Rotten Weather, Rotten Timing

There are times when bad decisions are compounded by bad timing. Take Gov. Pete Wilson’s veto of $1 million in state funding for the Emergency Shelter Program, which permits local governments to house the homeless in National Guard armories on cold winter nights.

The governor, who commands the Guard, wants to restrict the armories to their original purpose, to function as military drill centers. Wilson and the Guard say that housing the homeless could cause delays in the event of an emergency.

Since there is no imminent threat of military invasion by neighboring governments, it’s safe to assume that any emergency would be civil or natural. So, homeless people must be shut out of the armories to enable the Guard to better prepare for emergencies that just might fill the armories with homeless people. Go figure.

The governor’s veto comes as experts are predicting California’s worst winter in decades. Wilson pointed out that he had warned localities that the $1 million in Emergency Shelter Program funding might dry up--but what recourse do local governments have? The governor, with the agreement of the Legislature, borrowed $3.5 billion annually from counties and cities during the recession. To date, very little has been returned.

The Legislature ought to restore the money for shelter in the armories. With a particularly windy and wet winter predicted, the timing for cutting emergency shelter couldn’t be worse.