Homeless People

“Because Laguna Beach is very tolerant of the homeless.” Janet Barkawi Laguna Beach “I don’t know why they would come here more than anywhere else.” Michael Vallee Oregon “It’s a pretty accepting environment for all kinds of people.” Debra Kirchhofer Laguna Beach “I don’t think more homeless people gravitate toward Laguna.” Ronnie Williams Laguna Beach “Because there’s a good chance of getting a roof over their heads.

City leaders decided Tuesday that they weren’t ready to set a timer for homeless folks to stop using beaches and parks as campgrounds. Proposed revisions to a city ordinance that would prohibit people from making public areas their living space were set aside without action. Instead, the council unanimously voted to appoint Council members Kelly Boyd and Toni Iseman to create an oversight committee to deal with recommendations made by the Homeless Task Force on which they served.

Laguna Beach has begun turning away “nonlocal” homeless people from the Alternative Sleeping Location at the ACT V parking lot, according to Assistant City Manager John Pietig. The shelter has been at or above its capacity of 50 for 27 of the 31 nights in January, Pietig said. On two nights, 60 people sought shelter there. As a result, the city is now accommodating only homeless people who have ties to Laguna Beach, including having grown up or attended school here, having family in Laguna Beach, or a record of being homeless in Laguna for the previous 18 months.

The city has been backed into a corner legally and now must find someplace to offer shelter to homeless people in order to regain control of the city?s beaches and parks, indeed, all its public spaces. The ACT V parking lot is the only remotely acceptable choice: It is a developed site, not right next to homes, and is earmarked for public use only a few months of the year. Laguna Canyon residents are understandably not happy with the prospect of these new neighbors. But the folks who live across the street from Heisler Park were also not happy when groups of unhoused people began living and carousing day and night within eye- and ear-shot of them, after the city became unable to control the use of the public parks.

More homeless people are finding their way to Laguna Beach, and city officials have taken notice. The City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to direct the Affordable Housing and Human Affairs Committee to explore the issue of homelessness and work with community groups who have expertise in dealing with the homeless. "I think the population has grown, and I am seeing more aggressive behavior than in the past," said Councilman Kelly Boyd, who requested the item be put on the agenda.

City officials, police and organizers are very pleased by the early results of Laguna Beach’s Alternative Sleeping Location (ASL) for homeless people. The ASL opened Nov. 12 with a capacity crowd of 51 guests, Assistant City Manager John Pietig reported. By the morning of Nov. 13, the encampments at Heisler Park and local beaches had disappeared, as homeless people were made aware of the nighttime shelter by police and informed of the new law prohibiting sleeping at night on public property.

The Coastline Pilot went to the Laguna Club for Kids and asked, 'If you had a million dollars, what would you do with it?' "I would buy a horse to keep at a stable and take care of, and I would give the rest to charity." Samantha Garner, 8 "I would go to the Limited Too at the mall and buy clothes for myself." Alexander Chiriboga, 10 "I would buy clothes and food and toys for myself and my family, and for homeless people." Mary Munoz, 9 "I would go to the mall and go shopping for clothes and jewelry.

The Laguna Beach Resource Center, which assists the homeless and low-income families, is planning a fundraiser to support its new full-time case worker. Lisa Hall says she has been hired at the center in hopes of providing more in-depth services to Laguna Beach's homeless population. The May 12 benefit — a sale of boutique items at a local church — aims to enable the center to pay Hall's salary. Hall had volunteered at the center for two years before being hired on. She has worked in clinics for many years and was mentored by Kay Hough, who works with the homeless in Santa Ana. Hall greets her clients with firm hugs and warm words.

They call her "Mom. " She calls them "kids. " But Faye Chapman isn't nearly old enough to be the mother of the homeless people she ferries to the Alternative Sleeping Location in Laguna Canyon from a designated pickup location at the bus depot on Broadway. Chapman has an easy familiarity with the homeless, some of whom have obvious physical or mental disabilities. A few of the men tease and joke with her — some of the jokes are off-color and might offend most women — but Chapman smiles breezily and keeps to her mission.

