Recommendation to receive and file a report and presentation on Measure H, a ballot measure that will be considered by all Los Angeles County voters on March 7, 2017.  (Citywide)
We're going to have the presentation on the county homelessness initiative. And then right after that, we will have the presentation. Councilman Gonzalez's presentation on the Senate on the Senate bills moving forward. And then after that, we will have the conversation around 19, which is around the turfs and the turf field project. So those are the next couple items. I think most people here are for though here for those items. And so we'll get try to get through those pretty quickly. So let me begin by going over the next item, please, which is going to be about the county homeless initiative. I know we have folks here from the county. So, Madam Cook, if you can read that item. Report from City Manager recommendation to receive and file a report and presentation on Measure H citywide. Okay. Thank you. I'm going to turn this over to staff who's to has a report for us some presentation. And then I know we have some some folks here from the county that are going to also be a part of that presentation. Mayor councilmembers. I'm going to turn this over to our manager of government relations, Diana Tang, as well as our Health and Human Services Director Kelly Colby. So, Diana. Thank you, Mr. City Manager. Just waiting for the PowerPoint to be loaded up here. But. Well, while we're waiting, I'll just go ahead and provide a brief summary of the expenditure plan and the ballot measure that will be before voters March 7th. That is coming up on March 7th. And generally speaking, it is a quarter cent sales tax for ten years. It is assessed county wide. There it is. Okay, here we go. Mrs. Measure H. A L.A. County ballot measure countywide again. And the vote is on March 7th. And we'll do a quick overview with the purpose, the revenue mechanism, the election date, which is March 7th, as well as revenue collection methods. So the purpose of the present, the purpose of the ballot measure is to combat the homeless crisis in Los Angeles County. And the revenue mechanism, as we had very briefly discussed, is a quarter percent special sales tax beginning July one, 2017. Short Measure H path. The county is estimating that this revenue mechanism will generate about 355 million annually and it will be for ten years. Again. The election is on March 7th. And because this is a revenue measure, a dedicated sales tax to combat homeless, the homeless crisis in L.A. County, it does require a two thirds vote. So the ballot language is pretty simple. The snapshot there is what voters will see in their ballot when they go to the ballot box on March 7th. And the revenue collection is county wide. So this is a sales tax that is least county wide. So whether you shop in Long Beach or elsewhere in the county, you will be assessed the sales tax at some points. I would like to note that Measure H respects the local sales tax that has been passed in several cities, including Long Beach. So Long Beach, La mirada, Linwood, Pico Rivera, Santa monica, Southgate and Compton. All of these cities are at our local sales tax cup at the moment. And so Measure H is written in a way that does not require us to give up any of the sales tax that we have are collecting as a part of measure A until measure A decreases in six years to a half percent sales tax, at which point in time in Long Beach we will be paying the quarter cent sales tax towards Measure H. So the baseline working information that we have. Is saying, let me I just want to just go back one slide just cause I think it's important for the public. The election's 30 days from now, just so they understand this part. So I think it's really important to note that the cities and listed that Mr. Tang listed behind us or have all essentially reached their sales tax limit. And so the top that's set essentially by state statute, the way the sales tax so taxes go. And so in in essence, if Measure H, which is put on by the county supervisors, were to pass the county in the election, then Long Beach residents would not pay into the tax until year six, which is when the measure a tax goes down. And then the the the the quarter cent would then go into the the tax. In addition to that that the tax would total is a total of ten years. Is that correct. Me saying that is correct. Okay. Okay. Excellent. So let me go ahead and continue. So moving on, we are going to go over a couple of baseline working information that we have countywide need. The county has identified about 450 million in need per year and this is their unmet need. So in addition to what they are currently investing in homeless and housing services, they recently did a study that was published last year that demonstrates this amount. The county also did. A recent homeless population counts as a count of persons experiencing homelessness, and they're seeing a growing population as well as a growing population of unsheltered individuals who are experiencing homelessness. So the ballot measure has a plan to to use a collaborative approach to develop an expenditure plan for the allocation of these new revenues. If Measure H does pass and the expenditure plan is one that the County Board of Supervisors will adopt as part of their their their budget for the next fiscal year. And if Measure H does pass in March, then a working group of approximately 50 individuals from across the county representing Council of Governments. The