Rosendahl calls for action on homelessness
Los Angeles City Councilmembers Bill Rosendahl
and Jan Perry are calling on the City Council to convene an Ad Hoc Committee on
Homelessness.
“It is to our shame and dishonor that we do
not focus on this problem as we do a war, as we do a natural disaster, as we do
a pressing social and moral crisis,” their motion states. “The
scourge of homelessness is all of those things. Here in the City of Los Angeles,
we need to do more. Much more. It is now time for the City Council of Los
Angeles to focus energy and attention to this
problem.”
He is former a social
worker whose district includes Venice, which has a large homeless population.
Rosendahl has called for more services for the homeless, and for greater
protections for neighborhoods that suffer a diminished quality of life due to
the impacts of homelessness.
The text
of the Perry-Rosendahl motion
follows:
Somewhere in Los Angeles
tonight, a teenage mother will flee her boyfriend, and huddle against the
elements with a frightened child during a first unfamiliar night on the
streets.
Somewhere in Los Angeles
tonight, a scarred and forgotten veteran of our armed forces will wrap himself
in a tattered blanket and spend a fitful night beneath a freeway
overpass.
Somewhere in Los Angeles
tonight, an addict will score another fix and drift blissfully out of
consciousness, covered in cardboard and newspapers in the doorway of a local
business.
Somewhere in Los Angeles tonight,
an incoherent victim of mental illness will wander the streets, frightening all
those around him as he loudly curses the invisible demons that torment
him.
And somewhere in Los Angeles tonight, an
unemployed factory worker freshly evicted from his apartment will drive to a
darkened street and try to sleep in his
car.
These are just a few of the faces
of the homeless in our midst. Stark, living reminders of an embarrassing
combination of failed social policies, too scare resources, societal
indifference and government’s impotence in the face of complex,
multi-jurisdictional problems.
In Los
Angeles County, there are an estimated 91,000 homeless people – the
largest homeless population for a major metropolitan area in the United States.
Of that number, nearly 35,000 are considered chronically homeless. Fewer than
10,000 actually find room in a
shelter.
The homeless do not live just
on Skid Row. They live on the beach in Venice. They live on the streets of
Hollywood. They live near MacArthur Park. They live on the streets of North
Hollywood.
It is to our shame and
dishonor that we do not focus on this problem as we do a war, as we do a natural
disaster, as we do a pressing social and moral crisis. The scourge of
homelessness is all of those things.
In
recent years, various jurisdictions have moved with a sense of focus and bold
experimentation in dealing with the various and sundry issues of homelessness.
In San Francisco, Mayor Gavin Newsom has made addressing homelessness a citywide
priority. In Santa Monica, Councilman Bobby Shriver has led a charge for new
solutions to the decades-old problem. Here in Los Angeles, Sheriff Lee Baca has
been a tireless voice demanding action and
solutions.
Here in the City of Los
Angeles, we need to do more. Much more. It is now time for the City Council of
Los Angeles to focus energy and attention to this
problem.
I THEREFORE MOVE that the City
Council form an Ad Hoc Committee on
Homelessness.
I FURTHER MOVE that said
committee be tasked with the
following:
· Evaluating programs
addressing homelessness in San Francisco, Santa Monica, and other cities, and
making recommendations to the full council for a package of proposals, including
timetables, for the City of Los
Angeles.
· Examining the potential
availability and allocation of Proposition 63 funds to steer mentally ill
homeless people into treatment.
·
Developing a strategy to lobby the federal government to create more housing and
services for homeless veterans at Veterans Administration properties in Los
Angeles.
· Developing a
comprehensive state and federal legislative program addressing homelessness,
targeting available funds in Sacramento and
Washington.
· Propose a program
for expanding the number of shelter beds and shelter locations in Los
Angeles.
Posted: Wed - November 2, 2005 at 04:38 PM