 What do we fix karma karma So we'll have roll call and pledge allegiance Councilmember story here councilmember Peterson here councilmember Brooks here councilmember botter here mayor Bertrand here Seeing a lot of people here tonight. We have a special system for determining how much you'd like to say It's three two and one minute our city clerk will explain the procedure Yes, basically if you have a short comment One minute or less you should choose a green card from the large display at the back Those all of those holding green cards will be invited up first and you'll be timed for one minute next comes the Yellow card group which is two minutes And finally for those who wish to speak the full three minutes Those will be called up last. It's entirely your choice if you want to say something quick and go home and eat Pick up pick a green But you are welcome to choose whichever you prefer You can put as much or as little information as you want on the card I use them to get the spelling of your name right in the minutes Thank you one additional comment if you could line up because there's so many people that would help speed things along Are there any additional materials? Yes, we received 14 public comment emails. Thank you so This is a special healing and as permitted by a state government controlled We are limiting public comment to the agenda items So usually we have public comment ahead of time, but at this point we're not going to do that City Council comments or city staff comments Okay, so let's go into the general government hearing to consider a homeless shelter crisis decoration Staff report, please Mr. Mayor members of the council Tonight before you is an item to consider whether or not to declare a homeless shelter crisis in the city of Capitola California law allows cities to declare a homeless Crisis when a significant number of persons are found to be lacking in health thing lack lacking in shelter and thereby Resulting in a threat to their public health and safety the declaration allows the city to do a number of things specifically suspend some specific regulations around Housing and minimum safety standards that and also implement alternative Standards to ensure a minimal amount of public safety. It also grants immunity to from liability for operators of emergency shelters In addition what the declaration does is it also allows the city or potential Subrecipients sub grant recipients nonprofits and the like to tap into one time funding for capital expenditures within the city Those types of eligible expenditures would be for emergency shelters navigation centers transition centers The list you see on your screen To declare a shelter crisis the city would need to find that based on the last point in time count Which was last done in 2017 that the number of Unhoused individuals found within the city constitutes a crisis. You can see the number here County Y was 22,249 in Capitola we had 21 unsheltered individuals The city of Santa Cruz Watsonville and the county have all declared shelter crisis and the deadline for such a declaration would be January 15th to make it Now I want to talk a little bit about the available funding. It was through SB 850 that the state made I think it was I Think I can't remember the statewide number. It was 500 million statewide available for Solutions for homeless problems through the homeless emergency aid program or heap. I'll use that acronym Throughout this presentation the number for Santa Cruz County. Our region is just under nine point seven million dollars. That's made available The funds go to our regional housing action partnership or HAP Who will then allocate the funding through a grant process and the declaration as I mentioned before would allow Grant applicants to submit an applicant application for a capital improvement within the city of Capitola What isn't impacted by a crisis declaration is is that regional services funded through the heap could be used by individuals within the city Even if we don't have a shelter crisis for example the sort of person-based regional housing assistance or Programs to avoid homelessness that are regional in nature People within the city would be able to enjoy those benefits, but a place-based rental assistance program For example like a master lease department building that would not be an opportunity to be funded Through the heap grant without a shelter crisis declaration In general the heap grant application is divided the funding from the heap grant That's been submitted to the state and it's divided into these six basic categories 26 percent are about two point five million dollars is for services. That's sort of street outreach examples housing navigation Hygiene facilities safe parking things along those lines 17 percent are about one point six million is for rental assistance or subsidies These can be prevention and diversion programs rapid rehousing rental assistance security deposit guarantee program those kinds of things Capital improvements, which is the largest pot is 35 percent about three just under 3.4 million That can be for those list of items that we saw on the previous slide shelters navigation centers Expansion to affordable housing programs incentives to build a to use Sort of more immediate solutions storage hygiene centers those types of things Lastly, there's a required homeless use set aside carve out a 15 percent Which is about just under 1.5 million that can be for youth facilities Drop-in centers housing options mental health treatment things along those lines The other