Recommendation to request City Manager and Department of Health and Human Services to study the feasibility in Long Beach and report back to City Council on a meter donation program to raise awareness about the issues of homelessness, generate new revenues to help address the problem, and potentially reduce the amount of panhandling in our business corridors.
Item 37 is communication from Councilman Alston. Councilwoman Pansy Gonzalez. Vice Mayor Lowenthal. Recommendation two requires the City Manager and Department of Health and Human Services to study the feasibility in Long Beach, an immediate donation program to raise awareness about the issues of homelessness. Okay. There's a motion in a second. Councilmember Alston. Thank you. I want to thank my colleagues, our Councilwoman Gonzales and Vice Mayor Lowenthal, for signing on to the item. I also want to thank our homeless advisory committee member, Andy Kerr, for bringing this issue to my attention. As we've heard during the discussion over the past two agenda items, homelessness remains a daunting problem for Long Beach in the entire region. And as we just heard, it's an ongoing issue. Several cities throughout the country, including Pasadena and San Diego and Southern California, as well as Denver, Orlando, San Antonio and Phenix have implemented a new approach in recent years that I believe is worth while for Long Beach to take a look at. They've repurposed old parking meters as a way for people to make donations toward programs that provide direct service to homeless. This program, known as Real Change Movement in Pasadena and the Make Change Camp movement in San Diego, is also a public awareness campaign about homeless programs and resources and educating the public on how to provide real help to the homeless. This program is raise public awareness, generated new revenues for homeless programs and discouraged panhandling in some business corridors. So I'd like our city manager to study the meter donation program utilized in other cities and report back to the Council within 90 days on the feasibility of implementing such a program in Long Beach. And I would ask for your support as well. Thank you, Councilman Gonzalez. And I think Councilman Awesome for bringing this forward. As we're talking about the theme of homelessness, I think it's important that we look at all solutions to tackle this. And then I also want to just say, I know, Susan, just to kind of segway to saying that I really appreciate your work as well. And I know we share an alma mater, which is Laguna Hills High, and I'm very, very proud of your work. I didn't get a chance to say that formally, but very happy that we came from the same high school. But also that you've served this city very, very well for us. So really appreciate it. Just wanted to say that to you personally. Councilman Price. I want to thank my colleagues for bringing this item forward. And this is an issue, actually, that our office has studied quite a bit because we have been taking a look at the panhandling ordinance. I'm I'm going to vote in favor of this item tonight. But this particular idea or concept is going to, for me, need a lot of vetting in my community because this concept of putting the meters works for some cities. I don't know that it would work for us. And I'm I'm curious in terms of what. The data that comes back is going to reveal regarding the success rate in terms of its impact on panhandling in other cities. So I just want to put that out there that I think this is one of those things that's going to require a lot of vetting through the community. Like I said, we've been studying the issue for a while. We've we've talked about it at some community meetings with our residents. And I think a lot of residents feel strongly opposed to panhandling. But I think that they also have a very strong feeling about putting up a permanent structure, so to speak, that acknowledges that there is a problem and that encourages money to be given to the cause. They really are looking for us to come up with other solutions. Absent that, so not to say that I wouldn't support it when it comes back, but I think it's really important that we look at outside the box ideas. But this particular idea is one that I think Susan shared with Jack from my staff a while ago. And we've we've talked about it a lot with our community members, and there's there's a lot of discussion to be had. So I'm looking forward to receiving the data so that we have that to go forward with. And I think Councilman Austin and the Cosigners on the item for bringing it forward and encouraging us to think outside the box in regards to long term solutions. Thank you. Very much. The auto. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I just wanted to address something that Councilwoman Price's comments reminded me of. So in the city of Santa monica, there are very public places where residents and visitors are encouraged to place donations in place of directly giving to those who are panhandling. And they take artistic forms because it is the city of Santa monica. So there are dolphin statues in the in on the promenade. It's not repurposed meters. And I am encouraged by pursuing ideas like this. And any other ideas, truthfully, that the community might come up with. One of the things that I want us to be very aware of and stay clear of is this discomfort that many members of the public have with. The vulgar disparities of life. I don't know how else to put it. They are just vulgar. Disparities of life and homelessness is a fact of life in our city as it is in many cities along with other. Socially unacceptable or uncomfortable facts of life. And so, yes, even residents in the second District may have some concern about that public reminder that this problem exists. But I'd like us to be bolder than that. I'd like us to be more brave than that and come forward. We are elected to stand upright and stand upright for all constituents and not just those that might take issue with others that may be confronting social challenges. And so it is my very, very, very impassioned plea to remind us to be bold and not to leave anyone behind. And if someone is uncomfortable by a very public display acknowledging that we have homelessness, I think we are the better for it. It is through discomfort that we have advanced as a society on all major issues, and I have to imagine we will on this one too. So I am in support of it, whether they take the shape of dolphins or any other sea creature or or meters. But the public does need an alternative to showing their compassion. If and if that works, that's great. The other piece of it is on the panhandling ordinance. I worked very, very closely with the city manager of the city attorney's office many years ago to update our panhandling ordinance. Several councilmembers on this dais were here at the time, and we and Mr. Mays can remind us we went as far as we possibly could without violating individual's constitutional rights. And so we took a very careful and methodical approach to it. If there is room for improvement, I'm sure Mr. Mays would have identified it at that time. And from that time to now, there's new case law that would allow us to do even more to protect members of the general public. Then I'm sure he will let us know. Thank you. Any public comment on the item? You do cook as they dress. I'm all for people giving donations to established organizations such as the people that have been here to do the work. Dead set against panhandling. In fact, I would have I would have an ordinance that if somebody is could be ticketed for. Giving money to a panhandler and in fact, a financial. Ticket and then a requirement. That they go on a feces, urine cleanup detail in the given area where that person is concentrated, period there. The I don't again, I'm not sure you fully understand the wave of homelessness that is will come down to this city within the next 24 months. And every day I sit on Second Street, Helpful Henrys and Henry Adams and even some kids whose parents would probably go into coronary arrest if they knew they were flipping money over to some guy who's going to obviously go out and buy a joint with it and so forth. So I'd be dead set against any. Anything other than established organizations and enforce any create any ordinance we need to to stop the panhandling and stop the people giving the cash, which is feeding the problem. Thank you. Is any other public comment saying, please cast your votes. Voicemail. Bush and Kerry's. We're going to be 33. Kay. 33 is just the second reading.