WRITTEN PUBLIC COMMENTS
READ INTO THE RECORD
Sent via [email protected]
For: Mayor Gold and Councilmembers
From: Ori S. Blumenfeld, Esq.
Date: May 30, 2023
Subject: Urgent Support Needed for Safe Parking LA’s Community Assistance Grant Fund Request Dear Mayor and Councilmembers,
As the former Chair of the Beverly Hills Human Relations Commission and a board member of Safe Parking LA, I write to strongly advocate for Safe Parking LA’s request for a $250,000 Community Assistance Grant from the City of Beverly Hills. I offer a distinct perspective on the immense value that this organization brings to our community, and I urge you to seize this opportunity to make a profound difference in the lives of our most vulnerable residents.
Homelessness is an issue that demands our collective attention, requiring both empathy and effective solutions.
Safe Parking LA exemplifies these principles, providing secure parking spaces and invaluable resources for individuals and families facing housing instability. Their program extends beyond safe parking, encompassing comprehensive case management, access to job opportunities, and crucial connections to permanent housing resources.
Supporting Safe Parking LA’s request for grant funds would unequivocally demonstrate the City of Beverly Hills’ commitment to fostering a just and equitable society. These funds will empower Safe Parking LA to expand their operations and serve a broader segment of our community in need. With our increased support, we can empower more individuals to transition out of homelessness, offering them a pathway towards stability and self-sufficiency.
Investing in Safe Parking LA is an investment in the very fabric of our working community. By providing secure parking options and essential support services, we alleviate the strain on public resources and cultivate safer neighborhoods for all residents. Moreover, it underscores our dedication to preserving the dignity and wellbeing of each individual in Beverly Hills.
I implore you to recognize the profound impact that supporting Safe Parking LA’s request for a $250,000 Community Assistance Grant will have on our community. Together, we can move the needle on homelessness so that every resident has an opportunity to thrive and contribute.
Thank you for your unwavering commitment to our region’s well-being. I trust that you will consider this request with the utmost compassion and urgency it deserves.
Sincerely,
Ori S. Blumenfeld, Esq.
Former Chair, City of Beverly Hills Human Relations Commission Board Member, Safe Parking LA
From: Christina Garcia
To: City Clerk
Cc: Human Services
Subject: FW: Comment: CAGF Recommendations
Date: Thursday, June 1, 2023 12:13:00 PM
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Good Afternoon,
We are forwarding this email on behalf of PATH. This is for the CAGF item please for Tuesday’s meeting with the City Council at 7pm.
Please let us know if you have any questions.
Thank You,
Christina Garcia
Program Operation Specialist - Community Services Department Phone: 310.285.1006
[email protected]
From: Zeke Sandoval
Sent: Wednesday, May 31, 2023 5:56 PM
To: Human Services <[email protected]>
Cc: Christina Garcia <[email protected]>
Subject: Comment: CAGF Recommendations
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Hi,
Hope you’re well! Please find below our comment for the Community Assistance Grant Fund recommendations to be presented to City Council at the June 6th meeting. I apologize for the late submission. I will also attend the meeting in person to speak, so our comment will be part of the record either way. Thank you!
Comment:
PATH is grateful for our continued partnership with the City of Beverly Hills to maintain 5 beds in our Rampart Village temporary shelter for Beverly Hills residents experiencing unsheltered homelessness. For many years now, our team of dedicated professionals has worked hand in hand with City staff to offer a safe place to sleep, shower, and connect to services on their journey to housing. The Community Assistance Grant Fund, under the steady stewardship of the Human Services department, has made this possible. We look forward to continuing to serve Beverly Hills residents experiencing homelessness, and working with City staff and leadership to address the affordable housing shortage and housing insecurity. Thank you.
Best,
Zeke Sandoval (he/him)
Public Policy Manager
C:
epath.org
Help someone make it home today!
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From: Daniel Tamm
To: City Clerk
Cc: Enisha Clark; Christopher Paulson; Christina Garcia Subject: Agenda Item #14 - Community Assistance Grant Funding (CAGF) Date: Tuesday, June 6, 2023 12:36:49 PM
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Please find our brief public comment below. Thank you for your time.
