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Rift Now Visible Between Mayor/Council And Taxpayers Who Seek Prompt, Tougher City Public Safety Response To Alleged Homeless/Transient-Related Neighborhood Crimes; Council Seeks City Mgm't Report To Pursue Development Of "A Holistic Approach To Homeless And Residential Quality of Life"


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(May 27, 2017, 8:40 p.m.) -- A rift with impacts for homeless-impacted neighborhoods citywide is now visible entering LB's 2018 election cycle between LB's incumbent Mayor/City Council and Long Beach taxpayers who seek a prompt, tougher City Hall public safety response to vagrants, transients, suspected drug addicts and other homeless persons allegedly committing neighborhood crimes.

An online petition signed by over 1,200 mainly 3rd Council district residents since April 15 and sent to Mayor Garcia and Chief of Police Luna, stated that residents now feel [petition text] "threatened in our own neighborhoods" and complaining that "they can't go to the parks, joggers take pepper spray with them, businesses are robbed, our garages are ransacked, our belongings are stolen, our cars are broken into...unable to enjoy our own neighborhood because we feel it has been taken over." The petition added, "We're sick of it."

At the May 23 City Council meeting, Council incumbents (Austin absent) and Mayor Robert Garcia displayed a united front in praising City Hall's current homeless practices and voted 8-0 (Austin absent) to approve an item agendized by Councilwoman Price (joined by Councilmembers Austin and Andrews) that directs city management to work with City Hall departments and produce a city management report within 120 days that will lead to development of a future plan offering [agendizing memo text] "a holistic approach to the issue of homelessness and residential quality of life."

During Council discussion, no Councilmember(s) or the Mayor spoke the word "crime." Councilwoman Price (who chairs the Council's "Public Safety Committee") cited "quality of life" issues but didn't describe them and acknowledged that some residents had sent a petition to the Mayor and Chief of Police but didn't quote from it or mention how many people had signed it.

[Scroll down for further.]

Councilwoman Price's agendizing memo stated in pertinent part: "In terms of quality of life issues, the perception by many residents is that the issue is one of enforcement, which would fall to law enforcement authorities. While this argument may sound persuasive, the reality is that enforcement of existing laws is only one aspect of the issue. However, others would argue this is a Health Department issue, which is also insufficient, as the topic includes issues well beyond only Health Department programs and services. As is also the case with it being related to housing, economics, mental health, and other areas. The truth is they are all right as this is a complex multidimensional issue spanning national trends, societal shifts, cultural ideology, state law, education, and countless other topics."

In contrast, testimony from the public included Belmont Heights resident Laurann Wakefield, who told the Council: "[T]his is not about homeless people who are sincerely down and out and in need. We don't see it as a homeless problem. We see it as a public safety and a crime problem and that's really what's happening with us." She added, "Give us more police officers and patrols. And let the vagrants and criminals know we're not going to continue to lie down and roll over. And while we're very appreciative of being put on the agenda tonight, we can't wait 120 days to see results. Crime is escalating. The community is at the boiling point. We must have budget for public safety, increased police and general protection for the public..."

Alamitos Heights Improvement Association president Gary Morrison said members of his group talk to him frequently about this issue "and they want something done now, sooner or later...120 days may seem short for y'all but from where I am, [it should be] sooner than later..."

And Paul Gomez said that when he walks outside his door, he sees "nothing but basically tweakers and thieves...I live in waterfront property and you walk outside and the same guy that stole your bike is holding a sign saying 'Help me with food.' And the same guy who's holdin' that sign is walkin in CVS or Gelsons and walkin' in and walkin' right out with everything he wants, and it seems like there's nothin' being done about it." Mr. Gomez said he's aware of official statistics showing fewer LB homeless persons "but that's not what I see when I walk out my front door...These are a bunch of drug addicts and a bunch of thieves, what I see, the majority of them, and it's just very disappointing that nothing's being done to fix the problem. I know we're working at it, but that's not what I'm seeing..."

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Councilmembers said nothing in response to the public's testimony. The Council's 8-0 action comes as five Council incumbents (Gonzalez, Price, Mungo, Uranga and Richardson) plus Mayor Garcia seek reelection in April 2018.