line is really strategic planning program evaluation community outreach and then the heap administration Really just comes down to front funding the cost up to get all the money onto the street So the county-wide budget that we're going to be receiving from the state is this 9.7 million and that's that's the same independent of whether or not the city makes a crisis declaration or not The city of capitol has a long history of participating in regional homeless efforts This year we've allocated $34,000 out of our general fund to participate in the regional winter shelter homeless shelter program And to fund an improved coordinated entry system Coordinated entry is intended to be a single system so that if an individual is experiencing homelessness that they end up Regardless of which door they choose which service provider they encounter that they end up in the integrated system county-wide The city also allocates significant funding through our community grant program to different nonprofit entities who provide services to homeless individuals including in compass HSC homeless services center families and transition big brothers big sisters United Way With that takes us to our potential action for this evening So council has a discretion whether or not they want to consider the resolution to declare a homeless crisis shelter Within capitol alternatively no action is needed this evening if a shelter crisis declaration is not warranted with that I'm available for questions City Council Sam any questions? Okay Okay, no at this point. I'd like to open it for General comments from the audience here and remember choose the card that you'd like depending on how much time you'd like to speak So just come right forward Green cards first, I'm sorry try to line up since there's many people to speak tonight and And thank you very much for showing up appreciate the participation here. Thank you My name is Mark Kane and my wife and I are residents here in Capitola and on this issue I just want everybody to know that I've never been on a board of a Non-profit nor am I a paid advocate for homeless? I'm just a resident and I respectfully Asked the council to vote no on this I don't think it's a path that Capitola wants to go down and especially not to duplicate the efforts that are already there It's been shown that them if you're spending money, it's better to spend it on the existing programs in Watsonville in our case Santa Cruz City and Santa Cruz County. Thank you. Thank you mark Any other green cards? My name is Chris Irving. I'm a resident as well as a business owner here in Capitola And I my vote is for no also on the homeless shelter various reasons that area was Is next to Capitola bill is that was also kind of a sore spot already a sore spot with parking and traffic I do like the idea of providing some sort of assistance to these people. I don't think a homeless shelter is the right Course of action for that. I also think that I'd like to see how we determine a crisis and I Think that it said significant amount of people. So I'm wondering how that's determined. It looks like for the the heap funding. There are very Succinct numbers and it's broken out into a formula. They've done a lot of thought on how they derive at those It seems like this is kind of arbitrary as far as what we're determining to be a significant amount of people That's it. Thanks. Yeah, thank you Chris Hey more green cards Hi, my name is Paul Robinson. I am a homeowner on 38th Avenue And I would like a no vote on the homeless shelter because I Feel like it's not a good location, especially with those train tracks right there Thank you. Thank you, Paul Yeah, just to get that. Yeah, this is a little More green cards, you know, so it's not really so you're right. Okay So next color up if we're not. Oh, we have another green card. Sorry. Hi, my name is John Griffith. I'm a resident here Yes, I'd like to urge the The council to vote no For one, I don't see where or I'd be interested to know how this is a crisis with 21 homeless people I think probably people in Capitola for the most part look at what's gone on in Santa Cruz and pray to God that we don't have the same scenario here of So many resources over there that perhaps so many homeless that aren't from here and others that are falling into that category that are Dealing or using drugs have changed Santa Cruz forever I think a lot of people in Capitola want us to retain the charm that we have now, so I'd like to urge you to vote no Thank you, John Come on right up So we have one more green card behind you sir. No, that's okay Thank you for your this opportunity As I asked you to vote no on this this has happened very quickly. I think There's an issue to get the Grant wrote by tomorrow And I think that's a poor decision for our city We have Supported the homeless through the county seat and the Santa Cruz County through Santa Cruz I know we've donated money helped out where we can this is something that's an action that you guys are kind of Real fast. I don't think there's thought to it and I don't think it's necessary. It's like 1% is in Capitola It's not a crisis It's the time to sit down and really give thought to what we want to do if we get a chance with this money not just oh, let's do this and We have an opportunity to get a handful of money and help out. So please vote no Steve Kramer here. Thank you, Steve. No more green cords Thank you Hi Jeff Watts local resident, I live on the railroad tracks Right next to the 38th Avenue location. You're considering I think I Would say