Pasadena Mayor’s Open Letter to Chairperson of the L.A. County Board of Supervisors Regarding Measure H Funding for the Pasadena Continuum of Care

– Courtesy photo

Dear Chairperson Kuehl:

For decades, the City of Pasadena has taken its responsibility to address homelessness seriously as evidenced by the existence [of] our own Continuum of Care with its many highly effective programs. Our City Council unanimously supported Measure H and had great hopes of having more resources to address our growing homeless population. We were encouraged that the County Board of Supervisors enabled the three Continuum of Care cities of Long Beach, Glendale and Pasadena to receive direct Measure H funding.

However, after more than a year of negotiations, while our homeless numbers increased, the County decided to provide direct funds for only a limited number of Measure H strategies as determined by the County, without regard to the needs of our homeless population, our current homeless programs or the actual costs needed to execute the strategies. For example, the County offered us $100,000 to build a shelter. We had to decline these funds because we already have shelters for men women and families, as well as, a bad weather shelter. Also, $100,000 is not enough to actually build a shelter. Pasadena knows which Measure H strategies best meet our local homeless needs, yet frustratingly, the strategies and the funding amounts for our direct funding have been dictated by the County.

Measure H funds are to be allocated according to homeless population. Pasadena has about 1.2 percent of the county’s homeless population which means we should have received about $7.9 million for FY 17-19, but the County has agreed to provide us with only $12 million. We recognize there are other smaller amounts of Measure H funds used in Pasadena for things such as wage subsidies, landlord incentives, services in permanent supportive housing projects and multidisciplinary teams; however the total amount of Measure H funding benefiting Pasadena is far less than our pro-rata share. To make matters worse, for FY 17-19, Pasadena will contribute about $12.25 million towards Measure H but will receive only one-tenth as much in direct funding. This is simply unfair in view of our needs and our proven capacity.

I urge the Board of Supervisors to provide us with a more equitable allocation of direct Measure H funding by either “block granting” the Pasadena Continuum of Care its pro-rata share of funding and allowing us to determine how the funds are allocated based on the needs of our population or allowing us to receive our pro-rata share of additional Measure H strategies beyond the handful we have been offered to date.

– Mayor Terry Tornek

PASADENA

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