Comments by Eric DeBode for City Council’s listening session on March 15, 2026 Good afternoon Mayor, city council members, staff and public… I would like to briefly comment that I support the process of setting up a rental registry and rent control. It’s critical to collect data about our rental inventory, and also to support education of renters about their rights and responsibilities, and to create feedback loops so that vulnerable renters, sub letters are aware of their rights becuase housing is a primary need.
Secondly, I would like to again urge the council to move forward with approving the lease and doing whatever is necessary to begin construction of 555 Kelly Ave. I would also like to commend all of you for the great work with the housing project at Stone Pine.
I’m here to address the issue of adopting the county’s Hopeful Horizons ordinance which I listened to you discuss at the last city council meeting.
According to data from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA):
Studies show that less than 30% of the homeless are substance abusers and mentally ill.
Actually 24% of substance abusers started using drugs after becoming homeless to cope with the stress. The non-mentally ill homeless develop mental health issues after being homeless for 90 days. So for a portion of the homeless community, drug use and mental health issues have a causal relationship to homelessness.
What is the cause of homelessness? For 90% of the homeless the major factors are related to a lack of affordable housing and a living wage that would allow them to rent an apartment. These statistics are important because many people have preconceptions about the homeless that are negative and not grounded in fact, but stereotypes. Nobody wants to face that fact because it’s such an intractable problem that seems insurmountable.
But we are in a small town with a quite manageable population of homeless folks. After doing my work with the homeless here for 15 years, I am deeply impressed with the collaboration between local and regional non-profits and case managers, the city and county. We’ve seen scores of people go into housing, drug and alcohol treatment, find employment and more as they lead an independent life off the streets.
Staff and I walk the creek regularly and did so again this past Friday. There are only 4 people camping out behind Safeway. No one else is camping along the creek from the bridge near Burger King all the way to Tom and Pete’s. There is a lot of trash to pick up, but no live encampments, amazingly. Abundant Grace is happy to continue cleaning up encampments whenever the city would like to engage our team. I know the people camping behind Safeway and think that if we continue with ERF outreach, we can help them get into shelter or rehab. It is my understanding that plans are underway to fence all the way from behind Safeway to the bridge near Burger King which I fully support. It seems like the only way to protect the sensitive habitats like the creek and surrounding environments is with a good fence and monitoring.
So, I would say this: Go with what works: Appoint a city staffer to work with Pacifica Resource Center, Coastside Hope and Abundant Grace to bring more resources to bear to those chronic people in sensitive habitats. The ERF program (Encampment Resolution Funding) has done amazing this past year, and it has two more years of original funding, and I think it just received another year after that. Pacifica Resource Center has been skillfully managing that program and Abundant Grace has worked with their outreach workers to help several people get into housing. Put money, time and resources into what is working. Put fences up when encampments are cleaned. I do not think a county ordinance is going to solve this problem.
Law enforcement is not trained to work with the homeless - go with those who are trained and have a track record. It’s tempting to think the pressure of law enforcement is going to help, but it usually doesn’t. When the homeless see an officer coming, they don’t think, “Oh good, help is here.” People often seek somewhere else to camp negatively impacting another sensitive habitat, they rack up fines, and don’t often get the resources they need. Further, the people we are working with who get caught up with tickets, court or jail often miss their housing appointments because of court schedules and jail time. It simply doesn’t help to create legal consequences when what people need is housing, employment, mental health support and recovery services.
The city should work with the Multi-Disciplinary Team (the MDT) that meets regularly, twice a month: we are PRC, Coastside Hope, the Mental Health Association, county housing workers, county mental health teams, Alcohol and Drug Services reps and more. We all talk about our most difficult clients and how we are going to work together not just to get them off the creek but more importantly, into a better life. That will keep them off the creek. I can’t legally name those we’ve helped this past year, but it’s an impressive list of eight people. You would likely recognize some of them if you saw them, but they are not here in town anymore because they are housed.
It’s easy to want to enforce a solution. But that isn’t the solution. You’re just kicking the can down the road, and making life harder for the most vulnerable. The real work, the hard work is personal, built on trust and accompaniment, grounded in a genuine desire to help people who are suffering, and bringing the right resources to them over and over until it works.
You all know this. You’re spiritual beings, perhaps religious, and you most likely entered this role in local politics to be of service, and that is finally what is most important in all aspects of local government. How can we best serve the needs of the whole community, the housed and unhoused, our environment, the economy and culture. Well, it’s a long journey, with no easy fix.
But, Anita, Marina, Cece and the rest of the staff of PRC; Judith, Sonia, and the entire staff of Coastside Hope; myself and the whole staff at Abundant Grace, Julissa and many of your city’s staff are all dedicated, committed and in it for the long haul. We’ve housed 8 people this year with the help of the ERF program and lots of collaboration. Imagine if we get the last four people out from behind Safeway and get the fence up there, and work with the owners of Tom and Pete’s to get the rest of the fence up. We will have taken good care of our homeless community and created a beautiful bike path.
Orange tags, tickets, 72-hour deadlines…it’s tempting, but it’s not what works. People will just move and hide out in other habitats. People need multiple hands lifting them up, loving support, many chances, and real connection with the community. We have a very generous and compassionate community here on the coast, let’s go deeper with what it means to truly assist the unhoused, and preserve our riparian creekside environments.