this would be a no Because We already deal with a lot of problems on the railroad tracks. We live right on the railroad tracks We deal with so many issues with people that are homeless and that are on the railroad tracks One of the things that my girlfriend has overheard people talking back there. They talk about whose houses they're gonna break into There's gang affiliation back there I think that this thing would raise a lot more problems and I don't think you guys would like it That's it. Thanks. Thanks, Jeff. Are we finished with green cards? Seeing none yellow, I think that's an expert come on up Thanks, sir. Good evening. My name is Neil Goldstein. I believe you all received my email I'm here to speak against the homeless shelter crisis declaration I'm a veteran who arrived here over 40 years ago I lived in Santa Cruz as a homeless person until I found my way. I am now a homeowner in Capitola How did I get why is this at a minute? Oh, I see. How did I get from there to here? Homeless owning a home here Also homeowners are being blood-dried by taxes and that's something that we've got to consider The answer is simple because nobody offered me a free ride. I Knew that I had to work to eat. I Worked as a bus boy and a dishwasher in the catalyst. I cleaned toilets and mop floors as a janitor I picked fruit for growers. I swung a hammer and construction. I gained skills Then went to real Cabrillo College to gain more. I found pride in my accomplishments and learned to strive for more. I Am thankful that there was a no assistance for the homeless no free food and no free shelter back then Those are the chains that could have destroyed me Public assistance is like a drug. It takes away the will to strive and succeed It takes away self-respect in pride. It is a chain that binds us It is the need and pride that drives people to greater heights and to achieve their potential this special meeting for what I consider a fabricated crisis has Concerned me. I have read that three people in this council were against it and Two were for it What I consider secret deals in back rooms to bring despair and hopeless Hopelessness to our city must not allowed be allowed. You need to do better People are coming not to trust you and we'll be watching you. I have to say no to this money and power grab Based on a fabrication Thank you. Thank you very much Neil Hi, my name is Todd but yeah, I'm a business owner and homeowner here locally. I vote would encourage you to vote no For this measure I have two young kids two and four Play on the street, which I believe you guys have determined a location I think many of us in here have no clue even how you determine the location and how quickly you determine a location So enlightening us a little bit more on the path of defining a place enlightening us on a deeper path on your PowerPoint slide again some of the neighbors mentioned The articulation you can Provide to the community on how you're going to spend the money and the methods in which you do versus understanding clearly what is the definition of a crisis and where is that population distributed amongst the cities and how we measure up against that and when it is becoming of something that you can Declare as a crisis would be beneficial for all in this room to clearly understand So I vote no if I had the right to vote no and I encourage you guys to vote no And I encourage you to try and educate the community before decisions are made like this Thank you, Todd Good evening. My name is Daniel freeze. I'm a new resident of the Capitola one year seven years part-time before that I'm glad to call this home now I Asked the council to vote no again with many others to start up here before me It seemed to be rushed it seemed that the last meeting three people We're not going to let it go through and it got put to an emergency meeting Very quickly and very quietly and doesn't seem there to be enough public comment to that In reviewing the heap information In regards to rental assistance assisting these individuals trying to find Education and whatnot. I see a glaring thing missing as addiction Addressing that issue which I think is an overwhelming concern by a lot of people and I think that that is not clearly listed is something that the heap Designs should be addressed as well as in part of the actual document itself for the California Homeless Coordinating Financial Council Page h3 Estates that a collaborative process may include but not limited to a public meeting regional homeless task force meeting letters of support and signatures of endorsement and adopted homeless plan and Adopted budget which includes heap funds proof of public process may include sign-in sheets many Meeting minutes agendas public comment logs and other items is important that a wide enough range of Participants are consulted as part of the process. I asked you to do that. Thank you. Thank you Hi, I'm Bruce Dunn. I live in Depot Hill and 20 year resident here and Santa Cruz for 40 50 years I'm not urging a yes or no because I think you have Good enough intelligence to know yes or no but my point is I think and it's been said before that there are three types of homeless situations and All I hear in Santa Cruz for these last 70 years, whatever I've been and here tonight the short notice I don't know what else you're thinking but There's more than one type of homeless and you have to treat the three different types differently in my opinion one Will be women and children whose husband have left them or had lost their job They really need all the help