ACTION:
____________________________
Clerk/Secretary
Department: City Manager Item No: D3
Prepared by: John Conley, City Manager Meeting Date: April 23, 2024 Approved by: John Conley, City Manager Agenda Location: Discussion SUBJECT: POLICY STATEMENT ON HOMELESSNESS
RECOMMENDATION: Discuss a proposed policy statement on homelessness and provide direction to staff.
PRIOR ACTION: None.
STATEMENT ON THE SUBJECT: Mayor Franklin requested the City Manager place a discussion item on an upcoming agenda to discuss a proposed policy statement on homelessness. The Mayor’s proposed policy statement is included as Exhibit 1.
FISCAL IMPACT: There is no direct fiscal impact associated with this discussion item.
EXHIBITS:
1.Mayor Franklin’s proposed policy statement on homelessness AGENDA
REPORT
CITY COUNCIL
COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION
SUCCESSOR AGENCY
BUENA SANITATION DISTRICT
JOINT POWERS FINANCING AUTHORITY
Motion to table discussion of proposed policy statement on homelessness.
Vote: 3-1-1 (Franklin opposed, Melendez abstained)
Thank you to the City of Escondido for creating this policy Framework The City of Vista recognizes homelessness is a complex issue without a single solution. We understand there are a number of underlying causes including: housing affordability, mental health concerns and Substance Abuse Disorder. To ignore this reality by attributing unsheltered homelessness primarily to housing availability and affordability ignores the most significant cause of chronic homelessness.
The City of Vista is committed to a compassionate approach for families and individuals experiencing homelessness in Vista that are willing to receive help. We have led the response to homelessness in North County by partnering with residents, business owners, and non-profits that provide wraparound services to our homeless population.
The City of Vista recognizes the needs of seniors who may have been priced out of the housing market due to their limited or fixed income. We support affordable housing opportunities for seniors.
The City of Vista has listened to the public and studied their concerns with one fact being clear; a pervasive and consistent level of criminal activity exists within the unsheltered population. This is largely perpetuated by those with untreated Substance Abuse Disorder. We support a Public Safety First approach that ensures the safety of our community and economic viability of local economy.
The City of Vista believes everyone should be treated with dignity and respect, irrespective of their current situation or economic status. We are committed to supporting efforts that help individuals achieve sobriety and regain their mental health with the goal of financial independence and stable housing. We believe any policy that enables personally destructive behavior is neither compassionate nor effective.
The City of Vista will not support any program that enables continued drug use or allows individuals to continue living on the street, regardless of how well-intentioned the programs may be or who may endorse them. We will not participate in the distribution of free resources such as tents, tarps, syringes, drug pipes, or anything else that enables substance abuse or homelessness.
The City of Vista recognizes that the Housing First policy prevents funding for sober housing.
Recovering addicts and sober women, children and families deserve access to sober housing. Housing First policies effectively force recovering addicts and sober families to live among active narcotics users. We believe independence can be achieved and encouraged by addressing the underlying causes of homelessness before long-term housing is provided. Being unhoused will not be accepted as an excuse for continued drug abuse or criminal behavior.
The City of Vista understands that simply being unhoused is not the problem, but a symptom of the problem. We recognize that drug addiction and untreated mental health concerns are the primary causes of homelessness for chronically homeless persons living unsheltered. Sadly, homelessness is the predictable consequence of the financial, relational, and legal problems that regularly accompany Substance Abuse Disorder.
The City of Vista recognizes not everyone experiencing homelessness is a criminal transient. We stand ready and willing to lend IMMEDIATE support to those willing to accept help. We believe in accountability for those willing or unwilling to accept assistance. Choosing sobriety is the only acceptable option. A criminal transient is a specific type of unsheltered person who creates an unreasonable burden on emergency services, the criminal justice system, and affects the safety of our entire community.
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EXHIBIT 1
Thank you to the City of Escondido for creating this policy Framework The City of Vista understands that criminal transients adversely impact local businesses and suppress economic development. We value every business that contributes to the economic success of our community. Small and large companies have sacrificed significant sums of money to make their storefronts more inviting to customers and less attractive to criminal transients. We believe private citizens should not be forced to subordinate their property rights to the interests of criminal transients. Business owners should not have to tolerate an unsheltered criminal trespassing on their property, creating a disturbance or otherwise being harmful.
The City of Vista recognizes the detrimental impacts criminal transients have on our parks, creeks, waterways, plazas, and other public buildings. Crimes such as vandalism, arson and public defecation and urination are among the most egregious acts that must cease. We understand our duty to maintain a clean and safe environment for the benefit of the community as a whole and for the good of the Earth. We will prioritize the cleanliness and safety of our parks, areas adjacent to schools, our waterways and sensitive habitats.
The City of Vista acknowledges that changes in State Law have removed viable mechanisms to compel an individual experiencing homelessness to accept help. This must be reprioritized by the State Assembly, State Senate, and Governor of California. We advocate for a criminal justice system that does not seek to punish individuals for being a victim of Substance Abuse Disorder, but one that uses the critical juncture of criminal behavior to intervene in the lives of addicts for their benefit and the benefit of the community.
The City of Vista believes that local control is critical to developing effective solutions to the impacts of homelessness on City residents and businesses, as well as reducing the expenditure of scarce City resources, money, and services on these issues. To that end, it supports clarity from the United States Supreme Court, in cases such as City of Grant’s Pass v. Johnson, in declaring the right of cities to enforce generally applicable state and local laws to regulating impacts of homelessness on both public and private property.
The City of Vista recognizes that the role Law Enforcement plays with respect to homelessness is limited and specific. The San Diego County Sheriff’s Department is committed to protecting our community through exceptional law enforcement services. Significant law enforcement resources have been diverted from regular policing to the management of criminal transients. Vista residents have an expectation that their Deputies will police crime and disorder rather than function as social workers or homeless advocates.
The City of Vista advocates for programs that reduce the prevalence of drug addiction in our community and provide mental health support to achieve independence. We seek programs that provide education and intervention efforts especially for our youth.
The City of Vista supports a Vista First approach that prioritizes unsheltered individuals in our community with direct ties to Vista. We maintain a standard that local service providers not become magnets for criminal behavior which places undue burdens on municipal services.
The City of Vista expects all local service providers to prioritize helping unhoused Vista residents first.
We recognize homelessness is a problem throughout the region, but until Vista residents, or those currently unhoused in Vista, have been served, local providers should focus on their needs. Leaving individuals unhoused in Vista while accepting residents from other cities is unacceptable. 04/23/2024 D3 3 of 3