The City Council
City of Beverly Hills
444 North Rexford Drive
Beverly Hills, California 90210
Community Assistance Grant Funding
June 6, 2022
Dear Council Members,
Our partnership with the City of Beverly Hills through the Community Assistance Grant Funding has greatly facilitated our outreach to the unhoused community and people living in poverty. Since 1992, the All Saints' Homeless Assistance Program has been feeding hungry and unhoused people. The parishioners at All Saints’ Episcopal Church have been able to utilize the funding for our Trinity Project food preparation program. Every two weeks we are able to furnish 800 sandwiches and fruit cups for people experiencing homelessness and very low-income people. Hospitality is a core spiritual value for us and the grant makes that sustainable.
Accordingly, it also enables us to work with the Beverly Hills Outreach Team ( BHOT) in providing airline and bus transportation for people who want to return Home Again to get a fresh start among people who love them, and are welcoming them home, wherever that might be in the United States. We also furnish BHOT with ample supplies of Metro Tap cards and Subway gift cards to support the work they do with unhoused people in Beverly Hills, so that the homeless population can get to the services that are essential to this community and are not currently provided by local government agencies. We continue to distribute hygiene supplies, clean clothes, including coats at the annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Coat Drive, along with fast food gift certificate during the holidays. Once a month we've also furnished the quarters for about 80 loads of clothes to be washed by people who are homeless. We call it Laundry Love.
Emergency housing funds are an important safety feature provided by All Saints’. As part of our commitment to “housing first” we work with the City to identify appropriate individuals that could access housing if given immediate financial support. In partnership with the City, we will in rare instances, also assist individuals with various needs, from clothing to medical. This past year, we paid for a mother’s $51.00 car repair so that she could get her young son to school and continue to look for work. It is the same car that they are actually sleeping in.
Our participation in the Homelessness Coalition meetings, which are coordinated by Human Services, is a vital connection that we have with the City of Beverly Hills. We value the relationships and clear communication among the various partners. We appreciate this kind of civic engagement where everyone is working together for the common good.
The Reverend Daniel Tamm
Deacon
[email protected]
310.275.0123 x 110
www.allsaintsbh.org
From: Darian Bojeaux
To: City Clerk
Subject: For tonight"s CC Meeting
Date: Tuesday, June 6, 2023 6:09:30 PM
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Hi.
These matters are not on the agenda so I would appreciate it if you would read my following comments at the beginning of the City Council meeting.
Thank you.
Darian Bojeaux
There is no reason for anyone to comply with our election laws because there are no consequences for violators.
Members of our council majority chose to politicize and misuse the Gascon Recall to present themselves as law and order councilmembers, by misrepresenting that Gascon’s directives resulted in no consequences for criminals.
Inconsistenly, although we have witnessed the flagrant violation of our election laws, the violators have gone entirely unpunished but he city.
Sunny Sassoon had thousands of fliers delivered which misrepresented himself as a residents group, contained false claims, and failed to identify the source of the flier as legally required. But he was not prosecuted, fined, or even required to undertake any meaningful remedial action.
The Friends of Cheval Blanc planted their lawn signs in numerous places where they were unauthorized, in front of grocery stores, businesses, construction sites, and places which were perceived to be vacant, and illegally placed numerous signs on the park side. They demonstrated no respect whatsoever for our lawn sign laws. Our code enforcement department probably received at least 100 complaints which code enforcement had to correct at a cost to our city. But that campaign was neither fined nor prosecuted.
The city not only failed to properly enforce our election laws, but the city council majority and its minions in the planning department and planning commission have also failed after all of this time, to submit a compliant Housing Element. Further, after years of numerous false promises, the planning department and planning commissioners continue to breach their representations to the state to make it easier for residents to build ADU’s. As a consequence of the city’s failure to provide a compliant Housing Element, now a 19 story building is being proposed for 125 to 129 S. Linden Drive, to the serious detriment of our residents.
Clearly, it’s time to clean house.
Darian Bojeaux