Orders 50% of Board to Be Local : W. Hollywood Ensures Larger Role in Shelter

Amid concern that West Hollywood residents might not have a sufficient say in how a proposed $1.2-million comprehensive center for the homeless operates, the City Council has voted to require that at least half the center’s board of directors be city residents or business owners.

A steering committee charged with drafting the bylaws of the nonprofit corporation that will be created to operate the center had recommended that at least a third of the board be city residents or business owners.

Geographical Limits

However, on Monday several council members said they wanted to make sure that more local people are involved in overseeing the proposed 70-bed shelter, including a representative of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, which provides police protection to West Hollywood.

The vote was 4 to 1, with Mayor Helen Albert dissenting.

The mayor, who served on the 16-member steering committee, said she was “opposed to placing geographical limits on who should be named” to the board.

“I’m concerned about finding qualified board members who are willing to serve, and I hate to see us reduce the chance we have to recruit people from outside the city who have the kind of expertise we’re looking for,” she said.

A leading opponent of the shelter criticized the committee for not insisting that more West Hollywood residents be included.

Restored Warehouse

“This (recommendation) doesn’t address whether (the shelter) is supposed to be a city program or a regional program,” Michael Radcliffe said. “If it’s going to be a city program, then more city residents and business owners should be included.”

He called for a two-thirds majority of board members to be city residents or business owners.

The shelter, which will occupy part of a restored furniture company warehouse at 1033 N. La Brea Ave., on the city’s east side, is expected to open late this year or early next year.

It has long been opposed by a group of east side residents and merchants who fear that the shelter will serve as a magnet for homeless people from surrounding communities and create an “overflow” transient population near their homes and businesses.

The center is to include a 50-bed emergency shelter and a 20-bed transitional shelter for those who qualify for up to 18 months of help in making a transition from homelessness.

The city has agreed to lease the top floor of the two-story warehouse for $119,000 a year for 10 years. Officials estimate that it will cost $600,000 to renovate the space and an additional $500,000 a year to operate the center.

The West Hollywood Homeless Organization, the nonprofit corporation, will have between 15 and 19 directors who will serve either two- or three-year terms.

The steering committee recommended, and the council agreed, that the board will also include a member of the City Council, a business person, a homeless person, an attorney, a mental health professional, a public health professional, a marketing expert, a member of the clergy, a financial expert and a professional with personnel expertise.

City officials had hoped to open the shelter by this summer, but City Manager Paul Brotzman said last month that it would probably be seven to 14 months before it opens because of design changes to improve fire safety.

The city has used West Hollywood Park Auditorium as a nightly emergency shelter for up to 50 homeless people since last June, when the City Council decided to close the city’s two main parks, where many homeless people were living, from midnight to 6 a.m.

Officials have said they will continue to operate the temporary park shelter until the permanent shelter opens.