Policy Supports Permanent Housing, Addresses Camping and Panhandling
By Gus Herrera
On Monday, the Pasadena City Council approved two items that will further the city’s efforts to combat homelessness.
Item 11 on the evening’s agenda, which was approved unanimously, ratified a city-wide policy statement on permanent supportive housing (PSH). The statement reads as follows:
“The City of Pasadena believes that decent, safe, and affordable housing is the right of every Pasadena resident. Furthermore, a key long-term solution for homelessness is the provision of PSH. Therefore, consistent with the Housing Element, the city will seek to promote a balanced geographical dispersal of affordable housing, including PSH throughout the city.”
Although the item approved is simply a policy statement, as opposed to a tangible project, the city truly believes that PSH has played a vital role in reducing the homeless population and will serve as one of the more effective tools to continue to do so in the years to come.
According to staff’s report, “Research and experience have overwhelmingly shown that investments in PSH are extraordinarily effective in reducing homelessness – as well as being cost-effective … The effects of providing PSH are clear: homelessness has consistently decreased in Pasadena since 2011.”
Not only does PSH provide chronically-homeless individuals with a safe environment and connects them to critical resources/programs, it also eases the burden on other city departments/services (i.e. police, prosecutors, jails, hospital).
City staff’s presentation on the item cited several examples of homeless individuals who have benefitted from PSH – one example that stuck out was that of a man known as “Popeye” who’s extended stays at Huntington Hospital (including one month spent in a coma) have cost close to $1 million. It was not until Popeye entered PSH that he regained his sense of stability and safety.
The city currently has five PSH projects operating, one of which (Marv’s Place) was recently awarded “Supportive Housing Project of the Year” by the Southern California Association of Nonprofit Housing.
Public comment on the issue was generally supportive of the new policy, but some speakers challenged council to make sure PSH projects follow from this action. In other words, there was a sense of skepticism from the public – some fear adoption of this policy statement is all “for show.”
The second item passed, Item 13, is an ordinance amending the municipal code in order to address camping in public spaces and aggressive panhandling. According to City Attorney Michele Beal Bagneris, the ordinance is “designed to clarify and narrowly tailor [the] code to address” the aforementioned issues, hopefully providing the police department with additional tools to keep business owners, employees, and citizens safe from aggressive and disruptive behavior.
Under the new ordinance, the following is deemed “unlawful” without the issuance of a permit or valid license agreement: standing or sitting in or upon any street, alley, sidewalk, or crosswalk in any manner hindering or obstructing free passage of persons passing by; placing personal property upon any street, alley, sidewalk, or crosswalk, in any manner, to hinder or obstruct any person from freely passing by; impeding the progress of/hindering any person from freely passing by on any street, alley, sidewalk, or crosswalk for the purpose of soliciting, asking, or begging for money; and approaching any person in any public way or place in a threatening, coercive, or menacing manner for the purpose of soliciting, asking, or begging for money.
Originally, the ordinance also included a section prohibiting camping in areas deemed “primary commercial corridors” but council chose not to include it in fear of pushing constitutional boundaries. Furthermore, Council Member Andy Wilson argued that until the city has enough PSH to house all those who would be in violation of the ordinance, it would be irresponsible to enforce such a law.
Unlike Item 11, this ordinance was met with significant public opposition – over 20 speakers took the podium amongst a sea of signs reading “Homes Not Arrests” held up by members of the audience.
The message was clear: do not criminalize the homeless. Attorney Dale Gronemeier described the ordinance as “unconstitutional, unnecessary, and duplicitous.”
Even Council Member John Kennedy questioned if there were not already sufficient laws in the municipal code to deal with the matters at hand.
Ultimately the ordinance was passed 7-1 with only Council Member Tyron Hampton voting in opposition. The changes will take effect within 30 days.br>