we can get as soon as we can get them. That's money well spent secondly The mentally ill and drug people they need to be incarcerated or they'll never get better as you see by the shooting up in Davis and Every other shooting almost somebody who's just gone berserker Should not have been left walking around they all have previous Incidences now that's a tough one the figure, but that's a third of the people who are mentally ill they shouldn't be bunched in and the third is people who kind of like that style and God bless them if they like it let them do it put them a little shelter like a tin hut But 90 not 90,000 bucks a month like they did the Santa Cruz and then After a while give them a bus ticket Thanks. Thank you Any more yellow cards? Okay next color Three minute orange orangish red cards orange red cards three minutes. Ah, Neil. Thank Now there you go Good evening. My name is Nelson Westman resident Riverview Drive. I Don't know really how you determined that 21 people in a city of 10,000 people constitutes a homeless crisis Which authorizes a city on an emergency basis to suspend land use rules Building codes public hearing processes health and safety rules respect for neighborhood integrity in the community welfare in general In order to create a homeless shelters to invite homeless persons from deer and far to come on down to Capitola by the sea Further the thrust of this is to divert staff time and fiscal resources to creating operating and maintaining homeless shelters Time and money which should already which is already fully committed to carrying on the daily functions of city government that we all depend on And of course the deal is complete with the typical cynical government tactic of dangling tantalizing One-time grant money to get cities to embark on programs for which there is no ongoing operational funding and placing financial burden ultimately and the burden of dealing with the negative impacts squarely on the shoulders of local residents and taxpayers It seems like I regularly read in the newspaper about cities unsuccessfully trying to come up with an effective solution for homelessness Somehow I never hear a mayor say oh, yeah We have this totally under control and we are tickled pink to be a magnet for homelessness This sort of decision could have major implications and negative impacts on our community To rush it in on an emergency basis with little or no opportunity for public participation is just plain bad government slow down This is one bell that may prove very difficult to unring Just continue your current policy of Contributing prudently to funding larger and nearby agencies who have the staff They have the expertise and they have the locations to deal with operating homeless shelters. Thank you Thank you Nels TJ. Oh, excuse me Good evening. My name is Laurel LeBaron and I'm a Santa Cruz County homeowner and I just wanted to kind of piggyback off of some of the other comments that have been made Something that put homelessness on my radar is that I recently went to New York City with my children on an educational trip And what I noticed more than the Broadway shows and the Statue of Liberty was that there were no homeless people there I was ran. We went on the subway. We walked the streets We went to a Broadway show and walked for about half a mile and I was looking around not one homeless person and That got me thinking and I started talking to people on the subway and I started noticing these signs that said Do do you need shelter? Do you need help? Do you need a hand and everything became centralized and So I would vote no on this and urge you to vote no because I think we need you to look at Communities that have made this work and I know they have different weather and different things like that But they found something that has made it work There are not people living on the streets at least in Manhattan and the areas that I visited and I ended up speaking to people on The subway I spoke to people in restaurants and they all said that There's a centralized group and they do kind of a triage where they look and like the gentleman said they they decide is Are they homeless because they've lost their job? Are they homeless because of an addiction? Are they homeless because of mental health issues? Is it just they need a hand up? You know, they're just you know one month away from making it and once they determine that then they Determine what's gonna happen? They have some sort of dormitory lifestyle living for people that just can't make it on their own But what they don't do is just blanket Lee give everybody the same thing and because it isn't the same and I volunteer now at homeless shelters. I've even helping a family. Our family is helping them You know, we've helped them. They stay in a motel. They have three small children all the children have special needs It's very difficult for them. So I'm saying that because I feel like that I have a right to say something now because I'm putting my money where my mouth is Literally, but I think the centralized idea or somebody to call The governor of New York or whatever, you know, what are they doing? That's working because what we're doing is not working Have you been to Costco lately? I mean, you know, and if centralized is working there I think if we split it up and did something in Capitola it might take away from being centralized and coming up with that That's my opinion. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Laura DJ Good evening, and I sent you a letter late, but I'll be brief about it first off my hats off to Neil I don't know Neil, but Thank you for serving and and I think he makes a great point about having a maybe a hand up but not a hand out And you really can't say any better than that. I I'm happy for where he's he's got himself in life I am a little disappointed we're here quite frankly the majority of the board or the city council did not want to move forward with this and The mayor chose to use his authority to call a special meeting and I think that's unfortunate because it's it's a device of Topic it's hard to talk about the homeless problem without sounding sounding insensitive But I'm with the rest of group here that I'm not for moving this forward There's a lot. There's a lot of reasons why I don't know if you had an opportunity to talk with our police department They had some interesting statistics They ran around 20,000 calls in 2015 2016 and 2017 each year not between over the three years, but 20,000 each year and service calls What they notice is is trying to define which calls are actually for homeless not so they created a new code and From April 2018 to December 2018. They found that they're running about 19 calls per month about You could extrapolate that out to about 230 calls annually, but keep in mind That's for what we have identified and how I'm not really sure that we have 21 homeless and in a capitol So if you extrapolate that out towards bringing homeless into our town The call volume is gonna only go up and you may or might not know that I'm an advocate of our police department I think we're underfunded and understaffed and with 20 officers running those calls I think we've run into more difficulty and not be able to keep up with that in addition the city has recently Chose to add marijuana cannabis cells on 41st Avenue north of capitol road and If you studied any reports in fact, I sent you a letter of some reports that show that Homeless goes up 23% in Colorado Springs, and it's the same in Washington and other areas just for the sales of cannabis. I don't know why that's just what our statistics find So you add that on to the homeless problem homeless with the cannabis cells I just see is it not a winning situation? Obviously 21 doesn't really create a crisis in our town I think our city does more than its share when it comes to trying to help out the others We give 2% of our annual budget or close to For nonprofits that's by far more than the other communities in our area So we do that our city manager sits on the board with HAP and we give them $34,000 a year But one thing that this did cause me to do is do a little more research and in the I go real quick cap Actually has some strict a strategic plan that identifies Capitola as having some homeless For youth and stuff areas to serve and I that seems like a bypass is this situation And I would hope that our city council maybe the city manager is the on top of that and keep us involved In that process what I don't like is a planning commissioner in the city is that this allows bypassing circumventing a lot of the input from state and local Statutes for what normal and you have us one of us would have to go through to have a business or occupancy here So I would ask that you vote no on this and Keep us informed of any new improvements and what's going on with HAP. Thank you. Thank you Good evening Most of actually what I wrote already was Covered the one to tell you before we end up with a lawsuit on a technicality your date socials 2018 up there on the meeting So we should fix that So I do want to just touch upon a couple things if I may You know, I do agree 21 is an unfortunate number, but it is not I don't believe it's a crisis I think that we have a lot more things going on in our city that could warrant attention and funding if it's available I guess what I really want to know I have some questions personally about what what how we would Facilitate going down this path, you know, such as you know, are the people are they sober? Are they drug-free? You know, have they taken advantage of or have they tried to take advantage of other services offered by our county? Who's going to who's going to monitor who would be available or elected to utilize this housing? Do we have a check and balance, you know, are they allowed to stay for long periods of time? Where would the shelter be? There's lots of rumors floating around So I think that would be a big a big question that I think the community, you know would like to know Grant money can only go so far. So are we building a new building? Are we going to? consider You know obtaining housing the city going to purchase housing and allow this for being used in is a shelter Crisis is that a short term? Is that a long-term stint? You know, I think that I think that there's a lot to Consider when you know wanting to go down this path and I don't think anybody Wants to have a welcome to Capitola like we have now in Santa Cruz. I mean it is it's it's gotten ridiculous down there personally I think that there are programs available. I think that it does require some education. I think I Think that you know having to pay for public safety in terms of monitoring, you know, how how are we going to? Keep you know keep this from opening floodgates and having these facilities overrun with people Not being in in the facility, but in and around the facility in the joining area So I do just want to say I mean and like I said most of everything has already been sent You know echoed tonight, but I did want to just kind of run down those Thank you. Thank you Any