The relocated Laguna Beach emergency homeless shelter, or Alternative Sleeping Location, began accepting lodgers Tuesday, according to city officials. The nightly shelter at 20652 Laguna Canyon Road replaces the temporary facility that has been in place since November at the ACT V parking lot at 1900 Laguna Canyon Road. The new facility is between the Dog Park and the Pacific Marine Mammal Center. Homeless people will be picked up at the city bus depot on Broadway beginning at 6 p.m. and transported by van to the new shelter, which is about a mile farther up the canyon from the former shelter site.

Laguna Beach will again be part of national Hunger and Homeless Awareness Week. The City Council issued a proclamation at the April 20 meeting designating Nov. 1 to 7 National Hunger & Homeless Awareness Week in Laguna Beach, and it will contribute $500 toward the printing costs of the week’s activities. Activities will be sponsored by the city’s Housing and Human Services Committee and organized by the Relief and Resource Center. Events will include a weeklong food drive, with the goal of doubling last year’s 25,000 pounds of donations and the “Hunger Bowl.

Homeless people who use the Alternative Sleeping Location will be getting a new home in Laguna Beach, and it?s all to the good. By mid-June, as the city gears up for the summer festival season, and the ACT V parking lot will be needed for visitors, if all goes as planned the mobile structure that houses the homeless at night will be sitting in a new location farther up-canyon. The new site, at 20652 Laguna Canyon Road, a former Verizon telephone facility, will give the homeless and homeless providers a larger area and more services.

We Lagunans witnessed two terrible events last week that should concern us. One was a man masturbating in the bushes while watching a child in a backyard. The other was a knife fight between four local teenagers that left one with a serious abdominal wound that required surgery. All involved must be held accountable for their actions. The fact that the man was homeless and the boys were teens has nothing to say about all homeless people or all teenagers. To me, these events should result in two obvious actions: 1. The police and our legal system need to deal with the responsible individuals in both incidents.

Laguna Beach has begun turning away “nonlocal” homeless people from the Alternative Sleeping Location at the ACT V parking lot, according to Assistant City Manager John Pietig. The shelter has been at or above its capacity of 50 for 27 of the 31 nights in January, Pietig said. On two nights, 60 people sought shelter there. As a result, the city is now accommodating only homeless people who have ties to Laguna Beach, including having grown up or attended school here, having family in Laguna Beach, or a record of being homeless in Laguna for the previous 18 months.

In this difficult economic climate there are more homeless people visible on local streets and parks than ever and seeing that they are fed and sheltered has become a bigger problem as well. In Laguna, a number of generous and big-hearted individuals have taken it upon themselves over the years to provide a variety of services. A dramatic example of a single individual’s recent effort is the work of Victoria Hales, who provides food, clothes and, she says, friendship to the homeless in Heisler Park.

1 City agonized over homelessness City agonized over homelessness Issues surrounding homeless people in Laguna Beach is at the top of the list for 2009. The issue actually hit the city hard late December 2008, when the American Civil Liberties Union filed a federal lawsuit — the day after Christmas — alleging the city’s anti-camping ordinance was unconstitutional. The firestorm that resulted from the lawsuit — and the ACLU’s stinging rebuke of the city for alleged mistreatment of the unhoused — made city officials plea for “public calm” in early January, as settlement talks proceeded.

The November meeting of the Laguna Beach Business Club was my last as this year’s president. During the course of the year, I’ve been honored to know more intimately the club’s members, as well as search out meaningful speakers to broaden our understanding and involvement within our community. It’s provided a opportunity to view our town against the backdrop of local and larger issues. Randy Kraft, the marketing and development director for Friendship Shelter, had agreed to discuss issues of homelessness, including the new shelter at ACT V. I had asked Randy to speak because I had uncovered something in myself that I did not like, and I was struggling both to understand and craft a path to change.