A Troubled ‘Haven for the Homeless’

George Bosy and his business partner took over a dilapidated motel on Mission Boulevard eight months ago and turned it into a haven for the homeless.

They named it the Four Aces Motel, refurbished some of the rooms, planted flowers and created a day-care center. They began offering two meals a day, plus a Sunday barbecue for anyone who wanted to drop by.

Last month, they took in 20 homeless people who had been evicted from a makeshift camp at a lumberyard, putting some of them up in trailers on motel property. By last week, Four Aces was housing more than 80 men, women and children, most of whom otherwise would have been living on the street.

Bosy says Four Aces is just the start of what he envisions as a massive effort in Pomona to aid the homeless. He and his partner acquired 300 mobile homes, he said, and would like to scatter them in clusters throughout the city to provide shelter.

Sound too good to be true?

That’s what some skeptics say, including Mayor Donna Smith, who has been clashing with Bosy ever since he began seeking the city’s blessing for a project that appears to violate the Pomona’s zoning regulations, does not follow the usual pattern of nonprofit shelters for the homeless and is run by a man who concedes that he acts like a jerk at council meetings.

Bosy, 37, an engineer by training, said his angry outbursts, in which he usually accuses the mayor and city staff members of delaying his project, get results.

“I’m a jerk, but at least something happens,” he said.

The council last week voted 3 to 0 to instruct city staff members to work with Bosy to help his project become part of a comprehensive approach to the city’s homeless problem. Smith, although she voted in favor of the measure, said she is concerned that Bosy and his partner may ultimately ask the city to subsidize the entire project.

Bosy runs Four Aces for his partner, Mike Damico, who owns an auto wrecking yard and auto parts distribution business.

Both say they are helping the homeless as a humanitarian gesture.

“The Lord’s been good to me, and I’m trying to pass it on to someone else,” Damico said.

Bosy acknowledged that their acquisition of the motel coincided with a separate business venture, the purchase of the 300 old mobile homes. Bosy said they had planned to put the mobile homes on lots in the desert between Victorville and Barstow and sell them as low-cost housing.

But as soon as they brought a few of the mobile homes onto their property to make repairs on them, homeless people started setting up housekeeping in the trailers, Bosy said. So their Pomona plan was launched.

“We have 300 mobile homes available,” Damico said. “The city has property all over. Why not get together and do something?”

They have not requested any city funds but so far have been unable to win city support for such a bold undertaking. Bosy instead has suggested a pilot project that would put 10 mobile homes behind the motel and expand the homeless program there.

Dwain Elliott, Pomona community relations coordinator, said that proposal has also run into problems over zoning and planning. The city attorney has suggested that the project might require an environmental impact report, revision of the city’s zoning ordinance and extensive hearings.

Elliott said that, under city zoning regulations, Bosy cannot use his facility as both a motel and a business refurbishing mobile homes. In addition, if more than two mobile homes are on the property, it qualifies as a trailer park and must meet a host of regulations.

Bosy said it is unfair for the city to require him to meet standard mobile home park requirements when all he is trying to do is provide basic housing for the homeless.

Elliott said there is no doubt that Bosy is sheltering and feeding the homeless and that people are better off living there than on the street. But, he said, the city cannot abandon its regulations without incurring liability. However, the city has made no effort to prevent Bosy from housing the homeless and restoring trailers.

Bosy said homeless residents pay whatever they can for the accommodations.

Several said they are grateful for the help they have been given.

Cyndie Sackett, 30, who is expecting a baby in October, said she was traveling with a carnival show when she became ill and was stranded. She wound up at Four Aces after a brief stay at another shelter.

“George is a good man; he’s got his heart in the right place,” she said. “He’s doing all he can to take care of us.”