From: Kate Haug
To: Mary Gourley
Subject: Fwd: Budget Transparency - Line Item for Transient Services - Public Comment 4/5/22 Date: Tuesday, April 05, 2022 4:57:43 PM
Hi Mary,
I hope you are well.
I don't see this letter in the public comments for tonight's meeting. Did you guys change the format for including public comments? It looks like they are in with the meeting packets instead of separate as in prior web appearances. Just curious.
Have a great meeting.
Kate
---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Kate Haug <[email protected]>
Date: Mon, Apr 4, 2022 at 10:02 AM
Subject: Budget Transparency - Line Item for Transient Services - Public Comment 4/5/22 To: Mary Gourley <[email protected]>
Cc: Dante Del Prete <[email protected]>, <[email protected]>, Kevin Kilgore <[email protected]>, Ana Kwong <[email protected]>, Fernandez, Evert <[email protected]>
Dear Council Members,
I am writing to ask that you include transient services as a separate line item in the budget.
After two reports, the Committee on the Unhoused has failed to include any financial information.
Council is currently working on the budget for 2021-2022. It is critical that citizens know where their tax money is being spent and what programs and services their tax dollars are supporting.
Taxpayers and citizens have a right to know how much of the City budget is being spent on transient services. They have a right to see this information in a clear and accessible manner in the budget.
In addition, any Safe Parking or transient services that are located in the City of Sebastopol represent a cost to citizens as police and fire departments will respond to any calls. These departments are funded by tax dollars. In addition, if transients place additional use burdens on public spaces, they increase the cost to the public works department.
I write to ask that the following be a line item in the budget for 2019-2020, 2020-2021, 2021-2022 and ongoing:
1. Public works time devoted to transient services including but not limited to restroom clean up, cleaning up after fires (such as the one on Morris Street on 3/24/22), trash pick up, the cost of removing the encampment from the Laguna;
2. Cost of port-o-potties, handwashing stations, dumpster service;
3. Police department time responding to transient involved incidents. From the Press Democrat article on Morris Street, it is clear that police responded to calls about 2 times per week on Morris Street. What percentage of that was due to transient activity? How much did that cost taxpayers?;
4. Fire department time and expenses - including servicing and fueling vehicles responding to fires including but not limited to the Park Village fire in September 20, 2022, transient fire Sebastopol that burnt down 3 residential structures, transient fire that burnt down Port-o-Potty behind Feed Store on Petaluma Avenue, transient trailer fire on Morris Street 3/24/22 (more fire documentation listed after signature) ;
5. Funding West County Services;
6. Funding of Park Village;
7. Funding to replace and fix Park Village after the September 2020 fire;
8. Funding of Homeless Outreach coordinator, which is $72,000 for the 2021-2022 year;
9. Cost of outside council;
10. Cost of Laguna Sweep;
11. City Department time to write grants for Park Village and other time expended on transient services and coordination;
12. Cost of repair to City Property. It is well documented that transients damaged and vandalized the Community Cultural Center, breaking water mains and causing other major damage to buildings. What was the cost of this damage to taxpayers? How is this accounted for in the budget;
13. Funding of the SAVS Safe Parking site, recently Council gave an $80,000 loan to SAVS;
14. Any other costs associated with Safe Parking sites;
15. Any other costs associated with serving the transient community.
Best,
Kate Haug
September 5, 2020, an RV fire started in one of the illegal vehicles which cut off utilities to 10,000 Comcast subscribers.
https://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/news/sebastopol-mobile-home-fire-knocksout-power-cable-near-highway-12/ Five fires started in the Laguna in September 2021:
https://soconews.org/scn_sebastopol_west_county/news/sebastopol-police-countyand-community-groups-clear-camps-near-laguna-preserve/article_2cb9f834-1d5a11ec-8d92-37817bce45d2.html “Two fires that ignited over the past month on a stretch of land near Sebastopol were started by people and originated near homeless camps, including a brush fire that burned about 3 acres on Tuesday, according to a Santa Rosa fire investigator.” https://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/news/fire-official-2-fires-near-homelesscamps-east-of-sebastopol-were-human-c/ Fire on September 27, 2021 burned three structures in residential neighborhood in Sebastopol:
https://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/news/fire-chief-sebastopol-blaze-likelystarted-by-trespassers/ On Friday, October 1, another arsonist was caught:
"8:00 p.m. Arson on forest land, possession of a controlled substance paraphernalia and violation of probation at Sebastopol Avenue and Morris Street Adult arrested." https://soconews.org/scn_sebastopol_west_county/news/sebastopol-police-logs-sept27---oct-3/article_b39c42b2-2935-11ec-ab44-ab6ea3676975.html