service providers will will come together and work on the recommended plan to present to the Board of Supervisors. There's a unique opportunity in in Long Beach, Glendale and Pasadena. We are unique because these three cities, which included our own continuum of care. And so the county recognizes that we are unique in this aspect and has opened a line of dialog with us to see how best to allocate revenues in Long Beach to address the homeless issues that we are experiencing here as well as throughout the county. I'll really quickly go through the six investment areas that are stipulated in the framework that is in the ballot language resolution. The first one is to prevent homelessness. Second is to subsidize housing. Third is to provide case management and services. Fourth, increase income for those who are experiencing homelessness so that they can sustain housing on their own. The fifth investment area is to create a coordinated, county wide system to address homelessness. And the SEC filings to see if there are opportunities to invest in affordable housing for individuals and families experiencing homelessness. So the timeline. March 7th is Election Day. We hope everyone goes out to vote in mid-March. If the ballot measure does pass, a working group will be convened and in April there will be a formulation of the expenditure plan. April. May We're hoping that that expenditure plan will start to come together and then in early May, take that expenditure plan out to the community and reach a consensus. Late May, the county homeless policy deputies will meet to review and discuss the recommendations that the working group has developed in order to present to the Board of Supervisors. And then in June, when the Board of Supervisors adopts their annual budget, they will also include in it and then expenditure plan for Measure H if the ballot measure does pass. So I'll at this time, turn it over to Kelly Culpepper, director of Health and Human Services, to go over homelessness and Long Beach. So within the city of Long Beach, July 5th, 2016, the city council declared a state of emergency to combat homelessness within the city of Long Beach. When we conducted the 2015 count, we had 2345 individuals are experiencing homeless in the city. 94% or 3094 were unsheltered veterans, and 731 were what we consider chronic, unsheltered individuals. We just completed the point in time count two weeks ago. And so we are calculating those numbers now. So we'll have more current numbers available to us coming up in the next couple of months. We provide services on average to 1100 individuals and families each month through the Multi-Service Center and through the continuum of care for a total of over 13,000 client contacts over the course of a year. Right now with our service providers, we get about 90 to 100 requests for outreach and engagement every month at the Multi-Service Center for Homeless. Our existing investments right now, we we spent about $10.9 million a year on our services for individuals and families who are homeless. That is from the Housing and Urban Development Continuum of Care Hour. We received when we were just announced a $7.6 million funding for this next year from the Continuum of Care. We also receive it. We also receive additional resources from private foundations and from the city as we move forward. So about $10.9 million a year specific to homeless services. We have the multi-service one stop shop where we folks who are homeless can come in, be assessed and connected to services and move toward permanent housing as well as we do a lot of street outreach. So we are out on the streets every day reaching out to individuals and families who are homeless to connect them to service. We have a lot of different housing and shelter opportunities within the city, so I'm not going to go through each of them. But you'll see that we have quite a continuum of housing with 1452 permanent supportive housing beds. We also run the winter shelter that's opened for three months and it looks like it may be extended this year for an additional few weeks. We also have emergency shelter opportunities. The Housing Authority provides 70 vouchers annually to individuals who are experiencing homelessness. And also we have over 700 vouchers for for veterans. So if they're coming through the VA, we are we are able to house them through the housing authority for veterans. And we also have supportive services. The heart team within the city is the fire department. They were here in front of the council in the last couple of weeks, really being able that are moving forward sort of street medicine and education to be able to connect with individuals who are homeless and then the quality of life teams through the police department. As we've looked at what our funding needs are moving forward and that we'd be looking to address through the Middle Ages a year round shelter permanent supportive, additional permanent supportive housing, transitional housing, additional rapid rehousing. Preventative supportive services and mental health and substance abuse programs. And with that turn it of questions. Okay. Let's go ahead and go. We're going to take questions first just because this is a measure item. So let me go through questions. I might turn it over to to Vice Mayor Richardson, and then I'll take it I'll take public comment as well. But let me let me just make one clarification point that I think is important. Councilman Mongo also just clarified which is which