CORRESPONDANCE - 55E - Laserfiche WebLink

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Salas, Diana From: Tim Johnson <tjohnson@jlkrllp.com> Sent: Tuesday, February 18, 2020 9:21 AM To: eComment Cc: Solorio, Jose; Pulido, Miguel; Iglesias, Cecilia; Sarmiento, Vicente; Villegas, Juan; Penaloza, David; Bacerra, Phil; Ridge, Kristine Subject: 55E- Yale Shelter Council/City Manager... on tonight's agenda you will be considering agenda item 55E, a resolution to oppose the county's operation of a homeless shelter on Yale Street (or anywhere else in Santa Ana). I urge you to take this opportunity to refine your issues with the disproportionate location of county funded shelters in Santa Ana compared to other Central SPA cities as well as South County. Tonight's resolution indicates that the county needs to operate a proportionate number of shelter beds in South County prior to operating Yale. Although, this resolution may largely be a show of disapproval and have no real teeth to legally stop the Board of Supervisors to operate Yale, it is important to define what proportionality is desired. Is it based upon population? Population of homeless? Population of homeless if those that have moved to Santa Ana are moved back to their city or origin? Additionally, the city's approach right now is focusing on South County. This is not entirely appropriate in my opinion. Not that South County should not be focused in on but instead it should be South County AND our neighboring Central SPA cities that similarly to South County do not have any county emergency shelter beds in their borders and therefore our neighboring cities' homeless are diverted to the streets and shelters of Santa Ana. I urge you to pressure cities like Westminster, Garden Grove, Huntington Beach, Seal Beach, Newport Beach, and Fountain Valley to share the load also. Additionally, I would urge you to take the bold step of saying that you can support a county emergency shelter in Santa Ana if it were to be downsized to 125 beds and the remaining 300 beds be spread across other Central SPA cities. If you want to take this as opportunity to also discuss the OCSD's jail release which severely impacts Santa Ana, that would be great too ... support a smaller Yale Shelter if the county revises its jail release program. Further, take it as an opportunity to discuss the impact that MHA has on our community and how the policies there can be revised to provide better service for those who need help and the neighboring community in the area. Also, I would suggest that you demand to know the operational plan details and the transition plan from the Courtyard in this discussion also. For example, what will the county to do with the folks at The Courtyard who do not want to go to Yale? Will they go onto our streets in Santa Ana or will they be transported back to their city prior to going to The Courtyard. This is going much beyond just saying "no" but also providing a compromise and a path to go along with Yale. I also would urge you to put it on the record that you oppose the transportation plan for the Santa Ana Armory which only has shuttle pick up and drop off locations inside of the city of Santa Ana, despite it being a shelter for ALL of the Central SPA. This is another indication that the county's own policies are disproportionately impacting Santa Ana by having other cities in the Central SPA transport their homeless who are seeking shelter to the Sant Ana Armory only to abandon them here in Santa Ana when they get on a bus to a location inside of Santa Ana instead of being able to be transported back to their city. I believe that we need to expand the focus beyond just South County but also include our neighbors in Central SPA who are also not stepping forward and helping with emergency beds. I pray for the day that we do not need emergency shelter, but in the meantime, lets find a path to help those who want the help or do not have the capacity to know they need help. If everyone does a little, no one has to do it all Best,