The City Council Tuesday night unanimously voted to adopt a five-year plan to address homelessness in Manhattan Beach.
The plan is part of a countywide effort stemming from the passage of Measure H, a sales tax increase which allocates $354 million towards cities individually and collectively working to drastically reduce homelessness. The county’s most recent count, conducted in February, found 52,765 people homeless, including 41 in Manhattan Beach — a steep increase from the six people found homeless last year.
“Manhattan Beach has always had homelessness,” said Councilperson Steve Napolitano. “I think the great concern is the growth we’ve seen over time.”
“It’s not so much the issue is the growth — it’s the attitude of aggressiveness we are seeing from the growth [in homelessness] that we are seeing downtown,” said Councilperson Richard Montgomery.
The city was one of 47 cities in the county given grants to develop a homeless plan; Manhattan Beach received $30,000, which is used to hire three consultants who hosted a series of public meetings to gather input about the nature of the problem and possible solutions. Each plan will be further funded by Measure H funds; the deadline for submission was Wednesday.
The issue has drawn a lot of comment, particularly on the social media site NextDoor, where several forums have worried that the city’s development of a homeless plan would mainly serve to attract more homeless people. As Lee Phillips, a resident and doctor who has followed the development of the plan warily, noted on Tuesday night, “I don’t want us to become the next Santa Monica or Venice.”
Napolitano sought to assure residents that the plan would not increase the local homeless population but instead broaden the city’s approach to include more social services, such a mental health clinician who the city currently only is able to utilize a day a week. Under the plan, the city would obtain county funding not only to fund such outreach daily but also to pay for all the resources it currently pays for itself, in the form of police and other staff time.
“A lot of this, for better and worse, in our city right now has fallen on law enforcement,” said Napolitano. “And what we need to do is broaden that out.”
City Attorney Quinn Barrow noted that even within enforcement, some of the city’s code — such as against camping — was written at a time when homelessness was not an issue.
“Most ordinances on the books are about people sleeping on the beach back in 1971 or so,” Barrow said, noting new ordinances are being prepared that will broaden the definition and allow for better enforcement.
Police Chief Derrick Abell agreed that the issue is not best addressed by officers, who have some training in dealing with homelessness and regularly try to connect homeless individuals with resources. But he also said that the rampant discussion on social media would be better directed by people reporting problems they witness with homeless people to the police department. He said a recent frenzy about a hypodermic needle being found in Polliwog Park came to MBPD’s attention days after it was on NextDoor.
“Social media is extremely important and valuable, but at the same time — when you see something, say something,” Abell said. “….If you see something that could cause harm to others, while you are seeing that, please call us immediately so we can respond. Give us that opportunity. But it does nothing going and posting on NextDoor.”
Napolitano suggested the city establish a task force comprised of residents who would be tasked with re-writing the plan. But in the meantime, he said the plan would serve as a placeholder.
“It’s not something I’m completely in love with, but we have a deadline,” he said. “We will get some measure of funding.”
Residents are asked to call MBPD at 310-545-4566 to report any homeless-related problems. ER