is correct. Just to clarify the position that Mr. Heng and I said, of course, sales tax, as you all know, doesn't follow you. So I just want to make sure that's clear so that the sales tax is not increased in Long Beach for Long Beach residents. But of course, someone who went to another city, that sales tax rate is depending on what the sales tax rate is over there. So. Well, that's you know, I know it's obvious to most. I just want to make sure we all know that sales tax doesn't follow us around. So. Right. Unless it's an automobile. Okay. So going on to Vice Mayor Richardson. Thank you. And before I get my my comments. So in terms of process, you want to go through a discussion before making any motions? I think it'd be I think if there's questions first, it'd be great to go through any questions on the measure. And then if there is going to be a motion, I also want to hear from the public if there's any public comment. I also know that there's one of the supervisors deputies is here who wants to comment, since I know that she put it on the agenda. So if we want to do some of those things, first, we can get back. To you because I want to make a motion here. So I think if everybody respects that, we'll just have that discussion. Let me let me do that first. Let me let me ask. I can Supervisor Janice Hahn was one of the two supervisors that put this on the ballot. So I know that Mr. Linda Chico is here representing the county supervisor. And so I know she wanted to say a few words about the motion she made for at the county level. So I'll start we'll start there. Thank you, Mary Garcia, for giving me the opportunity. Thank you, city council, for considering this item. As you know, Long Beach is the second largest city in L.A. County, and the supervisor is committed to working with the mayor, city council and staff on facing this crisis. We've actually met quite a few times already addressing some of the issues. On any given night, there are 47,000 people living on the streets in L.A. County. 3000 of them are veterans, 4000 are children. So just over a week ago, the body of a homeless man was found in the fourth stoop of his aureole district in Wilmington . He had been living in homeless camp. He had been living in a homeless encampment in Harbor City. And despite the best efforts of law enforcement, he was swept away and killed during a heavy storm. This is just one of the many heartbreaking tragedies caused by homelessness and a reminder that this problem has reached crisis level. I participated in the homeless count here in Long Beach, and I got to tell you, the stories that we heard out there were heartbreaking. So that's why we're here today, to educate voters on Measure H using Measure H. We will work to break the cycle of homelessness and connect people in need with proven solutions like mental health services, addiction programs, rapid rehousing and job training. With Measure H, we will work to move 45,000 people into permanent housing in five years and help another 30,000 people avoid homelessness. Voters know that this is no longer a problem isolated to Skid Row or even the city of L.A.. Encampments are in communities, including Long Beach. I know there are some who have reservations about adding to the sales tax, but know that homelessness is already costing taxpayers in ways that are less productive and more painful. The L.A. County Sheriff's Department spends $41 million annually on arrests, jail stays and probation supervision for homeless individuals. And we know that Long Beach PD is feeling the same impacts. Our health care system spends millions of dollars a year caring for sick individuals who would be healthier if they had a warm, dry place to sleep. We are asking for this small sacrifice that will allow us to attack the causes of homelessness and provide real solutions. A quarter cent sales tax would amount to an extra dime on the price of a $40 sweater. A dollar on the cost of a $400 TV. So both the South Bay COG and Gateway City's cog have voted to support Measure H. The election is on March 7th. And with this comprehensive plan, we're confident voters will say yes. Thank you. Thank you, thank you on behalf of the supervisor. And I'm going to what I'm going to do on that. Take it back to Vice Mayor Richardson. If you want to make a motion, that's fine. But I'm going to go through the the council comments and then go to any public comment. So. Vice Mayor Richardson. So my thoughts on here. Well, first of all, thank you to Supervisor Hahn and to her, Linda, for coming down in and giving us those comments. And we do want to acknowledge and thank city staff for the presentation. And this is something that we've we've all sort of paid attention to from different different points of view. But to have a presentation here in a solid action plan, I think makes a lot of sense. Something that stood out in that presentation was the number a half billion dollar a year problem. And that's the gap that's not inclusive of the funding that's already allocated across the county. So it can be safe to say this is $1,000,000,000 a year problem with a half a billion dollar a year gap. And and we see this personally here in Long Beach and North Long Beach has been home to the winter shelter for the last five years or so. And we know that, you know, every year it's a rush for us to get it open. And and we know that we have a number of rights of ways flood channels, freeway on and off ramps that are very complex from an agency standpoint to get a