Ventura Coldhearted in Not Funding Winter Shelter, Supervisors Say

Saying that caring for the homeless is a moral imperative, several Ventura County supervisors are chiding Ventura city leaders for failing to help provide an emergency shelter for their homeless residents this winter.

“This is a moral issue, not a political one,” Supervisor John Flynn said this week. “Everyone should work together to feed, clothe and shelter the homeless. We do it out of compassion.”

Supervisor Kathy Long echoed that sentiment.

“The question is, do we have a moral obligation?” Long asked rhetorically. “I think we all do as citizens.”

The Ventura City Council recently decided not to provide funding to organizations that serve the homeless and to people recovering from substance abuse. As a result, Project Understanding, a nonprofit group that helps the poor, did not receive a $10,000 grant it had counted on to open a cold weather shelter in Ventura next month. Federal funds for the shelter won’t be available until January.

Ventura Mayor Jim Friedman has argued that the city takes in more than its share of homeless people, mainly as a result of a county policy that places them in low-rent motels throughout the city.

During the past decade, Ventura has contributed about $1 million toward emergency and ongoing shelters, Friedman said. He and other city officials blame the county for shutting the emergency cold-weather shelter at the former Camarillo State Hospital, now being converted to a Cal State University campus, without creating a substitute shelter.

Supervisor Frank Schillo said Ventura officials were trying to send a message to the county at the expense of their most needy residents.

“Not doing anything at all is not the answer,” he said.

But Friedman, when asked what homeless people who live in the city should do if they need shelter this winter, replied: “I would tell them to go to the county Board of Supervisors and express their concerns.”

“Friedman needs to find his moral compass,” Flynn added. “I’m disappointed in the fact that he doesn’t seem to want to take on the responsibility. Friedman and company need to take off their gloves and join hands with the county.”

Flynn said Oxnard, which is in his district, provides several shelters for homeless people and low-income families. At the Ventura County Rescue Mission alone, 78 beds are reserved for emergency use, 50 beds are earmarked for people recovering from drug and alcohol programs and 25 beds are reserved for families in transition.

From 1987 to 1997, the county oversaw an emergency cold-weather shelter at the California National Guard Armory in Oxnard. Homeless people from throughout the county were bused to the armory at night and returned in the morning.

“Oxnard takes on many more homeless programs than any other city in the county,” Flynn said.

Yet Oxnard is contributing funding to add 50 to 100 beds at the Oxnard Salvation Army this winter.

Long said the county is forming an ad hoc committee to discuss long-term homeless needs, which will include officials from the 10 countywide cities. That committee should be in place by early December, she said.

Supervisor Susan Lacey said the county panel expects two Ventura council members to join the group.

“We need to calmly sit down and discuss this,” Lacey said. “It’s a regional problem and needs to be approached that way. All the cities have a homeless problem.”

Through an aide, board Chairwoman Judy Mikels declined to comment on the issue.

While county officials emphasized the importance of working with Ventura city leaders, they stopped short of offering the $10,000 that would cover the immediate cost of a cold-weather shelter in Ventura.

“We all have to play this game,” Flynn said. “Let’s drop the swords and join hands.”