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Sponsor: Computer Repair Long Beach

Since April 15, 2017, over 1,200 Long Beach taxpayers to date, mainly from LB's 3rd Council district, have signed the online petition that states:

[Petition text] Dear Mayor Garcia and Chief Luna,

We, the tax paying, voting citizens of Belmont Shore, Alamitos Heights, Naples, Belmont Heights, The Peninsula, Park Estates and surroundings are compassionate, caring people. We give of our time and money to help those down on their luck or struggling with mental health or addiction issues. However, we feel that our kindness has been mistaken for weakness. We feel threatened in our own neighborhoods now. Neighbors complain that they can't go to the parks, joggers take pepper spray with them, businesses are robbed, our garages are ransacked, our belongings are stolen, our cars are broken into. We are on high alert and are unable to enjoy our own neighborhood because we feel it has been taken over. .We are sensitive to the politics of the situation but think that the bad guys know that the police have tied hands. We are sitting ducks. We feel that the Mayor and Chief of Police, along with our elected officials, don't care or don't know what to do. .We are sick of having community forums on the topic. We are sick of meetings that produce a lot of wishy washy rhetoric. Please help us get tougher. It feels like we are being invaded and when we complain, we are told we're insensitive as if we're supposed to cower in fear, clutching our possessions, scared to leave the house rather than say we're sick of it. Mayor, Chief, we're SICK of it...

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The May 23 agenda item by Councilmembers Price, Austin and Andrews sought Council approval to direct the City Manager to [agenda text] "work with the Health Department; Police Department; Fire Department; City Prosecutor's Office; Public Works/Parks, Recreation and Marine; Economic Development, BIDs, Workforce Development, and other Community Resources; and I-Team/Technology Services to prepare a report on the specified areas relating to homelessness and residential quality of life in the City of Long Beach. The report should summarize the data and identify a multi-departmental strategic approach to address the listed topics. This report should include the expected funding required to effectuate a citywide strategy to address homelessness and residential quality of life issues associated with homeless and transient activity. The report should be returned to the City Council no later than 120 days from today's date."

Councilmembers Price, Austin and and Andrews accompanied their May 23 agenda item with a six page memo (Price as first named memo author, usually indicates Councilmember's authorship) titled "Need for Comprehensive Strategy Identifying Opportunities to Address Homelessness and Community Quality of Life Concerns" which stated in part:

[Price-Austin-Andrews May 23 agendizing memo]...There is no doubt that the issue of homelessness extends beyond the duty of any single department within an urban city like Long Beach. In terms of quality of life issues, the perception by many residents is that the issue is one of enforcement, which would fall to law enforcement authorities. While this argument may sound persuasive, the reality is that enforcement of existing laws is only one aspect of the issue. However, others would argue this is a Health Department issue, which is also insufficient, as the topic includes issues well beyond only Health Department programs and services. As is also the case with it being related to housing, economics, mental health, and other areas. The truth is they are all right as this is a complex multidimensional issue spanning national trends, societal shifts, cultural ideology, state law, education, and countless other topics.

..[F]ocused and creative solutions for those experiencing homelessness or threatened with homelessness must be addressed in addition to the quality of life issues that residents experience every day should be included in the strategy and analysis. Thus, the spirit of this item is to engage in a holistic approach to the issue of homelessness and residential quality of life.

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The Price-Austin-Andrews memo sought the following information from LBPD:

[May 23 Price-Austin-Andrews agendizing memo] (a) Data on the effectiveness of the current Quality of Life officers including; the number of current officers in this position} their duties} the number of contacts they make on a typical workday and information regarding placement of homeless individual in city sponsored services or programs.
(b) An analysis of the staffing and financial resources that would be needed for the Quality of Life teams to sufficiently address their delineated goals and responsibilities consistently throughout the city.
(c) An estimate of the time it would take to have sufficient trained and qualified staffing resources for the competent performance of the Quality of Life function.
(d) An overview of common law enforcement responses to quality of life issues and the related ordinance or penal code violations. This summary should include an overview of the legal law enforcement options and common methods of addressing violations. An overview of why one method might be selected over another should be included in this analysis.
(e) A summary of useful policing tools and tactics that have resulted in homeless people accepting and being placed into long-term services.

The agendizers allowed a 120 day timeline for city management to deliver the requested report, effectively allowing its arrival as late as September 20, 2017...by which time the Council would have already acted on the FY18 budget (including restoring police officers for taxpayers.)

During Council discussion of the item, no Councilmember(s) or the Mayor spoke the word "crime." Councilwoman Price (the Mayor's chosen chair for the Council's "Public Safety Committee") cited "quality of life" issues but didn't describe them. She mentioned that some residents had sent a petition to the Mayor and Chief of Police but didn't quote from the petition or say how many people had signed it. And she cited but didn't reveal details of a March 9 internal memo that city management had sent the Mayor and the Council on the "State of Homelessness in Long Beach." (LBREPORT.com obtained a copy of the May 9 internal memo, published it on May 20 and also links to it below.)