handle on in terms of really counting and servicing the homeless in our community. It really requires a county wide coordinated solution. Just just here in Long Beach, along our river, you have the 17 freeway on ramp, the 91 freeway on ramp, Southern California Edison right away and county flood. That means four different law enforcement agencies and multiple health agencies, just the direct service to one encampment. And it's it's completely challenging. So I'm really glad to see the county step up and really lead this this effort because we can't handle it alone as Long Beach. I think it's really interesting to note not only that, Long Beach residents wouldn't pay initially because I believe that they would, but the fact that we do maintain a seat at the table through the continuum of care says a lot about our health department and our city city team. The fact that they've sort of carried on this fight and have built that respect countywide to make that happen. And I think that puts us in a really strong, unique position that we should, as a city, take a position in support of this. And tonight, you know, the thought was this would be a receiving file presentation, but multiple councilmembers have expressed interest here and taken a position. And I didn't agree. So so I want to make a motion that the city council tonight takes a position in support of this measure and and communicate that position publicly. Okay. Thank you. There's a motion. Is there a second, Councilman Ringo? I want to thank Councilmember Richardson for making that motion, because as a member of the Gateway City Council government, I made a motion at that meeting to support this measure, and I'm glad that we're going to be moving that forward here today as well. There's no question that homelessness is an issue in Long Beach, and I think Councilmember Richardson. Oh, sorry. Excuse me. Vice Mayor Richardson brought brought the motion forward and basically described adequately as to what the issues are. And, you know, I have a major issue with homelessness in my district as well. Just recently we had to vacate the Willow Springs Park from a major encampment that cost us hundreds of thousands of dollars to vacate because of the level of encampment that was there. So with a measure like this would be able to address that with less of a cost to the city. And as has been described, there's no cost to us, not for at least six years. And that that would be the most significant part of this measure that we can live with. So as far as I could see, it's a win win situation for the for the city, for us to support this and to move forward with it. And it's a win win for the county as well. So I would wish to have the support of my colleagues as well in this on this motion. Thank you. Thank you, Councilman Mongo. Yes. I think that one of the things that's remarkable about this opportunity is it really answers to questions. One of the things that came up with the increase in the sales taxes that neighboring cities would be less than ours now we would be closer to an even playing field, if not on an even playing field, determining depending on which city is discussed. And because of the way that the allocation structure is, the county supervisors were very mindful of knowing that just because homeless populations are residing in a particular city or the sales tax comes from a particular city, it doesn't necessarily mean that's how the distribution is. We soon will have a mental health center that will service the region and therefore we would be a part of that. And so I would be very supportive of this motion. I think that on multiple levels this is really great for Long Beach and really great for the communities that have homeless individuals and the homeless individuals themselves . So I really strongly support this. Thank you, Councilwoman. Councilmember Pierce. Thank you so much for the great presentation and to Janice Hahn's office for coming down and putting this on our agenda and in our attention and our minds. I know that homelessness is something that impacts our entire city, but in downtown we definitely feel the impacts in a very strong way. From Pine Avenue. Then branching out to retro are different business corridors, and each one of those people has a story that is unique to them that we in Long Beach for the last ten years have really changed the way that we think and talk about homelessness. And so really thankful that we've gotten to a point where we can have a measure like this, be something that so many people on our council want to take on and really thankful to have people like Kelly Colby and our staff that have worked really hard to say homelessness isn't just about moving out of our sidewalks, but homelessness is about moving into shelter. Homelessness is about finding a detox bed with love and care that we can help support people, change their lives. And it just really want to recognize this moment in history that ten years ago it wasn't like this in Long Beach. The conversation was very different. And so I definitely support the motion made by the vice mayor. I wanted to ask one question of staff if someone could let us know if the residents of Long Beach decided to renew, measure or bring in another tax, would that affect this tax in Long Beach? Mayor's member of council. I'll try and answer that. I think the answer is yes. It would impacted by the quarter percent. So in year six, when the city's tax is reduced by a half a percent, you create, if you will, a little room