Bell : Homeless Plan Supported

The Bell City Council has unanimously supported a Salvation Army proposal to temporarily shelter up to 200 homeless people in a federally owned warehouse next to the California Bell Club casino.

“I still have reservations about it, but with bad weather coming up, from a humanitarian point of view, we couldn’t very well say no,” Mayor Pro Tem George Mirabal said.

During a 90-day trial period scheduled to begin sometime before Christmas, homeless men and women from southeast Los Angeles County would be bused to an 18,000-square-foot space in a warehouse at the federal Supply Service Center on Rickenbacker Road.

The plan, which has the support of a federal judge, has come under criticism from council members opposed to the idea of busing the homeless to Bell from Skid Row and other areas in Los Angeles County with a high homeless population.

“The approach to the shelter has been changed from a ‘bus them in and bus them out’ type of shelter to one where more time is spent with the individual,” Councilman George Cole said. “But our support is contingent on being involved in the evaluation process.”