Long Beach : Homeless Proposals Studied

Amid complaints that the City Council has been too slow to help Long Beach’s sizable homeless population, a council committee is starting to review a number of recommendations made a year ago by a homeless task force.

Rather than send the recommendations on to the full council, the Housing and Neighborhood Committee this week decided to discuss them again Jan. 17, when the city staff will present a report evaluating the task force proposals. They range from preservation of the city’s single-room-occupancy hotels to a requirement that developers contribute to a trust fund for low-income housing.

“It just seems like we’re moving like molasses,” Councilman Clarence Smith declared, saying he thought it was time for the full council to vote on the proposals. But although Councilman Ray Grabinski also complained bitterly of the delay in considering the task force recommendations, he insisted that more work is needed before they are ready for a vote.

“We on the council have not done our job,” Grabinski asserted, contending that the council lacks leadership on the issue.