in the tax bucket. It'll only go down in year six by a quarter percent because it'll be replaced by Measure H. So in theory, you have a quarter percent area that you could renew Measure eight, but you could not renew it for the full one half. Let me also add just one other thing. I think it's important to note that I believe Measure H is a ten year. That is correct. Okay. Or in ten years, the. Measure a measure expires in, I believe in ten years as well. So. Okay. Thank you. And then one other question. The work groups. I'm sorry if I missed it. Who compiles those work groups? Are we? What's the decision process for who's involved in that meeting? The County Board of Supervisors is compiling that working group. There are two representatives from each of the Council of Governments that will be requested to participate, as well as the service providers in the region, both those in Long Beach and countywide. I believe the County Board of Supervisors, their deputies on the homeless issues will also be involved. So it will be a fairly large working group. Great. Thank you so much. And thank you, everybody, for your hard work on this. Thank you, Councilman Austin. Thank you, Mr. Baer. And I do appreciate the motion and I will be supportive. Measure H provides this critical issue of homelessness, the attention that it really deserves. I want to thank Supervisor Hahn and the Board of Supervisors for being bold in addressing this issue. It's all it's it is, actually. Well, the issue of homelessness has actually grown and transformed before our eyes in a very, very short period of time. The numbers have gone up significantly in the last just five years. As the president of the Gateway Cities Council of Governments. I must mention that we do have a great continuum of care. This is not just a Long Beach problem. It's a regional problem. And the Gateway Cities also, as Councilmember Urunga mentioned just last week, voted to support this issue. And this was 27 cities in the southeast counties coming together in support of this measure. I see this as a small sacrifice that we all can afford. This is a moral and humane commitment as citizens that we have to commit ourselves to to to really address this problem. Nearly 50,000 homeless, homeless individuals in L.A. County is not acceptable. Of nearly 3000 in the city of Long Beach is clearly not acceptable. And this measure measure will help us address that. And so I will be supportive of the motion. Okay. Thank you, Councilwoman Gonzales. Yes, thank you. I also want to extend my support. I think this is great that we are talking about this again. I also think the supervisor's office for bringing this forward. I'm excited about the different investment areas that especially creating a coordinated system where we can all be on the same page and discussing each of our respective cities issues and how we can work together in conjunction with the county, which I know we're already doing for the most part. But I also want to thank Kelly Colby for all your work. You've done a great job. I personally participated in the homeless count two weeks ago. It was eye opening. I will continue encouraging residents. If you are not a part of that, please be a part of that. Even tour. Some of our facilities get to know what the city is doing and the county resources that are being expended already. This will just enhance that. So thanks again. Thank you. Council member, supra. Thank you. And I'd like to thank Kelly Coffey also for all our hard work. And I do have a question for you with the count that was conducted two weeks ago. Now, historically, that number doesn't come back to us till around April, which would be after the ballot measure. Is that is that what you anticipate this year? That is that is what we anticipate. But we're trying to will be working our best to try and get it a little bit earlier. I don't know that we'll have it before the. Ballot, but that's that's kind of the nature of my question. And I don't want you to speculate, but it has been speculated by my constituents that we have more people experiencing homelessness today. And I put that in perspective. I participated in the count in 2009. In fact, Long Beach, Small World, Miles Evans was part of the team I was on. I mean, Miles Nevin, who we just approved tonight for a commission position in the area on the eastern fourth district. That is from Clark to Studebaker. The four or five freeway is the northern border to Atherton. We counted one person experiencing homelessness in 2009, and I think my constituents would speculate that the we'd have more people today. So can you put a number on it or a percentage, or would you not want to speculate where we are . And we're not ready to put a percentage one way or the other. Moving forward, the numbers are being analyzed right now and we'll be moving forward. But at this time, with the different data and things coming out, we're not ready to speculate. Okay. Thank you. Thank you, Councilmember. Councilwoman Price. So I just wanted to thank staff for the presentation. The questions that I had have been answered and of course, thanks to Supervisor Hahn and her Linda Chico for being here. This certainly is probably the issue that has resulted in the most inquiries from our residents in terms of long term planning. And I'm happy that we are having these discussions and very mindful that we need additional resources to provide long term solutions. So I think staff for the presentation and for the education tonight. Thank