Long Beach to Employ Coordinator of Homeless

After 15 months of work, the Mayor’s Task Force on the Homeless heard what it wanted to hear this week: City Council agreement to hire a coordinator and create a citizens advisory committee on the homeless.

The task force’s timing in asking for the new program was perfect.

With less than a month before a mayoral election and three council-district races, the politicians took pains to congratulate the group for its work while portraying themselves as sensitive to the plight of the downtrodden.

“We can’t help but shed a tear and think that there for the grace of God go I,” Mayor Ernie Kell said, referring to homeless people he has seen while driving through Long Beach streets.

Relations Were Strained

Last September, relations between some council members and the task force were shaky at best. Two months later, when task force members presented their final report, the council greeted them cordially but several members still appeared skeptical of key recommendations.

Kell and others also questioned the task force’s contention that the city has 5,000 homeless. According to City Manager James C. Hankla, the number of homeless is in the hundreds, not thousands.

On Tuesday, when an updated version of the task force’s report resurfaced, there was little debate. The only issue to stir discussion was whether senior citizens should be included under a planned Human Services Bureau, which would administer homeless programs, child-care services and other programs. Vice Mayor Warren Harwood insisted--successfully--on removing senior citizens from the aegis of the new agency, arguing that they had not been consulted.

In approving a package of recommendations Tuesday, the council agreed to spend $90,000 annually for a homeless services coordinator and the administrative support for a new citizen Homeless Services Advisory Committee. Of the $90,000, about $20,000 is already budgeted for such services and the remaining $70,000 would come from various grants, Hankla said.

The recommendations had been funneled through the council’s three-member Quality of Life Committee, which has yet to review some remaining task force recommendations, including creation of a cleanup center and shelter for the homeless.

Bonnie Lowenthal, the task force’s vice chairwoman, said: “Personally, I’m thrilled with the outcome.”

“There was very little comment today, which to me was the most surprising,” task force member Lupe Macker said. The council more readily embraced the recommendations this time around either because it came via three of its members or because it is election time, said Macker, head of the Long Beach-based Catholic Charities.

“I think that the timing is very good,” Macker said. “No one wanted to be awfully controversial about the homeless. They’re (incumbents running for office) very visible right now.”