May 10, 2022
Ms. Sue Himmelrich, Mayor
and Santa Monica City Council
City of Santa Monica
1685 Main Street
Santa Monica, CA 90401
Re: Special Meeting regarding City of Santa Monica homeless initiatives Dear Mayor Himmelrich and Honorable Councilmembers:
Downtown Santa Monica, Inc. (DTSM) remains committed to playing a critical role in the City of Santa Monica’s commendable efforts to address homelessness in our community, and applauds the City Council’s comprehensive review of the City’s current strategies and tactics, as well as those in practice by social service agencies working in tandem with City staff.
Santa Monica has consistently been a leader in the effort to eradicate homelessness. There is a history of embracing innovative ways of tackling this incredibly complex issue, from the early embrace of the housing-first model and Homeless Community Court to training law enforcement officers in homeless outreach and incentivizing the creation of affordable housing.
We urge the City Council to continue exploring any and all tested approaches, and dedicate the resources necessary to make meaningful progress. DTSM is supportive of recommendations recently presented along with the results of the 2022 Citywide Homeless Count. These recommendations include:
Expanding the SMPD HLP Team to operate seven days a week; Creating an additional multidisciplinary street team;
Redesigning the SAMOSHEL interim housing program scope to facilitate after-hours intakes for City referrals;
Expanded legal and support services to Santa Monica renters at risk of eviction; And revising the Below Market Housing waitlist priorities to prioritize households with Emergency Housing Vouchers.
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DTSM also requests the City Council dedicate more resources to the Downtown business district, and specifically the Third Street Promenade. Downtown Santa Monica, according to the 2022 Citywide Homeless Count, experienced a 14 percent increase in the number of unhoused individuals in our district. DTSM and its Ambassador Program vendor, Block by Block, conducted our own homeless count in the district, and over the span of four days in February counted anywhere from 107 to 148 unhoused individuals, depending on the time of day.
Downtown is, without question, bearing the brunt of homelessness, and our economic recovery continues to be negatively impacted.
Visitors to the Downtown, merchants and property owners regularly voice their concerns about the level of homelessness they witness on our streets, in our alleys, our parks, the Promenade and our parking structures.
DTSM Staff is advocating for the Board of Directors to fund a dedicated homeless outreach coordinator, in addition to our multifaceted ambassador program, to work in tandem with the City’s teams to allow for greater collaboration.
But more resources from the City, County of Los Angeles, State of California and the federal government are sorely needed. If noticeable progress is not made soon, it is our concern that economic recovery will continue to suffer and the overall health of the Downtown will deteriorate.
We need more resources and more attention to be paid to Santa Monica’s economic engine if we are to rebound from the pandemic and provide the City with the revenues it needs to fund meaningful programs.
Sincerely,
Barry Snell
Interim CEO, Downtown Santa Monica, Inc.
Chair, Downtown Santa Monica, Inc. Board of Directors
cc: DTSM, Inc. Board of Directors
DTSM, Inc. Staff
David White, City Manager
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1 Vernice Hankins
From: Denise Anderson-Warren
Sent: Wednesday, May 11, 2022 4:28 PM
To: councilmtgitems
Subject: FW: Homeless Study Sessions
From: Joshua Gilman <[email protected]>
Sent: Wednesday, May 11, 2022 4:19 PM
To: Rick Valte <[email protected]>; David White <[email protected]>; Henry Servin <[email protected]>; Phil Brock <[email protected]>; Sue Himmelrich <[email protected]>; Kristin McCowan <[email protected]>; Lana Negrete <[email protected]>; Gleam Davis <[email protected]>; Christine Parra <[email protected]>; Susan Cola <[email protected]>; Denise Anderson‐Warren <Denise.Anderson‐[email protected]>; Barry Snell <[email protected]> Subject: Homeless Study Sessions
EXTERNAL
Dear SM City Council,
Thank you for holding this study session on homelessness to address these challenging issues facing our community.
I am a property owner and DTSM Board Member serving in my second term.
I would like to highlight the fact that we have two issues that need to be addressed individually (although there is an obvious overlap between the two).
(1) The expanding homeless population in our downtown. This appears to be the main focus of your discussion tonight and I support the expansion of these programs and services.