you. Thank you, Councilman Andrew. Yes, thank. You, Mayor. And also, I'd like to thank Council Vice Mayor Richardson and Mr. Rangel for bringing this item forward, because the fact that I think all of us can remember when we took that big dove back about nine years ago, and a lot of those individuals have not, you know, recuperated from that situation. A lot of those individuals, some of those individuals out there that are homeless today and no, I don't think any of us thought that it would be at this, you know, count of individuals as being this homeless. So I think we are going to have to take a deep look in and really seriously think that it's not about money, it's about compassion. And we know that those individuals could be as individuals. You know, we're just very fortunate. So really, you guys are going to have to take some time and really seriously know that we're in a crisis here and we'll have to do something about it. And don't look at the tax about $1 one cents or whatever it is. Let's be compassionate and try to help these people out there who are homeless. Thank you. Thank you. Let me thank you. We're going to take public comment in just a minute. I just want to add to our supervisor, thank you for being one of the two supervisors to bring this forward to the county board for adoption. I'm also incredibly proud of every member of the city council for their words and support for this measure. This will bring resources that we currently do not have in the city of Long Beach. We currently do not have these resources to be able to do this really important work in the years ahead. And so to be able to have this additional source of support of revenue, to be able to go and do the programs that we need in this community, like a year round shelter, like permanent supportive housing, like rapid rehousing, like the mental health connections that we need to make in the community. This is really, really important, I think, for the community, and so I'm also happy to support it. I look forward to working with the supervisor, Long Beach, which is the supervisors largest city, and also probably the city with some of the largest need in her in her community. And so we look forward to working together on ensuring that these funds come down to the city and that we're able to address some of these large challenges that we have as a community. And to close, I just want to remind us and I try to do this whenever I can, is that every single person that is experiencing homelessness has a name. They have parents. They have people that they've loved in their life. They are individuals, and they deserve our respect and our support. And so with that, any public comment on the item? Good evening. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. And Distinguished Council members Gerard Wright with Move L.A. and I just have various all been already said about this wonderful measure and the importance of providing the services that will get people up off their feet and be able to stand for themselves again. And that's the importance of what of what will provide the ability to bring them back into the society, bring them back into being Americans that can stand here and do the things that we that we need to be in a compassionate society. So this is an important piece. Thank you, all councilmembers for your support. I'm just going to pass this around. This is almost a fait accompli because there's over 150 organizations that are in support of age right now. And it's growing because this is such a vital need for L.A. County, for L.A. County, and can be a vision for the rest of the nation, as we desperately need right now. So thank you all very much. Thank you. Can just pass it to the clerk over here and we'll go pass those out. Next speaker, please. Good evening, in control. And I'm glad you're talking about this tonight. I just got my mail in ballot, and I didn't even know this was going to be on the agenda on the. Be on the ballot in March. This is a very short time for you to educate the public about this. And I'm sure one of the things that Long Beach is going to say is we're already paying the highest tax. And I'm glad to hear you say you're trying to even this out. I see there's a number of other cities that are also going to be exempt from paying this one fourth tax. My question is. Are the cities that are paying this tax going to object to the fact that there's many cities that aren't paying the tax and they're going to have to bear the burden of the cost of this. How is this going to work out if we're not paying into the county? All all of our extra tax is staying in the city. Is any of our tax a money going to the county to. Help pay for this major. I hope some of you can answer that question. Thank you. Thank you. I just want to just make a comment. I think this is an important issue for for for everyone so that this was discussed as part of the deliberations of the county supervisors. And they realize that in their deliberations of putting this on the ballot, that there were a handful of of cities in the county that were essentially at the cap of the sales tax. And so they anticipated that it was part of their deliberative process. They understand that most folks in the county shop all across the county. And so their part of the determination was that folks, whether they live in Long Beach but might work in Burbank or might work in West Los Angeles, and so that they they understood that that would move around and essentially even itself out. In