Santa Monica Adopts Homeless Plan : The poor: Public safety, social services and housing are included in program.

Santa Monica, a city torn by diverging views on how to cope with its large homeless population, has adopted an omnibus plan aimed at getting a grip on the problem.

Without fanfare, the City Council on Tuesday night unanimously adopted in principle the recommendations of a citizens task force, setting a new course for what it admits has been a rudderless ship.

For several years, the seaside community has bounced back and forth between compassion for the homeless and frustration with the problems that come from people living in streets, parks and alleyways.

“We haven’t had a vision that has been sustainable. You have given us a sustainable program, a heroic program,” City Councilman Dennis Zane said, addressing the members of the task force who devised the strategy and presented the council with a 67-page “Call to Action” earlier this month.

The task force plan, hammered out over eight months of meetings, stresses a balance of public safety, social services and housing, coupled with vigorous pursuit of county, state and federal funds. City officials hope the plan will serve as a model to other communities struggling at the local level with a national crisis that shows no signs of abating.

“What took place here needs to be showcased to our neighboring cities,” said City Councilwoman Judy Abdo.

Seven key recommendations were pulled out of the report for immediate attention, including moving Santa Monica’s trademark meals program, run by a private charity, off the City Hall lawn.

But City Council members said their first priority is figuring out the price tag for the ambitious proposals--and deciding where to raise the money. Two ideas under consideration are raising parking ticket fines from $13 to $23 and taxing residents to pay for helping the needy.

The proposed dismantling of the meals program illustrates the task force’s effort to combine maximum help for the needy with maximum relief for residents. The task force concluded--and most city officials now seem to agree--that breaking the feeding program into smaller groups, moving it to indoor locations off public property and linking it to services, such as substance-abuse programs, will benefit the homeless.

Such an approach is more dignified and is more likely to provide homeless people with assistance leading to a permanent solution to their plight, the task force says.

This approach also addresses residents’ concerns because it helps disperse the large congregation of anonymous homeless people in the vicinity of City Hall and Palisades Park, whose presence many residents find threatening and whose high visibility contributes to Santa Monica’s reputation as a magnet for those without shelter.

“This represents a maturation of the Santa Monica community,” said Mayor Ken Genser. “It’s a local response cognizant of everyone’s needs.”

A controversial aspect of the report calls for an ordinance prohibiting encampments in city parks. The council asked City Atty. Robert M. Myers to draw up such a law, although it provided little guidance about what it should contain.

Some residents and two members of the council have urged passage of a tough ordinance, modeled after West Hollywood’s, that would restrict homeless people who hang out in parks with their belongings.

It is uncertain, however, whether Myers will draw up such a stringent law or if he will conclude that it abridges civil rights and recommend something less restrictive. Though an outspoken defender of rights of the homeless, Myers has generally pledged to cooperate with the recommendations of the task force.

A residents group called Save Our City presented the council this week with 3,000 signatures of residents who favor a no-encampment law. Leaders of the group vow to put an initiative on the ballot for such a law if the council does not come through with one they find acceptable.

Plan for Homeless

The Santa Monica City Council has singled out seven priorities as first steps toward managing the homeless: * ORDINANCES: Draft ordinances to ban encampments in public places and to expedite development of an interim shelter with no more than 50 beds.

* MEAL PROGRAMS: Redesign the private meals program on the City Hall lawn by moving it off public property and breaking it into smaller groups.

* SHELTER: Push through four housing projects, including 24 transitional housing units at the First United Methodist Church, 39 single-room occupancy units at Step Up on 2nd Street, 55 transitional housing beds at Ocean Park Community Center and 20 to 40 short-term shelter beds.

* ZONING: Change housing and zoning policies to make it easier for new shelters and transitional housing to receive city approval.

* REVENUES: Identify available city revenue and study the feasibility of raising existing parking ticket fines from $13 to $23 to pay for homeless programs. Also study the possibility of taxing city residents to pay for such programs.

* COUNTY PARTICIPATION: Lobby Los Angeles County Supervisor Ed Edelman and relevant county departments to contribute more money toward dealing with Santa Monica’s homelessness.

* IMPLEMENTATION: Determine how much it would cost to implement the task force report.

SOURCE: Staff report to the Santa Monica City Council.