more red cards? Okay, with that seeing no more comments. I'll bring it back to City Council for Deliberation I'd like to cover one thing first from staff This has been mentioned as being rushed. Can you comment on why this happened? Mr. Mayor members of the council so the the issue the issue came about because Originally the timeline to make a shelter crisis declaration was the end of this month and The county submitted the application to the state over the Christmas holiday Then they were told at that point the deadline had been moved forward to January 15th So that was when the January 15th. That was the first time that date Came up was I think we were informed of January 4th Okay, so normally we would have had a regularly scheduled agendized item for this in this case we were under a deadline so I felt necessary to call an emergency meeting because This is an important issue for this community and I believe that an issue like this deserves public Vending I believe it involves the public having their chance to say about things that affect their community That's why I ran on that campaign. So that's why we're here tonight So with that I'd like to open it to City Council comments Sam. Yeah, thank you, Mayor And thank you everyone for coming out on a rainy day and night To speak on this issue. I think it's a reflection of how much we care about our community And how much we care about this issue? And so I appreciate everyone's comments and the emails that you sent us but and and One to clarify there was some questions and comments about you know, is there a shelter? Where's the shelter just to be clear? There's no contemplation from the city's standpoint about building a shelter This was not about that. It was about having the city become eligible for many of those other types of funding that that you saw listed in the staff report rental assistance subsidies support services and And that's why we here because all of a sudden we were informed that the deadline is tomorrow And so we needed to consider this issue But let me get to the point about whether or not for the evening about whether or not We should declare a shelter crisis and I know I've seen Communities throughout big and small cities and counties throughout California Making these declarations just for the purpose of being eligible for this funding however, unfortunately because of the bad timing I Do not support us passing this a resolution this evening for a shelter crisis. It's just It's it's too serious of an issue. It's come to us too quickly and we haven't had time to really Incorporate everyone's input to really flesh out the issue to try to come up with smart solutions for our community and So I just want to be clear about That because of you know the due process Issues I'm not going to support Declaring a shelter crisis this evening With that said, I hope that we can continue this dialogue Because I know now 21 may not seem like a large number and it may not be a crisis number However, we are surrounded by crisis and the homeless don't necessarily Abide by any particular boundaries and so we should be mindful of How that number Continues to change and grow and what I hope is because at the end of this month There's going to be another point in time count and we will shortly they after Know whether that 21 has a grown to 45 as it dropped to 15 And that will give us some sense of what we're Facing and confronting and maybe what are the best solutions and for us to have time together to You know prepare an appropriate response with plenty of public input to To develop any particular strategy that we've had, you know the strategy as I understand it in the resolution There's a reference to the home Capitola's homelessness plan and that's in essence that plan is an all-in plan In other words, we will work with the major Players non-profits and other government entities in Santa Cruz County On a common initiative and collaboration I think that that's well and good and we should continue to do that and And And I think the one of the last points and and I'll share with you Some of what is maybe driving my concern about the homelessness issue And that's a recent case that was handed down by the federal appeals court And the name of that and that was in 2018 the name in that case is Martin versus City of Boise and What that court held and it's the law of the land here in, California is that? that municipalities cannot enforce their Anti-sleeping or sitting or lying ordinances when the homeless individuals do not have Alternatives in the words if there aren't enough shelter beds, they can't be prevented from sleeping in public places And so I think that we need to be mindful of that decision and what it means is that a do-nothing strategy May cause us to lose control And so I think that with that facing us we need to look at what are the best solutions working with our police department? to be able to maintain our abilities to enforce our ordinances and And to keep the community Orderly and maintain the charm that we have But I think it's important in order for us to be able to do that that we continue to work collectively with the The major initiatives and the county that we support the developments of of shelters In other parts of the county and you saw I mean we give now $34,000 to the winter shelter But if you look at the numbers in the staff report, it's showing that there's an unsheltered number in the county as a whole of 1800 basically 1799 and so If that Population continues to grow and if we don't maintain our ability to control