Before hearing from the public, Councilmembers and the Mayor spent roughly 15 minutes discussing the agenda item among themselves, several praising city staff's current actions on homelessness...and some (including the Mayor) urging city management to do a better job of telling the public what the City has done and is doing.

Details of May 23 Council meeting

The May 23 Council meeting began at 5:00 p.m. After ceremonial recognitions and photographs, the Council's substantive business (with agenda item order announced by the Mayor) began with a hearing on an appeal of a proposed psychiatric urgent care center's location in the 3200-3220 block of LB Blvd. at 5:38 p.m.; this lasted a little over three hours. An agenda item to pursue changes to the city's waste hauling practices began at 8:48 p.m.; it lasted nearly two more hours.

At roughly 10:43 p.m., the Mayor and Council took up the Price-Austin-Andrews agenda item. Councilwoman Price moved approval, seconded by Councilman Andrews. By this time, a number of the petition-signing residents who'd come to be heard had left (including parents who had to leave to put their children to bed.) [After the meeting, one of the petition-signers present at the meeting told LBREPORT.com that she estimates, based on individuals she recognized in the audience and social network postings after the meeting, that as many as thirty petition-supporters were likely present earlier in the Council meeting.]

Some salient transcript excepts (unofficial, prepared by LBREPORT.com) follow:

[Excerpts of May 23, 2017 Council colloquy, agenda item 23]

Councilwoman Price: ...We had about five residents here earlier but they had to leave to put kids to sleep and we have one resident who stayed behind so thank you and bless you for staying. This item comes as a result of constituent feedback and information that we have received and of course the great work that the City has done in regards to homelessness...

...Often times we think of homeless issues as impacting only the health department or the police department but that is simply not accurate. The listed bullet points in this item are meant to spur ideas that can get us closer to a long-term, multi-departmental approach to homelessness in the City of Long Beach...

...Looking at, for example, the March 9 report that came back on this issue, you know there's a lot of good programs and ideas that are referenced but there's really not a lot of details in terms of how we're going to accomplish some of our goals and objectives. We haven't included things that are practical in terms of how our departments can work together and how we can use the resources that we have in the most efficient manner in having them coordinate with one another as they're taking on their various responsibilities in the community...

And finally I know I have a resident here but I do want to mention, and I promised the resident that had to go home to take care of their kids that I know, I'm very well aware, that in my district there was a petition started. The petition was written to the Mayor and the Chief of Police, and there was a group here tonight that wanted to talk about the petition and talk about why they feel that residential quality of life issues need to be more of a focus when we're talking about the issue of homelessness, so I look forward to our hearing from our one remaining member of the public...

Councilwoman Gonzalez...[E]ven an infographic that shows the services that we're doing, some sort of marketing campaign, I don't think people often know, again, the successes that we're had with homelessness and the fact that we're down in our numbers [of officially counted homeless], we just don't, we don't talk about that...I will just say though that 120 days is a little short...so I think that perhaps providing additional time for city staff to come back with that information would be great...

Councilwoman Pearce:: I think sometimes the biggest challenge is more in when we do the work, it's hard to sing our praises, and because we're so busy doin' the work. [City Manager West interjects: "The team's working really hard."] Yeah, and I see that and I saw that when I came to Council in a very different way than when I was outside of Council...

Councilwoman Price:...and I think Councilwoman Gonzalez makes a good point about the timing. I think 120 days may be unrealistic although based on what I've heard we've already done a lot of this stuff, so it might just be repackaging it. So I would say, you know, [appears to agree to revised timeline for her motion], as soon as possible...[Garcia chairing meeting doesn't ask Councilman Andrews, who seconded Price's motion, if he assents to the change, required under Roberts Rules of Order.]

Mayor Garcia: ..Our staff, by the way...I just think it's really important to thank you guys are amazing. You guys get pounded so hard in the community every single day for doing literally God's work and the kind of work that so many folks are not interested in actually engaging on...[T]hat by no means does that mean we not still don't have serious issues and that we haven't seen population shifts here and that's caused major concerns for a lot of neighborhoods, and so we know that is obviously true...

But I want to go back to something that Councilwoman Gonzalez said which I think struck me is part of the big issues is that we're also, we're not communicating I think as probably well as we should be what we're doing and then listening to the neighborhoods about what it is what they're seeing on the ground and what we can do to address those things. The conversation's around what is actually happening, what our neighborhood partners are doing, how we communicate that to the community, does the Council have all the information that they need to be kind of ambassadors in their neighborhoods and get the information out, so I think those are all actually very valuable conversations that I hope that we also have in the course of the next few weeks and months ahead as this report is put together...

