Occ Seb Virtual Candidates Forum: Q2: role and responsibility regarding homeless people?

[Barry]

2. What do you see as Sebastopol City government's role and responsibility regarding homeless people?

The City of Sebastopol should work to form alliances with those organizations that already are, or could be, providing services for the homeless. As an example, some churches already provide services (free showers) to the homeless. The city needs to promote these services. An idea that was put forth to me was a series of kiosks throughout Sebastopol that provided a listing of available resources. I think that this is a great (and easily implemented) idea. Also, I was recently in Louisville, Kentucky on business. They have steel boxes bolted to lamp posts throughout the downtown. Signs on the boxes encourage people to deposit money in the boxes rather than giving it to people on the street. The money collected is given to social service organizations that assist the homeless. This also looks to be an easily implemented program.

It would serve the City well to work with local churches and other non-profits to make shelters, free temporary, and very low cost permament housing available for them.

Seeking county, state, federal and foundation grant money to assist with this is crucial, as the City's budget is very limited. Improvements to the City owned Village Park could accomadate space for the homeless, especially if modifications were made regarding permiting of low cost structures like yurts, etc.

The City has an obligation to provide and expand affordable housing for low-income and very low-income people. Sebastopol, in its beautiful geographical location and progressive mentality, has seen rising housing costs and limited affordable housing developments. People of all incomes should be able to afford basic needs, especially housing, in our town. Further, we should have more resources in place to afford the extremely low- and no-income people a temporary support during times of greatest need.


Kathleen Shaffer - Did not participate

I personally have designed a homeless shelter for the City of Santa Rosa and one for Healdsburg. The one in Santa Rosa is continually fundraising to support itself and it was built with many aggregated grants, land donated by the county and is run by CAP Sonoma County. Healdsburg land was also donated by the city and funding was from Redevelopment funds (which no longer exist) and it is run by the church next door. Both took many years to become a reality. I don’t think it would be easy to create a homeless shelter here. Maybe if we still had redevelopment funds, it could be possible. Apparently the Sebastopol Police treat the homeless in a more humane way than other municipalities, so the city is more attractive to some of them. I suggest you contact Chief Weaver about that issue. There is a certain segment of the homeless population who choose to live that way, and there isn’t too much a city can do in that case. For those who want to get off the streets, it would be good to have a homeless advocate available to help direct them to services in Santa Rosa. It is hard for a city of 7500 to deal with the issue when there is a city of 157,000 right next door. It might be possible to enter into a contract with an advocate that is here part time to help.

[Peace Voyager]

[QUOTE=Barry;157807]2. What do you see as Sebastopol City government's role and responsibility regarding homeless people?

Requiring Community Impact Reports is another way to determine if a development is a good fit for Sebastopol. The :Living Wage Coalition is a good resource for this: https://www.livingwagesonoma.org/com...ct_reports.htm