the issue by both through compassion and through Civic responsibility making sure that there are the appropriate shelters. They are the appropriate beds for the appropriate people and If we we need to do that in order that we can maintain control in our community But with that said, I mean I'm hoping that we can continue this dialogue And when the new Point-in-time count comes out we can see where that has gone And maybe try to understand it more and then develop a collective strategy to deal with it But so but I'm gonna vote no on the question for the evening And again, thank you for listening and thank you for coming out Excuse me. Are we on item five where it's just city council staff comments not talk to Do we need a motion on the table to actually discuss the item We're discussing right now if during discussion someone would like to make a motion anyone on the council here is able to accept myself Yes, thank you everyone for coming out tonight and for the emails that you sent I appreciate your input and I think it's important to be a part of this process and and I appreciate that As TJ mentioned, it's hard to discuss these issues without sounding insensitive And these are emotionally charged issues And I very much believe that as a society It's our responsibility to take care of those who have trouble taking care of themselves and as mentioned There are issues of mental illness and addiction and other co-occurring conditions that you often see in homeless under sheltered and unsheltered communities That being said I'm not for a Shelter crisis declaration in Capitola and not because I don't think that there is a crisis for those who are Homeless in our region, but because I don't think that 21 in Capitola is enough to constitute a crisis And because we have so many that are unhoused in South County and in Santa Cruz County It seems almost inappropriate to expect them to travel Here to receive the services that they need so my Concern about this isn't necessarily Coming from a place of keep them out of Capitola as much as it is we need to meet them where they are to provide the services that they need So with that I I'm going to go ahead and make a motion now that we not declare a shelter crisis But that we direct staff to continue efforts to address this problem regionally through the seat in the executive board on the HAP Through our rental assistance program that we work with with cab And through other programs that can address this problem regionally rather than in a very short Excuse me small Area such as Capitola. I'll second that motion is the motion on the floor and second any other comments All right First of all to the community. I want to apologize for you having to take time to come out for this meeting I believe that when you elect us as your officials There's a little bit of response by that you take and you put confidence in us to make decisions that are appropriate. I Think there's a saying that you can gain confidence by the raindrop and you lose it by the bucket full and Tonight I'm afraid that you know we put a little fear in you on Thursday night By not dealing with the situation when it first came up. I Don't think that the the intention or I don't think that the city council should be here to put fear in you about your home And your livelihood and where you've chosen to reside I Think we all know there's a fact that there is a very severe homeless situation in this county I think we're all sensitive to it. We want to believe that we're doing what we can City capitol it makes some contributions to that problem, but to solve the problem I don't even know that we know what the answer is, but it's probably going to take a lot of money This fund that's coming from the state is a godsend because we all know as was mentioned There is actually a homeless crisis going on right now in Santa Cruz. We see it There was a tax measure that was on the ballot last year measure H Which was an effort by politicians in the county a lot of people in this county to raise approximately $140 million to address this problem That might have made a serious dent in the problem Unfortunately that measure failed and It failed because I believe the measure wasn't ready to be introduced to the public The people that put it together Great people great minds, but they didn't have it fully vetted so that it would appeal to the citizens of this county I think that that measure if it was looked at and was maybe waited a couple more years to put on Might have gained some some support might have had more meetings more input And maybe we can come up with an idea on how to address the problem But the number one thing about transparency when you hear about transparency is is that this is where you have open government And you try not to do things without people knowing I Don't think that we were transparent by having a discussion on Thursday than bringing it back on Friday and not letting people to see what's going on That's not transparency to me So I'm disappointed that we're here tonight But I'm glad that that I feel like we're going in the right direction. I Think the crisis that we see in Santa Cruz is bona fide. I think 21 people does not represent a crisis. I Personally driven around the town to the locations where the homeless reside And this number that it may change when they do a reanalysis. I think there's measures that we can do to address the problem I think we have Situations that exist here that allow for opportunities For homeless people to get in backyards and neighborhoods and areas where they