(Aug. 9, 2018, 6:15 a.m.) -- Councilwoman Suzie Price (current chair of the Council's Public Safety Committee), joined by Councilmembers Daryl Supernaw and Al Austin (the Committee's two other members) have agendized hot-button homeless/transient/vagrant beach issues impacting public safety/public health for the Aug. 14 City Council meeting.
Their agenda item asks city management to work with the City's Homeless Services Department, LBPD, Mental Evaluation Units, HEART Team, Quality of Life Officers, Marine Patrol, Public Works, and Parks Recreation and Marine and "report back on how the City can better address or enforce beach violations as well as the associated impacts it has on our beaches and residents." And the three Councilmembers signal a willingness to possibly move beyond the status quo, asking city management to include in its report "possible ordinance changes to improve the enforceability of violations of beach hours; added methods of preventing alcohol and drug use on our beaches through the City municipal code and through changes to current enforcement practices; and approaches to minimize trash, human waste, food waste, and large-scale littering on our beaches." The item comes just weeks after a teenager participating in LBFD's Junior Lifeguard Program stepped on a hypodermic syringe (June 26) in sand in the general vicinity of 55th Place/Ocean Blvd. In response to an LBREPORT.com inquiry at the time, City of LB Public Affairs Officer Kevin Lee said "General maintenance includes Beach Maintenance staff raking and sanitizing (with a sifter) the beach daily to collect debris. Debris is then disposed of. Debris varies from day to day depending on conditions such as tidal action and storm surges. Since the incident, staff has made additional passes, raking and sanitizing, plus hand raking." The beach syringe triggered a wave of social network responses from residents variously voicing displeasure with the City's current responses (and some residents charged non-responses) to visible drug use (including discarded syringes) by transients/vagrants and scattered encampments along some LB beach areas and in some city parks (beyond beach areas.) [Scroll down for further.] |
The Aug. 14 agenda item (on Councilwoman Price's letterhead, indicating she authored it) states in pertinent part: ...[T]here have been growing concerns from many neighborhoods about the usage of our beaches. Homelessness in Long Beach as well as throughout the state continues to be a major issue that is difficult to solve and causes increasingly extreme and emotional responses from people on all sides of the topic.
Finally, beaches need a specialized approach. Beaches, unlike other locations in our City, are typically further away from residences and more difficult for emergency response to get to putting those on the beach after hours at greater risk due to lack of access and a lack of people to call 9-1-1 in the event of an emergency or a crime. If we were able to more effectively enforce the current hours of operation and reduce instances of overnight beach camping, we could reduce these potential issues from leading to significant harms to individuals and to the city. Additionally, our beaches need a unique approach that is unlike other areas of the City because of the common practice of going barefoot at the beach, and laying, digging, and playing in the sand that necessitates more attention placed on maintenance than is needed in parks, sidewalks, or other public areas of the City. So, a unique approach is warranted to confront the number of issues that continue to be a concern and undermine the quality of our beaches by making residents feel alienated from part of the City's namesake due to safety concerns. Developing.
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