Recommendation to adopt resolution redeclaring a shelter crisis; suspending applicable provisions of local law, including those contained in the City's zoning ordinances and regulations; and, authorizing the operation of a winter shelter, for the period of December 1, 2018 through March 31, 2019, inclusive; and Authorize City Manager, or designee, to execute a Lease, including any necessary documents and amendments, with the United States Veterans Initiative (Lessee), for approximately 7,318 rentable square feet of space at 5571 Orange Avenue for use as a winter shelter. (District 8)
Okay. Thank you. Moving on now to where we're going to be doing. Uh, of course, there was a request to hear 16. Right. Is that right? 16. Mm hmm. And of course. Item 16 is a report from Health and Human Services and Economic Development. Recommendation to adopt resolution read declaring a shelter crisis and authorize the operations of a winter shelter for a period of December 1st, 2018 through March 31st, 2019, and authorize City Manager to execute a lease with the United States Veterans Initiative, District eight. Thank you, Councilmember. Yes. I'd like to get a staff report, please. Thank you, Mayor. Councilmembers. I'm going to introduce Theresa Chandler, the bureau manager for Health and Human Services or Homeless Services Program. Teresa. Good evening, honorable mayor, vice mayor and council members. We are happy to support the winter shelter again for the service planning area eight. In Long Beach here. And our provider uSwitch is also here today. We have been a provider for several years. The city of Long Beach has hosted. The winter shelter. It's actually a program of last year, which is the combination of homeless services with the city and county of Los Angeles and the contract to provider us UCITS. For these years we have always supported the. The excuse me. Getting a building, getting a building and making sure that services are provided outside of the winter shelter. The Multi-Service Center has been a pick up. Location, along with a location in San Pedro, and we help orchestrate that. This year, the winter shelter will be at the old. Library. In the eighth District as it was last year, and this building is currently in the process of being sold. So this will be the. Last year that the winner shelter will take place at this location. Thank you very much. Contrasted. Thank you very much. And I'd like to just encourage our unanimous support for this item. Obviously, we are facing the winter months where the weather gets a lot colder. And this is an opportunity for us to provide shelter for for those who are living on the street, but also with that shelter providing access to opportunities and services that are that that our health department and U.S. vets can provide to hopefully get them off the streets and get them into services and the help they need. This is a multi-pronged approach supported by the County of Los Angeles, Lahsa, our our our health department, as well as our partner U.S. vets. And I can't say enough about the great work the U.S. vets did last year as the provider for the service in partnership with our city. It was amazing to watch them in action. The the the winter shelter, I think, was went without incident. Most of the residents who I had an opportunity to talk to, many were uneasy and unsettled by having the winter shelter in the neighborhood. I have told me that, you know, they didn't even really notice that it was there. So, again, hats off to U.S. vets. I'm glad that they are returning as a partner to to run this this program again and again. Council, I would ask for your unanimous support of sign. Thank you, Councilmember Ringa. Public comment. You know, Councilman Gonzales, the Councilman Gonzales said. Thank you. Good evening, Mayor Garcia, and thank you also Councilman Austin and the Council of Long Beach. I just wanted to add that us vets and our staff is here. There are some of us that are members of the California National Guard. Our job is to protect and to serve. And the winter shelter gives us the opportunity to protect and to serve the citizens of Long Beach and also for us to find military persons. Last year we were able to serve 815 and duplicated persons, and out of that we found 82 veterans. The Winter Shelter is a program that's designed to keep people off the street and to save their lives in the most critical weather conditions, which is cold and it's only a four month program. And we are gladly to be there even though we we work at US vets during the day. This is at night and we do it at night and we do it to save lives. And we thank you for. Encouraging everyone that. The homeless population and the homeless condition is going to be solved with all of our help. So thank you for the opportunity. Thank you so much. Let me do let me do Mr. Good. Here, then I'll go to Councilman Gonzalez. Obviously we fully supported this. And I want to suggest something also that can be done and I referenced this before are there are some small pods and I gave the council a few weeks ago, I think, pictures of them and I'll bring them down again that have been developed. And my thinking is what we could do is not just for winter but on a permanent basis, have three or four of those pods down. Next on on boathouse lane next to where the new eight end is going to be and which will have a complete can be a complete restroom and so forth. Then I research it and I think it's completely in concert with the basics of the Monroe Doctrine, which is the overall governing paradigm for that, and it would be specifically for people that are now being treated. At on a continuing basis at the VA hospital. And I have reached the stage where there are just a night circuit 60 to 90 days away from being released out into the wild, if you will, into their own home. And it's an excellent location for that, because with the motorized scooters people have, they could scoot down to either one of the two bus stops and be up at the seventh and the VA hospital and so forth. So I think I support this in concept. And again, I'll get the pictures out of the the pod. I have never personally seen them. I've seen the pictures of them and so forth. But I think there is ideal for that location and anything to support the vets. Thank you. Thank you. That concludes with a comment. Councilman Gonzalez. Theresa, thank you for this staff report. Are the two pickup locations going to remain the same? I don't know if I miss that. San Pedro and the Multi-Service Center, for the most part, yeah. For the most part, San Pedro, definitely. And the Multi-Service Center definitely in there could potentially be a third pickup site, but it has not been located yet and we'll be discussing that further. Okay, great. Thank you very much. Thank you, Councilman Austin. Yes. And I would like to just take this opportunity before we vote in advance. Thank the Council for your support of this item, but also invite my colleagues to come and check out the winter shelter. I think if you haven't been to one or anybody in the community for that fact that wants to volunteer and help and do some benevolent good, good goodwill in the community, I think it will go a long way to dispel myths about who we're serving and the services that are actually being provided. Because I say once you go there and see it, you'll find it. There's powerful work actually happening. So thank you. And I would be happy to come along with you if you want to want to do that. Get you through the eight district personal tour. Thank you. And before we vote, I wanted to just say just one thing. I think I shared this with the staff, but that this doesn't happen often. I was I was at a restaurant here in Long Beach, and a very lovely couple came up to me and they said, hey, we know we've never met. We live in the eighth District and we're the two that were the loudest in opposition to this winter shelter the last time it was in front of the council. You may remember us, and I did remember them because they were pretty vocal and upset and they said, you know, we live a couple of houses down. And I just want to tell you that we were absolutely wrong and we're sorry that we came in opposition. It was we didn't even know the winter shelter was there. And we lived just a couple of houses down from the site. They complimented Councilman Austin and his office and they complimented the staff. And they they just said that it was just it was amazing and that they would be supportive of continuing. And so I just want to thank them for comfort, for stopping me and in saying those kind of words and thankful to the staff for their work . So with that members, please cast your votes.