powerpoint presentation and the corresponding 198 page document, which a majority is devoted entirely to Senate Bill 2, outlines the cities’ plan to ignore “the spirit of the law” imposed by the bill and attempt to fulfill the basic requirements by identifying four locations throughout the city, or an “overlay zone” where no one plans to construct any type of year round shelter(refer http://www.ci.pomona.ca.us/) . The cities’ strategy is to merely get the State off of their backs about SB2 so they can move on to more important issues like where the cities in the San Gabriel Valley will dump all of their trash (I’ll give you one guess).
To truly understand State law, we will have to go back in time, to 2007, when a former body builder roamed the State capital and George II was in the White House.  Senate Bill 2 was drafted by Senator Gil Cedillo and passed as law in an effort to de-centralize the homeless population from the downtown areas of the major cities (e.g. Los Angeles, Sacramento, San Francisco, etc) to allow each city in California to share a fair portion of the “burden” of caring for our homeless. The bill required each city to identify a zone (e.g. light industrial, residential, etc.) where a builder could erect a “year-round emergency shelter” to accommodate the number of homeless currently residing in the city. The shelter would be constructed “without discretionary review” from Planning  or without having to be subject to the arduous conditional use permit process, but still had to meet all of the building code requirements and State law pertaining to residential occupancy in emergency shelters. The cities would be required to “encourage and facilitate” any proposed plan for a year-round emergency shelter.
I can write from experience as the city has done nothing to encourage and facilitate the process of starting an emergency shelter. The city of Pomona has been dancing around SB2 since I initially approached Mark Lazzeretto in February, 2014.  Well over 90% of the cities in the state are compliant with this law and many have taken an innovative approach to the homeless issue.  While others, like Pomona have ignored State law and shirked their duties to be responsive to each member of their city, including those who are destitute.
I can hear the naysayers now as they have tried to discredit me, “Oh, he just wants a chunk of our $18 million dollar Federal pie and he’s just upset because we won’t give him any. Between you, me and the fencepost, I really don’t care who runs the shelter or where they decide to place it. I believe the city of Pomona has been unaccountable to the needs of the populace they have taken an oath to serve: the homeless congregate in the parks, businesses, and city hall. They steal copper wire and anything not nailed down (and even those things nailed down) during the night and deposit their plunder at the local recycling centers for pennies on the thousands of dollars’ worth of property damage. The residents cannot enjoy the parks or even the public library without tripping over a homeless person or being accosted for their spare change. Good luck finding an open public bathroom in Pomona, as each are locked to keep out the homeless.  Each business owner who tries to discourage the homeless from stealing their food, conduct drug transactions or prostitution activity on their property has hired armed security.
What, you ask, is the cities’ response to myriad of problems in the city related to this issue? You only have to have attended the last city council meeting on December 7^th to witness for yourself the lack of leadership in this bunch. While the city faces impending disaster with hundreds living the streets and storm drains and El Nino on the horizon, what was the council’s response? Well, we spent the first 45 minutes watching Councilwoman Ginna Escobar promote her Phillip’s Ranch dance studio and another 15 minutes for the annual tree lighting. Although, I seldom attend council meetings, this wasn’t the first time I’ve witnessed a performance by Ginna’s leotard clad dancers or at the least a reference to their latest competition during her council address.
Once the council finally got down to city business, they listened to a homeless woman who had her van impounded by the police and her personal property destroyed, an elderly homeless man who was ticketed by Pomona P.D. for “camping in public”, and a few of the 17 others who took the homeless problem seriously enough to take time out of their busy schedules to address the council.  Mayor Rothman, who probably would not correct you if you mistakenly called him emperor, decided to put an end to all of the peasant clamor of his kingdom by prefacing his response, “They don’t pay me enough money…” To be honest, all I heard after that was the noise that sounded a lot like the sound the teacher made from the old Peanuts cartoon. He then asked his city attorney if he violated the Brown Act by addressing an item not on the agenda. The well-healed attorney, who apparently knows who butters his bread, responded, “Of course not, mayor!” To add insult to serious injury, the audience then had the distinct privilege of hearing two other council members violate the Brown Act by offering their two cents (Unfortunately, it didn’t include their spare change, which would have been more substantive). All of these shenanigans and more were available to view in the comfort of your living room via the local cable channel if you question the veracity of my sarcasm.
So, where do we go from here? It’s just the same old, same old: more meetings and committees, as the churches provide food, clothing, and hygiene items to the poor. Meanwhile, the homeless are being cited by the police and “encouraged” to leave town or possibly hide from the police in a storm drain as the threat of El Nino, like the Titanic encountering an iceberg, draws ominously closer. What is unconscionable should now be firmly at the forefront of the city leaders’ psyche. Even with all of the cute little dancers in Councilwoman Escobar’s studio, the city cannot dance around SB2 any longer. Identifying four addresses where no one intends to build an emergency shelter and naming it an “overlay zone” may or may not satisfy the State but it doesn’t do anything to assist those in need.  The next move belongs to the Planning Commission, who plans to meet on Wednesday, January 13, 2016. You are invited to attend the public meeting and weigh in on this issue. I don’t expect the dancers to be there but I guarantee it will be entertaining.
*This information is the opinion and facts as presented by the author.