CORRESPONDENCE- SPECIAL CLOSED SESSION

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Salas, Diana From: Tim Johnson <tjohnson@jlkrllp.com> Sent: Tuesday, March 17, 2020 12:27 PM To: eComment; Iglesias, Cecilia; Penaloza, David; Pulido, Miguel; Sarmiento, Vicente; Bacerra, Phil; Villegas, Juan Cc: Ridge, Kristine Subject: SA Council Special Closed Session Item- 3.17.19 City Council (cc City Manager Ridge) ... At tonight's special closed session item #1, you will be addressing the city's concerns with regards to COVIDI9 and the threat to public safety and facilities. Earlier today, the Board of Supervisors met to address various COVIDI9 items. One of the items that the Board was to address was the County's response with regards to the homeless population. As you know, the county operates a large shelter in Downtown Santa Ana, The Courtyard. The Courtyard houses over 400 folks on a nightly basis, feeds well more than 400 people, and those who sleep there are very close together. The Armory houses fewer people nightly but it is my understanding that the sleeping mats are very close together also and the group gatherings are larger than recommended. In the Board's special meeting today, they outlined a 4 point response as follows: 1. The Health Care Agency is to identify homeless folks who are elderly or have chronic health issues to find alternative arrangements for them, 2. Direct outreach teams to educate street homeless about COVIDI9, county services and linking them to services, 3. Direct the CEO to provide alternative food services, and 4. Direct shelters to implement new sanitation procedures. I am concerned that the county is not understanding the gravity of this situation. I am also concerned that our own government, both county and city, is essentially forcing people, whether voluntarily or involuntarily, to violate CDC guidelines. Yes, the above is a start but falls far short of what is needed to assist those who are struggling with safe shelter as well as those in our community who have secure housing. Below please find my comments to the Board sent last night, which apparently fell on deaf ears because the above does not seem to address the less than 6 foot proximity of sleeping space, the shear intensity of the number of homeless folks utilizing homeless shelters. The county is continuing to disproportionately impact our community here in Santa Ana and it is time that they take steps to remedy this situation. At a minimum, they should be acknowledging it and then discussing how best to move forward with a solution that will help those in need and our own community here in Santa Ana. It was my hope that the County would be taking immediate steps to reduce the number of people housed at The Courtyard and increase distance between folks according to the guidelines that our governments and health care leaders have suggested/mandated. The county has 100%full control over its own land and needs to take steps to spread out this population across the county. Some areas that are initially known to me that the county could easily provide shelters, trailers, tents, etc...: 100 acres by the Great Park, John Wayne Airport Main Street Parking lot, National Guard Armory or other locations in Orange/Costa Mesa/Tustin, County Fairgrounds, and Fairview state property. This vulnerable population deserves to be safe and our communities also needs to be assured that our county government is taking steps to address this issue before it turns into a bigger crisis than it is right now. By the way, these same issues need to be addressed by our own city at The Link. Fortunately, the link has a lot more space available in comparison to the 200 or so folks there, but I hope that the city is taking measures to segregate populations into small groups, increasing personal space, and isolating the vulnerable populations (over age 60/65 and those with health issues) into hotels/motels or other secure housing. The City needs to lead at the Link. The City needs to push the County to immediately address the shear number of people housed at The Courtyard to immediately disperse them into more appropriate housing situations while maintain safety, sanitation, and needed services for this population.