(2) Criminal activity that our businesses and visitors have experienced in greater volume. I urge you to explore new opportunities (legal, policy, budget, etc) so the SMPD has the tools they need to work on crime prevention and prosecution. The theft, public indecency, threatening and aggressive behavior makes day to day life in our core business district very difficult and to my knowledge these crimes generally do not lead to prosecution. We need deterrents to criminal behavior and I hope that the City Council can take action.
As you know DTSM implemented the Safety Ambassador program which was an additional mobilization of the Block by Block Ambassador service. Although that has been effective at responding to non emergency calls (removing people from private property, etc) we did not see the improvement in criminal activity. DTSM will also be looking closely at how we can use our budget most effectively to improve the experience in the downtown but we do not have the resources or legal authority to deal with criminal activity.
In the past few weeks we made the decision to close the passageway through our building on the 1300 block which provided convenient access from parking structure 4 because we felt that we could no longer keep our building and tenants safe. We take pride in participating in the activation of Promenade by keeping this passageway open and look forward to reopening when we feel it is safe to do so.
Thank you for your consideration.
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2 Best,
Joshua Gilman
Board Member
Downtown Santa Monica, Inc.
1351 Third Street Promenade, Ste. 201
Santa Monica, CA 90401
310.393.8355
www.DowntownSM.com
Facebook | Twitter
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1640 5th St., Suite 124
Santa Monica, CA 90401
310-899-6200
310-899-6208 fax
www.lafla.org
Other Office Locations:
East Los Angeles Office, 5301 Whittier Blvd., 4th Floor, Los Angeles, CA 90022; 213-640-3883 Long Beach Office, 601 Pacific Ave., Long Beach, CA 90802; 562-435-3501 South Los Angeles Office, 7000 S. Broadway, Los Angeles, CA 90003; 213-640-3950 Ron Olson Justice Center, 1550 W. 8th Street, Los Angeles, CA 90017; 323-801-7989 May 11, 2022
VIA E-MAIL
[email protected]
Mayor Himmelrich and City Council
City of Santa Monica
1685 Main Street, Room 209
Santa Monica, CA 90401
RE: May 11, 2022 City Council Special Meeting – Agenda Item 8.A Comments on Staff Recommendations in Addressing Regional Homelessness Crisis; Specifically Item 8.A(4): Authorization for City Manager to Execute Agreement for Further Support Services for Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles Dear Mayor and City Council,
I write on behalf of the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles (“LAFLA”), and the low-income residents of Santa Monica we serve every day. The State of California’s emergency rental assistance program, and many of the accompanying protections, has ended. In response, our Santa Monica office has seen a significant 24% increase in housing cases since September, as compared to the same period last year. Further, a greater number of these cases, especially in the last few months, are unlawful detainer cases in the Superior Court.
Indeed, the “wave” of eviction cases, long discussed as something on the horizon, is happening now. As you know, Santa Monica residents are at greater risk of homelessness and housing insecurity than ever before.
To most effectively and immediately put resources to work for residents, LAFLA seeks to add two positions through this proposed agreement in Item 8.A: (i) a paralegal; and (ii) a case manager. Both of these positions would fill gaps in currently available services to the benefit of both Santa Monica residents and LAFLA attorneys.
LAFLA operates elsewhere in the county on a tried and tested model of housing first response based on paralegals. These professionals are able to streamline intake, diagnose issues, give initial supervised advice, and support existing litigation. However, the Santa Monica office has never had a substantive paralegal to do this work, only one position limited to intake. One paralegal position would impact and benefit the work of multiple housing attorneys, and in turn, our low-income clients. This would allow staff attorneys to focus more time and attention to more complex legal work and writing and support them as they prepare for court.
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Further, part of LAFLA’s mission is to provide holistic assistance to each client, not just their discrete legal issue. This means that staff attorneys have had to also wear the hat of quasi-case manager in addition to their legal work. Although we successfully partner with other local organizations providing case management services, and will continue to do so, the LAFLA attorney continues to be the coordinator on our end for their clients. Hiring an in-house case manager would finally provide a dedicated position to our clients numerous legal-adjacent needs and a single point person for coordination with other social services. Just as with the paralegal, a case manager would free up attorneys to focus on their legal work and increase their ability to help more clients.
LAFLA greatly appreciates the consideration of the Council and is committed to continuing the fight against the ongoing homelessness crisis. We are proud of our long history serving the Santa Monica community and seek this additional agreement to supplement that crucial work.
Very truly yours,
Kevin F. Mitchell
Managing Attorney
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