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The one downside of PSH, in my opinion, is the time frame. The best time to have begun a PSH plan was 10 years ago. Since that opportunity has passed, the next best time to do address PSH is now. It takes time to implement PSH due to land use issues, ownership issues, financing issues, neighborhood issues and others. If we do not address this issue now, we will be forced to address it in a larger scale later on. Now is the time to act especially considering the possibility of available funds that hopefully will become available. The City of Santa Ana needs to be positioned in the best possible way so that we get our share or more to address PSH. Our city has borne a larger than our fair share of the costs and as such we need to be on the leading edge of securing more than our share of available funds in the future. If we do not do this today, I am afraid that we will not be in the best position tomorrow. The county's goal of 2700 units of PSH is at a minimum 3 years away from speaking with PSH providers. Our homeless cannot wait for us to act and prepare. We need to plan now and implement quickly, yet intentionally. The time frame issue, meaning the length of time before someone is off the street and in PSH, also provides the need for Council to support identifying sites and implementing a plan for emergency housing. Our city has a significant number of individuals who do not have shelter on a nightly basis. We have an opportunity to provide emergency housing to bridge the gap between those living on the streets and eventually getting them into PSH. Emergency housing is not a popular part of the homeless spectrum. However, the City has an opportunity to provide a new and improved way of offering emergency housing. I suggest that we allow proper space for each person, a door that each can lock on their own, a space for recreation, space for pets, space for their belongings... essentially, the same focus that PSH has but in an emergency shelter perspective. The existing shelter system is not appropriate and the users (the homeless) do not generally like it. In the business world, when our customers or clients do not like our product but the end result is needed, we need to adjust our product offering ... that is exactly what we need to do with emergency housing. We need to change the end product (the emergency housing/shelter) to a product that is desired, wanted, and still achieves the desired result. By Santa Ana providing PSH and possibly additional emergency housing, we cannot forget about our responsibility to encourage other communities in Orange County to also participate in providing services to the homeless. Santa Ana cannot and should not do this alone, but instead we can lead by example and pull others along with... however, we need to gain support of other cities on the front end and not wait for them to be forced to act. In summary, please support directing the staff of the city to prepare an emergency PSH plan which has a focus on providing housing, increased quality of life, and partnerships with other stakeholders. On top of that, I would suggest that we also direct staff to coming up with an plan for getting people off the street today through a next generation emergency housing plan that will actually be sought out and used by the homeless because the services are being provided in a manner that is desired by the "customers"...the homeless. I pray for your leadership with this matter. Best, Tim M. Johnson, CPA Tax Partner PKF International is on association of legally independent accounting and consulting firms with locations throughout the world. Our network affirms collaborate openly and move rapidly to open up your world to confidence, capability and growth.