Dear Council Members,
Sebastopol recently declared a fiscal emergency. If this is the case, why is the City spending so much time and resources on a relatively small population of unhoused individuals? Why does Sebastopol have more beds per capita for the unhoused than any other City in Sonoma County?
Why does Sebastopol have more homeless people per capita than any other City in Sonoma County?
Cotati has 7453 residents and 15 homeless people. That is one homeless person per every 497 residents. That means that 497 taxpayers support each homeless person.
Windsor has 25,789 residents and 26 homeless people. That is one homeless person per every 992 residents. That means that 992 taxpayers support each homeless person.
By comparison, Sebastopol has 7338 residents and 87 homeless people. That is one homeless person per every 84 residents. That means that 84 residents support each homeless person, thus a significant amount of tax money (property tax and sales tax) goes toward supporting homeless people and do not go toward supporting residents needs like roads, parks, water and sewer.
Windsor has 3x the population of Sebastopol and 1/3 the amount of homeless people. Why is that? How does that impact Sebastopol’s budget? Could the significantly large number of homeless people per capita be contributing to Sebastopol’s financial crisis and fiscal emergency?
Why is it that Sebastopol residents purchased the land that Park Village sits on with the intent that it was to be a public park and is now private housing operated by West County Community Services? Why is it that Sebastopol residents pay mortgage and insurance and maintenance on Park Village when it is essentially a private, low income rental facility run by a nonprofit? Why doesn’t WCCS pay the City of Sebastopol rent so that the project is a net neutral? If the Council declared a fiscal emergency, should it be collecting rent on property that is being run by a nonprofit for private residences?
Why is Sebastopol paying for a homeless outreach coordinator? Why isn’t this being funding by WCCS or the County?
Lynda Hopkins has put her homeless projects within the City Limits of Sebastopol. Why is that? Is it because she doesn’t have to pay for the increased calls to police, fire, and doesn’t have to pay for a homeless outreach coordinator? It is because she funds the rest of her district through the County so it doesn’t matter if sales are down in Sebastopol or our businesses are negatively impacted by unhoused individuals or our public works spend an inordinate amount of time cleaning up after unhoused people?
Lynda Hopkins stole $350,000 - $500,000 annually from Sebastopol’s budget when she converted the only downtown hotel to homeless housing. Why did Council allow that? Not one person from Sebastopol has been housed in Elderberry Commons. Elderberry Commons crushed local businesses and thus crushed sales tax revenue for the City of Sebastopol.
That one action by Supervisor Hopkins might be the reason why we are now in a fiscal emergency. Why doesn’t Council ask for reimbursement? Why doesn’t Council stop Supervisor Hopkins from placing her homeless projects in Sebastopol? Why doesn’t Council ask Supervisor Hopkins to place projects in Forestville, where she lives and where the County would be responsible for any increased costs and loss of sales tax revenue? Sebastopol is a tiny town that is less than 2 square miles. It has extremely limited means for revenue. It is not a nonprofit that solicits donations. It is not the County with access to over $2,000,000,000. Sebastopol is in a fiscal emergency. It has a debt and over $40,000,000 in infrastructure needs. Sebastopol is no longer (and never was) in a place where it can support a high per capita homeless population and huge suite of homeless services.
If Supervisor Hopkins wants to fund homeless projects, she needs to do it on County property where she will be fiscally responsible for the outcomes. If Council Members want to help unhoused individuals, they can donate their time and money as they wish. The City of Sebastopol is not a charity organization; it has a fiscal responsible to pay for vital services which ensure the health and safety of residents.
Best,
Kate Haug