SANTA ANA, Calif. (CN) - Mayors from cities across Orange County and members of the Board of Supervisors met at Ronald Reagan Courthouse in Santa Ana Tuesday under a federal judge’s invitation to “proportionally” distribute the work of creating short-term and long-term housing for the county’s homeless.
U.S District Judge David Carter invited the mayors and city managers from all 34 cities to participate in an unorthodox, court-supervised negotiation between leaders to identify potential sites for transitional housing, which could mean shelters, and permanent housing for the homeless population.
Carter said elected officials in the county could either “take leadership and address the crisis as a community” or wait for the court to produce a judicial solution.
“History will write about this and learn what kind of community we are,” he said.
Elected officials blamed years of neglect and mismanagement of county funds for the crisis the county finds itself in.
Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido said he was also guilty, adding that the city hasn’t done everything it can to fully meet the needs of the county’s homeless.
“We’ve had a broken system that brought us to present day conditions that are intolerable,” he said.
Michele Martinez, mayor pro tem of Santa Ana, said her city has “beared the brunt” of the homeless crisis, and that both residents and business “have had enough.”
Santa Ana is “not wealthy like South County,” she said. “All I’m asking is for all of us to do our fair share.”
Mayor Tom Tait of Anaheim said it will take “kindness and love” to meet the needs of the homeless, though the question of how to fund solutions must be taken seriously.
“Cities don’t really have money for this,” he said. “Every penny we spend comes from money pulled away from fire or police.”
Last month, the Orange County Board of Supervisors voted to spend a combined $90.5 million of county funds originally earmarked for services for people living with mental illness to provide permanent housing for homeless people.
County officials also said there are $2.5 billion in state funds allocated for mental health services, of which Orange County could receive at least $211 million, according to a state audit shared at the hearing.
A county official also said at least $100 million is slated to be raised from Orange County “legacy families” towards a countywide housing plan.
Adding to the mounting urgency in the ongoing homelessness crisis, converted military shelters may release up to 400 homeless people who will need housing as soon as April 7 according to Carter.
Under a county emergency shelter program, National Guard Armories provide shelter and services for the homeless during winter months.
He told city leaders he doesn’t have jurisdiction over their cities but could still initiate judicial intervention, likely by blocking cities’ anti-camping ordinances, if he didn’t see appropriate action.
“You’re the mayors, the city leaders who have tremendous power to decide on whatever your communities need,” Carter said.
Orange County Board of Supervisors Chairman Andrew Do said homelessness is a countywide issue that no city could evade responsibility for.
Certain cities, Do said, are unwilling to place homeless shelters in within their boundaries. He said to meet the challenges ahead, cities would need to work with their residents to agree to “share the burden.”