At roughly 11;02 p.m. (six hours after the start of the Council meeting), members of the public were invited to speak to the item, limited to three minutes each. Among the speakers were:

Laurann Wakefield [among 1,200+ petition signers]: ...I live in Belmont Heights in district 3...I would really urge you to take a look at that petition that you've all been given. The 1,300 people who signed it have included 1,300 comments and we have a very different outlook on this problem that you're presenting right now.

First of all, this is not about homeless people who are sincerely down and out and in need. We don't see it as a homeless problem. We see it as a public safety and a crime problem and that's really what's happening with us.

Long Beach receives a lot of grant money to provide services to the homeless yet we've been told that 90% of that population refuses those services. Now we were told that by your city Homeless Outreach Coordinator. Even if we invest more money into more programs, there's no way to compel people to use these services.

I'm asking the City to go to the heart of the problem by addressing the [video feed interruption] infamous Props 47 and 57. These laws have released a tidal wave of criminals into the City and other cities. Drug abusers and thieves are doing very well thanks to these early release laws.

There is supposed to be a period of public discussion regarding the non-violent [video feed interruption]...I ask the city to please address our concerns with the state. We're also asking the City to give feedback to the state on that egregious law that says stealing anything valued under $950 is OK. That alone is causing a huge amount of chaos in the community. People are stealing everything, walking out of Vons at the Traffic Circle with value of about a thousand dollars a day, and that's just what they catch,

While the state may take some time to change this ill-conceived law, can we draft some type of local ordinance that addresses it? Please: it should not be just a misdemeanor to steal something valued under $950.

Please untie the hands of law enforcement. Even with the stifling limitation of the Props, we have city ordinances that could be enforced. Please streamline the police paperwork.

Give us more police officers and patrols. And let the vagrants and criminals know we're not going to continue to lie down and roll over.

And while we're very appreciative of being put on the agenda tonight, we can't wait 120 days to see results. Crime is escalating. The community is at the boiling point. We must have budget for public safety, increased police and general protection for the public. Don't wait until businesses and the tax base flee and tweakers, vagrants and criminals are all that's left in our city.

Gary Morrison (President, Alamitos Heights Improvement Ass'n): ...My constituents talk to me about this issue frequently and they want something done now, sooner or later...120 days may seem short for y'all but from where I am, [it should be] sooner than later...

Paul Gomez: ...[W]hen I walk outside my door, it's a totally different picture than what I'm hearing. I walk outside my door and I see, like Ms. Wakefield said, nothing but basically tweakers and thieves. When I say thieves, the guys that are standing on my corner they're riding around bikes every day. They're stealing my bicycle. I'm retrieving my bicycle from them. I call the Long Beach PD, and I know their hands are tied. They come to basically hand my bike back to me and they can't take the guy to jail. I ride a nice bike, a really nice bike. They steal my girlfriend's bike at the same time. I retrieve her bike from another guy. It's a cycle that is, it's a cycle that's just not stopping and it's getting worse and worse.

I live in a nice place. I walk outside my door, I'm embarrassed to bring my friends over. I live in waterfront property and you walk outside and the same guy that stole your bike is holding a sign saying 'Help me with food.' And the same guy who's holdin' that sign is walkin in CVS or Gelsons and walkin in and walkin right out with everything he wants, and it seems like there's nothin' being done about it...

I know...the statistics look great and everything but that's not what I see when I walk out my front door...These are a bunch of drug addicts and a bunch of thieves, what I see, the majority of them, and it's just very disappointing that nothing's being done to fix the problem. I know we're working at it, but that's not what I'm seeing....

Neither the Mayor nor Councilmembers said anything in response to the public testimony. Mayor Garcia asked the Council to record its vote. It was 8-0 (Austin absent on the item, exited earlier in the meeting) to approve the Price-Austin-Andrews item.

Context

The 3rd district residents' petition came after vagrant/transient-related neighborhood-crime issues prompted roughly 100-150 ELB Plaza/El Dorado Park South area residents (5th district) to demand action at a public meeting held on an ELB street on September 7, 2016. (LBREPORT.com coverage, here.) At about the same time, downtown Long Beach residents and businesses became vocal over vagrants urinating, defecating and engaging in anti-social nuisance activities in their neighborhoods.

