By Brooklynn Wong
Several North Orange County cities are voting in their City Councils this month to approve—or not—an agreement to fund two new 100-bed homeless shelters.
The lawsuit regarding the Santa Ana riverbed residents has now been well documented—when those living there were ordered to clear out, a lawsuit was brought against several cities, prompting Judge David Carter to decree that cities in what is called the North Service Planning Area (a group of 13 cities in North/Central Orange County) may not enforce anti-camping ordinances until they have provided shelter beds for homeless individuals to move in to.
Buena Park and Placentia have been identified as strategic cities to have two small, temporary shelters in, and the public hearing processes are being navigated now.
And each city in the North Service Planning Area is required to pay a price.
The amounts each of the 13 cities must pay are pro-rated according to population, the number of homeless counted in the city and the number of shelter beds already available.
The total cost to get the two shelters up and running, including purchasing facilities, will be approximately $14.3 million. The vast majority of that, $13.1 million, is covered by state grants. That leaves $1.2 million for the cities to cover.
La Palma, being small and with not as much of a homeless problem as surrounding cities, is being asked to pay $22,905, which is 1.9% of the total cost.
The amounts cities must pay range from $309,931 (Fullerton) down to $5,221 (Villa Park). La Palma has the third-lowest price tag.
At the meeting, La Palma City Manager Laurie Murray gave a presentation, painting a picture of the homeless situation in the area. Countywide, there has been a 54% homeless increase in the last five years.
Two years ago, there were 4800 homeless individuals in Orange County, and roughly half had no shelter, she said. Those numbers have only likely increased since then, Murray said.
The three present Council members—Mayor Marshall Goodman and Councilman Gerard Goedhart were absent—voted to approve this funding formula.
If the necessary City Councils approve the formula in the next month or so, the two homeless shelters in Buena Park and Placentia could be operational by late summer or early fall, and area police departments would be able to resume clearing the homeless from public places.