addition, they've been very clear that the the payment back into communities is going to be based solely on where the need is. So they're not interested in, you know, what, what city might be at 10% versus a 9%. They're interested in solving the the the crisis that's happening across the county. And so that's where the resources are going to go, regardless of that. And so but they I do I do know that the county had extensive conversations about this question, as did our staff with them as well. Thank you. Next speaker, please. Good evening, Mr. Mayor. Members of the City Council. Josh Butler, executive director for Housing, Long Beach. And as rents continue to rise in Long Beach and vacancy rates continue to fall, their need for housing measures and measures to support homelessness are greater than ever. Housing Long Beach is in full support of this measure and has been in full support of this measure since the days Supervisor Hahn was sworn into office and put this item forward. We encourage the city council to do the same. Voters in L.A. County have shown support for addressing homelessness by putting skin in the game. The city of Los Angeles did so last fall, and they'll raise, I believe, $1.2 billion over the next decade to support housing measures. The county has recognized the vast shortage of housing and the need to support and stabilize our communities as we build housing to meet need in the future. These early, these county, these countywide resources are designed not only to help stabilize communities, but also to stabilize lives. We hope that this measure will support the efforts of Mayor Garcia as he works to address affordable housing here in Long Beach. We need your support tonight. We need it more than ever. Ultimately, this money will come back to Long Beach and come back right away. As Mary mentioned, it will go based on need. The need here is great. And we also have to remember all the folks that aren't currently out that we see on the streets, that we're not able to count in the mornings. The folks that are living in hotels, that are sleeping on couches, that the hidden homeless population. And also remember that our homeless count only represents the homeless count for that one particular day. It's not a static number. It's constantly moving. We need this more than ever as we can expect the safety net at the federal level to get even smaller and smaller. And Californians know that tonight, not only with issues like sanctuary cities, but also issues like this, that we need to know that our local leaders will have our back as we know that our safety net is going to get yanked out from under us. We have a shortage. These funds are needed. And we thank you for your support tonight. Thank you very much. Next speaker. Please. Good evening, Mr. Mayor and Council. My name is Andy Kerr. I live in the eighth District and I represent Councilman Austin on the Homeless Services Advisory Committee. I, too, was able to participate in the point in time count a couple weeks ago. I'd just like to commend Ailsa Ramos and the staff, Theresa Chandler, the staff at the Multi-Service Center for just doing a phenomenal job of organizing that event. It went very smoothly and I was really impressed by everything that happened that day. I was on Mr. West team. I think we had the best team. We were with the the new heart team in the fire department, which is a really impressive team, and thank the city for supporting their efforts. During the count on Third Street, we encountered a gentleman by the name of Richard, and Richard really had a hard time understanding what was going on with the information we were trying to get from him. It was very clear to me and in doing this work for for quite a while, that Richard was suffering from severe mental illness and. It's it's very frustrating for me just to know that if Richard were suffering from cancer or if he was suffering from a lot of other similar acute illnesses that wasn't related to mental illness, it wouldn't be okay for him to be sleeping on Third Street. And it's a breakdown of public policy and governance at all level, from the federal level to the state to the county that for for 40 years this has been going on. And it really warms my heart today here the council and you, Mr. Mayor, for the support for this measure h i to support it. I think this is a tremendous opportunity to correct all those decades of bad policy on this issue, issues related to substance abuse. That also contributes to the level of homelessness that we've seen throughout the county in the city. And I'd like to echo Councilman Richardson and Councilman Austin the words that that that really this really is a regional issue. And I'd also like to commend Kelly Collopy and Theresa Chandler and the city's team for the level of collaboration I've been seeing lately with the county. And I think it's a level available at the collaboration that's there really is unprecedented since I've been involved in this work. So thanks again for your support for this measure. I know it's going to be a really big push to get the two thirds threshold of the voters. And I'd like to offer anything I can do personally to to help and inform the public to encourage people to get behind it. Thank you. Thank you. Next speaker, please. Good evening, honorable mayor and council members. My name is Maria Lopez. I'm an organizer for housing lobby and first district resident. I'd like to commend you all today for having. This difficult conversation. Right. Homelessness