San Fernando Rescinds Motion to Close County Welfare Office

The San Fernando City Council on Monday rescinded a motion aimed at closing a county welfare office after the mayor said the county Department of Public Social Services has remedied some problems that upset neighbors and is preparing to move the office anyway.

Residents of a middle-class neighborhood surrounding the Maclay Avenue welfare office have been complaining to the council about conditions they say are caused by crowding at the office.

Some welfare recipients leave litter and urinate on the lawns of nearby homes, residents and city officials have said. Drug dealers and prostitutes have appeared in the area in recent weeks, apparently to cater to welfare recipients waiting outside the office, the residents said.

On Aug. 7, the council unanimously approved a motion to attempt to use the city’s police powers to close the county facility if conditions there did not improve in two weeks.

Mayor Daniel Acuna met with Supervisor Mike Antonovich on Thursday to discuss measures taken by the county to improve conditions at the facility. Acuna told the City Council on Monday night that he was pleased with the county’s actions.

Chairs have been placed outside the office and access to the office’s restrooms has been improved for welfare recipients, Acuna said. A third security guard has been hired to patrol the facility and the San Fernando Police Department has increased patrols in the area.

Cooperation Lauded

“They are cooperating in finding a solution,” Acuna told the council. “They are moving as rapidly as the bureaucracy allows them to.”

The council agreed, without objections, to rescind the threat of city action.

The Social Services Department’s lease on the building is scheduled to expire in August, 1990, department officials said. Acuna said it is likely that the department will move the San Fernando office to another building by the beginning of next year because there is no expansion room.

Armand Porter, chief of the department’s northern division, said the department has identified a potential new site for the office in an industrial area near Arroyo Avenue and Foothill Boulevard, less than a mile from the current office.

Department officials have said crowding at the office is partly the result of a Los Angeles City Fire Department order in April that limited occupancy to 35 people. As a result, the more than 150 welfare recipients who come to the office each day were forced to wait outside.

Nancy Mayer, director of the YWCA center across the street from the office, said conditions had improved slightly, but added that the problems need long-term solutions. She said staff shortages at the welfare office force recipients to wait outside for long periods.

“They put chairs outside the building but it isn’t really enough,” she said. “The problem is that there’s not enough staff in the department to help people.”

The staff shortage was the subject of a labor protest by social workers Monday. About 75 social workers and their supporters demonstrated against budget cuts and staffing shortages outside the department’s East Valley office in Panorama City.

“We’re fed up, we won’t take it any more!” the demonstrators chanted.

There are about 24% fewer staff members than are authorized for the Panorama City office, said Linda Renta, a representative of Service Employees International Union Local 660.

“It just creates all kinds of problems,” Renta said. “Children who should be getting help aren’t getting it and people who need food stamps have to wait and wait. These people aren’t getting the services they deserve in a timely matter.”

Union officials said Monday’s protest was one of a series planned at department offices as the union negotiates a new contract with the county. The current contract is scheduled to expire Sept. 30 and the hiring of more social workers is one of the union’s main demands, said Addison Bonner, chief union negotiator.