Stevenson, Garrett
Subject:FW: Housing and hlomelessness
From: Kristin0ckershauser< >
Sent: Tuesday, May 17, 2022 1:15 PM
To: Gordo, Victor <[email protected]>; Wilson, Andy <[email protected]>; Hampton, Tyron <[email protected]>; Kennedy, John J. <[email protected]>; Madison, Steve <[email protected]>; Masuda, Gene <[email protected]>; Rivas, Jessica <[email protected]>; Williams, Felicia <[email protected]> Cc: Stevenson, Garrett <[email protected]>; PublicComment-AutoResponse <[email protected]>
Subject: Housing and Homelessness
May 17, 2022
Mayor Victor Gordo ([email protected])
Vice Mayor Andy Wilson ([email protected])
Councilmember Tyron Hampton (thampton@cityofpasadena,net) Councilmember John Kennedy ([email protected]) Councilmember Steve Madison ([email protected]) Councilmember Gene Masuda (gmasudafajcityofpasadena.net) Councilmember Jessica Rivas ([email protected]) Councilmember Felicia Williams ([email protected]) Members of the Economic Development & Technology Committee [email protected]
[email protected]
Pasadena, California
Re: Pasadena Housing Department's Proposed FY2023 Operating Budget Dear Mayor Gordo, Members of the City Council,
& Members of the Economic Development & Technology ("ED Tech") Committee:
I have been a resident of Pasadena for 20 years and I live in District 6. I write to strongly urge you to substantially increase General Fund appropriations for the Housing Department's FY2023 Budget as the Department is severely underfunded.
According to the FY2023 Operating Budget, 89.89% of the Housing Department's entire budget is from federal programs/grants. Funding from our General Fund is only $1.625 million, barely over 4% of the Housing Department's entire budget. Contrast this with the Police Department's FY2023 Budget: $89.4 million from the General Fund (nearly $5 million MORE than in the adopted FY2022 budget), which is 92% of its entire budget.
The fact that the Housing Department must rely on grants from outside the City is unacceptable. Grants are time limited, competitive and uncertain. General Fund appropriations, however, are certain, and allow departments to plan their programs knowing what funding is available. 1 As of the city's February 2022 Homeless Count there were 512 Pasadenans experiencing homelessness with, on average, unsheltered individuals having lived in Pasadena for 18 years prior to losing their homes. While permanent housing is the solution to end homelessness, according to our Housing Department staff, it can take over one year for a person living on the street to obtain permanent housing. Interim housing, housing between the street and permanent housing, provides personal safety, security of belongings, efficient case management, meals, toilets, health and mental health support, and other services.
It is unclear how much the Housing Department proposes to spend on interim housing in FY2023. While the Department will be receiving $3 million of American Rescue Plan Act ("ARPA") federal funds this year, those are designated for "Affordable Housing projects." Significantly, the Department admits it does not have sufficient funding for interim housing (shelter): "Although Pasadena continues to receive one-time increases in funding from the State, a reliable source of ongoing funding is needed to support high priority needs such as . .. increasing shelter capacity." (FY2023 Housing Department Budget, p. 6.) While our City provides brief stays in motel rooms for a fraction of our unsheltered residents (using federal and state funding when available), that program is expensive, ineffective and inefficient. Once a motel night is over, the money is used up, the room is gone, and the person is back on the street. Tiny home shelter villages and re-purposed motels are being established in many Southern California cities and are successfully transitioning unhoused residents to permanent housing. They are cost-effective and provide efficient case management services.
Our renters in Pasadena also need more assistance. With the eviction moratorium ending, there will be increased requests for help and for legal assistance. Significantly, 62% ofPasadenans are renters and many pay over half of their income on rent. Providing financial and legal assistance for renters can prevent homelessness.
Finally, our City needs a revenue-generating Rental Registry to allow the tracking of code violations, illegal notices, rent increases and evictions. This will help to ensure that inspections required every four years are performed. A Rental Registry could track bad actors and assist in levying fines to landlords in violation of local and state laws around rent increases; reasons for eviction; and code violations that negatively impact safe and healthy housing. A Rental Registry would generate revenue by charging landlords a fee for each unit rented.
For all of these reasons, I urge the ED Tech Committee to recommend (and the City Council to approve) increasing the FY2023 Housing Department budget to provide much more General Fund funding for programs and appropriating ARPA funding sufficient to do the following:
Fully fund upfront costs for a tiny home shelter village/repurposed motel to provide for 75-100 people and the funding necessary to cover ongoing operations.
Provide sufficient funding to meet the need for rental assistance.
Establish a revenue-generating Rental Registry to allow the tracking of code violations, illegal notices, rent increases and evictions and to ensure that the inspections required every four years are performed.
Thank you for your time and consideration of this letter.
Sincerely,
Kris Ockershauser
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