and housing has become the issue of our generation with rapid gentrification that has impacted rents, which has led to the displacement of vulnerable communities, which has an an overall affected and increase the amount of homelessness. Which continues to take a lot of our resources. So for me, as an individual having to. See and help these families. I see Measure H as. A light at the end of the tunnel. Right. Personally, I have experienced the restraints and services. Right. To get in a shelter. You need your ID, your birth certificate, your Social Security, even in some cases. Right. How many homeless individuals carry that around? Not necessarily. Right. So there is restraints. And getting. These services to get a family of four to get a TB test done, they only take the first five. I had to drop off a family in the middle of a storm at 7 a.m. and the Multi-Service Center offered a ride, offered. To pick them up to get them there on time so that they can take. Their nine year old. Boy who at eight who had. ADHD into a shelter. Right. So there is barriers that these individuals face and that we as individuals cannot help with as well. Right. So I do see the deep need for case management, affordable housing and also protections against displacement. Supporting those in need has always been the heart. Of our Long. Beach residents. Right. That's what we do. That's why we live here. And so today. I am glad to live in this city, because once again, we're standing up for the little guy. And once again, we are seeing a great. Need and we're solving it. So a huge thank you to all of you. And I look forward to to March 7th. Thank you. Thank you. And please, sir, so be our last speaker, this gentleman here in line, and then we're moving. We're going to go ahead and take a vote. So please. Mayors. Council members. First of all. Jesus. My, my, my. I wasn't going to say anything on this, but I heard Mr. Butler, Joshua Butler, speak, and he mentioned about the high prices and all this Long Beach and everything. And I was at a meeting a few weeks ago with him and he was telling that he was telling the meeting how some of the highest in the nation, when I just read is some of the lowest cost in the nation. Everybody who for what, 1100 dollars living right off ocean one bedroom. You can't do that anywhere. Anybody knows that. Not in Hermosa, not in Redondo. And so and then I called him up on that and he yelled at me. So my thing is this. And court, if you say something and it's not right, they usually impeach your testimony. So that's the reason why I'm up here, because I heard all the bleeding heart stuff, he said. But what I'm thinking about this whole situation, I hope this goes. We're supposed to go because we have other issues like the fact that this sanctuary city may not get the federal funding. We just voted down expanding the airport, so we just lost about a billion something there or whatever is money lost. So these taxes are going to the citizens and there's some rich citizens in Long Beach. But as far as the people who are just barely making it like me, that's hit me hard. And, you know, we paint rainbows in the streets charging $30,000. I'm not for that, but my taxes have to pay for it. And there's a lot of stuff going on and I have to say it. So by another tax, is it going to help? I mean, right outside, since you step out, shoot. As soon as I walked in here, I saw homeless setting up right at the library. Library wearing clothes. They put their stuff up, stinking and everything. So is it really going to help it along? Third Street, all that stuff we need to really do. So we're going to do something, do it. I mean, I've been here stuff for years. I want to see to be done. I'm from neighborhoods all over. They know, I know control going to help is going to drive everything up. It's going to make it just like Santa monica frisk on New York, the highest in the nation. We need we don't need any just cause eviction because then you got the dope dealers that you can't get out. And anybody black here, who knows you didn't have to go with your gun or something to go to Big Momma's house because them because next door they keep on selling dope. And they disrespecting the women and anybody who's from the eighties and nineties really knows the new jack city, you know. So we don't need nothing where you can't get where you can't get the molesters out. Well, you know all this. I don't want to be hostage. I'm a black man saying so. All that stuff and all the falsehoods. No. And I'm here to say my last 7 seconds. Josh, they don't believe Josh Butler. Okay. Thank you. We have a motion in a second on the motion, which is to support county measure H. Members, please go ahead and cast your votes on that. Motion carries nine zero. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. To the county supervisor and that that election. Madam Clerk, I know the election is is March 7th, is that correct? Is there any information that we need to give the voters on the election? I believe that ballots are being dropped around. You vote. By mail. Ballots are now being accepted in the city clerk's office. Okay. Or they can just make them incorrect. They can just mail them in. But we are one of the drop off sites. The city clerk and the lobby. Level of city hall right here. Okay, great. And so on. I believe if you are a vote by mail voter, I believe the counties probably sent those ballots out, as someone had said earlier. So thank you very much. Okay. Thank you all for that.