can cause problems What we really need to do and what my hope is is that we come up with a problem The people that are working on this down the road to resolve this But for right now what I need to do is is what we need to do is we need to to restore the faith in the community And I think that comes by us, you know making a concerted effort not to do something like this again To make sure that the moves we do are calculated to make sure that we follow the procedures And to make sure that we don't take initiatives on our own to try to solve a situation Thank you I'm sorry, you know I Appreciate that you want to applause when you hear something good But you know what we really need to do is this this situation is severe and applause is really not good for any of us Because some people might be you know put off like they don't want to talk I think we all know in our hearts that we would like to do something about the homeless situation So anyway, I appreciate your your concern to want to do that, but thank you I Excuse me. I appreciate councilman Peterson bringing forward and the rest of council tonight that this is an issue that we need to keep our eyes on and so for me running on a platform that Stated clearly that I want to invest in In our children this really hit home for me because what was presented to us was not necessarily a Shelter or a homeless shelter it was brought to us as a youth center for youth to 22 and so when that was discussed with me and brought to our attention that sounded compelling and That is what was brought forward and I and I just want to add that there is an absolute Process in how these decisions are made so other cities like Santa Cruz and Watsonville who adopted this process or excuse me this declaration they to have to go through a Community outreach process they have to get feedback from the community. There's multiple steps and so being here today. I Just wanted to make sure that all of those questions that were brought forward that I just wanted to address that So I wanted to share that with show that with all of you today So again, I appreciate Kristen bringing that forward I think it's very important that we keep an eye on this issue. It is a county-wide crisis meaning it affects all of us so As we maintain being engaged I hope that all of you can continue emailing us any ideas and any Additional input that you have in what? Capitola and and all of us as residents can do to help this county-wide issue because it does affect all of us So, thank you Thank You vet So I have a few comments First all there's a motion on the floor and we'll assume vote on that I am not going to declare an emergency I never really did have an intention of declaring an emergency to me the numbers are clear All too often We're like ostriches. We put our head in the sand All too often we do not want to talk about difficult issues They are difficult because we have to make choices that will make some people Uncomfortable some people will be very upset some people will be who knows what? this society is Be set by all sorts of problems and it doesn't help us if we walk away from it So yes last Thursday, I did take the What was my power I asked the the city attorney to do you know roll on that or Define that to ask for an emergency meeting and the reason why is I wanted to get that discussion started I See good people are many of you I know In the bottom of your hearts, I don't think any of you wouldn't want to help when you can You get a discussion going that makes this issue pertinent to everyone And then it becomes important enough for the city council to do things like allocate money for the nonprofits that actually focus on these issues Capitola out of this whole county is one of the few areas that really out of proportion in a sense Focuses on trying to solve community problems by putting money where its mouth is We give to all sorts of programs that help people not become homeless We give money to people and in agencies that help people who are homeless We give money to agencies and people that want to deal with mental health issues This community should be very thankful for doing that Because that helps solve a general problem that is in a sense way beyond our Small towns capability of solving we should be very happy and glad That we're able and that we are willing to fund those programs So yes, I did bring everyone here on Monday not to get you startled and not to get you all scared about Walking down the street and stuff like that if that's the way you feel I'm awfully sorry. I Think Sam Sam said it the best way people came here because they're concerned So I'm really happy you came I Was actually like Neil I Remember I left house 18 or 19 years old. I didn't know what the heck I was doing It took me to about 36 to finally get it settled down start a family and get going as He bet just said having a youth center Might have helped me out. I don't know. I mean I wasn't that crazy. I don't know I don't know But I did not get my my life started that soon. Let's put it that way so That issue did sort of had some resonance to me and that's what started us off on this But my main point tonight is I do not want this city government this city council to be making Decisions about things without an open process an open process sometimes starts in my mind But bringing forth things that are difficult and With that I'd like to take a vote Would you call up? Councilmember story Peterson Councilmember Botthorff all right and Merrick Bertrand. Hi with that meeting is closed. Thank you for coming