Councilwoman Price herself organized a September 17, 2016 Third Council District public meeting (detailed coverage by LBREPORT.com here) at which she acknowledged an increase in visible homeless individuals accompanied by a disturbing change in the types of neighborhood related crimes in LB and beyond. Councilwoman Price's meeting invited City Hall agency representatives (including LBPD/LBFD) to describe measures the City is currently taking and Councilwoman Price added her frequently stated view that the issues now facing Long Beach and other cities stem in part from statewide matters: Prop 47 (Nov. 2014: voters reduced penalties for what ballot proponents labeled nonviolent, non-serious crimes), Prop 57 (Nov. 2016: voters increased parole opportunities for felons convicted of what ballot proponents labeled non-violent crimes) and AB 109 (2011 Governor-backed/legislature enacted "realignment" which diverts certain felons whom Sac'to deems "low-level" to County jails.)

On Oct. 4, 2016, Mayor Garcia scheduled a lengthy City Council "study session" on homelessness, which enabled city staff to describe actions the City is currently taking but didn't seriously address neighborhood crime issues. The event brought Mayor Garcia plaudits from homeless advocacy groups.

A week later on Oct. 11, 2016, Jack Smith, former Vice Chair of the Homeless Services Advisory Committee and also a member of the Committee that developed Long Beach's Ten Year Plan to end homelessness, came to the City Council to speak about what he'd heard a week earlier at the "study session." Mr. Smith stated in pertinent part: "It's important to focus on behavior and not status. We cannot tolerate bad behavior, and we cannot use status as an excuse for that behavior."

He also advised Councilmembers to listen to homeless persons and not to "service providers" or various "experts" and city staff. He also cited the need for Councilmembers to display political will.

These were among Mr. Smith's final public words to the City Council; he passed away suddenly a little over two months later in mid-December 2016. (To see and hear Mr. Smith's final Council remarks in full, click here.)

March 9, 2017: Mgm't Memo To Mayor/Councilmembers On "State of Homelessness in Long Beach"

On Mar 9, 2017. LB's Director of Health and Human Services, Kelly Callopy, sent to City Manager Pat West for the Mayor Garcia and all Councilmembers what City Hall calls a "TFF" -- a "to-from-for" memo that isn't confidential but isn't usually disclosed to the public. LBREPORT.com managed to obtain a copy of the March 9 memo, which was titled "State of Homelessness in Long Beach" and we published it on May 20, 2017. In a key section pertinent to public safety and LBPD, it stated:

[Text from March 9, 2017 memo to Mayor/Councilmembers, pp. 5-6]

...The Police Department has operated a Quality of Life (QOL) team over the past several years. This team was created by re-allocating patrol officers responsible for 911-response and has been funded by the use of the City's General Fund. Historically, the QOL team was made up of two officers and a Department of Mental Health Clinician. Due to recent staffing shortages, one of the two officers previously assigned to this team was reassigned back to general Patrol Duties. As of February 14, 2017, there is one police officer and one Clinician dedicated to QOL outreach efforts and one Police Resource Officer.

The QOL team provides outreach services to persons experiencing homelessness in partnership with the Outreach Network that proactively coordinates outreach efforts throughout the City....

In addition to the QOL team, the Police Department operates Mental Evaluation Teams (MET), comprise of six police officers who are paired with clinicians from the County Department of Mental Health. Working in pairs, these teams respond to calls for service where mental illness may be a factor and, therefore, have considerable crossover with calls for service where individuals experiencing homelessness need assistance...

Timeline

The May 23 item as agendized specified a 120 day timeline for delivery of management's report to the Council; by our unofficial calculation that could allow its delivery as late as September 20, 2017. By that date, the Council would have already taken voted actions on the FY18 budget (including whether to restore some number of police officers for taxpayers.)

During public testimony, two public speakers told Councilmembers that 120 days was too long, but before they were allowed to speak, Councilwoman Gonzalez said 120 days seemed was too short, to which Councilwoman Price seemingly agreed indicating the report would be acceptable "as soon as possible."

Mayor Garcia (as chair) didn't seek assent from Councilman Andrews to this (who'd seconded the motion), and since his assent wasn't publicly stated, the motion as passed was for management to deliver its report to the City Council within 120 days.

It's unclear if management's report to the City Council will be publicly agendized or another "TFF" -- a memo quietly sent to the Mayor and Councilmembers for their review without being simultaneously shared with the public. .


10:21 p.m. May 27: An earlier version of this story misidentified the agenda item's co-agendizers as Price-Gonzalez-Andrews when they were Price-Austin-Andrews.



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