'Meanest' Cities Ponder Meaning of Rankings

By TONY PERRY

Jan. 20, 2002 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

As an insult, being called mean may not rank with deprecations of one’s ancestry or physical appearance.

But try to tell that to San Francisco and Santa Cruz. Officials there felt a particular civic sting last week when two homeless advocacy groups included them on a list of America’s 12 “meanest” cities when it comes to dealing with the down and out.

To counteract what they see as an unwarranted slur by the National Coalition for the Homeless and the National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty, officials are marshaling statistics.

In Santa Cruz, listed as the seventh-meanest, officials point out that though the city does ticket the homeless for sleeping in parks and other public places, the number of citations is small: about 150 last year.

“We do not have a police squad looking for homeless folks,” said Assistant City Manager Martin Bernal. “The enforcement we do is strictly based on complaints. We got more than 1,000 complaints about homeless people last year.”

In San Francisco, ranked third-meanest behind New York and Atlanta, Supervisor Gavin Newsom prepared for the coalition’s annual report by having his staff compare per capita expenditures by California counties on general relief, a welfare program often utilized by the homeless.

Newsom’s list had San Francisco at the top at $3.58 per capita, Los Angeles second at $1.34, and Orange County at the bottom at two cents per capita.

“Frankly, I completely dismiss the list as a political document more than an objective report on San Francisco’s collective consciousness on homelessness,” Newsom said. “As an elected official, I’m fed up with this rhetoric.’

In Salt Lake City, fourth on the list, Mayor Rocky Anderson told the local newspaper that the list was a “slap in the face” and “based on hearsay and double hearsay.” He spoke of efforts to provide beds for the homeless who might be attracted to the city during the upcoming Winter Olympics.

The report had particular scorn for Palm Beach County, Fla., where police have compiled a database of homeless people, their histories and their medical conditions.

The practice was condemned as “chillingly Orwellian,” a reference to the novel “1984” by George Orwell. But officials in Palm Beach say their records enable police to better deal with the homeless by knowing their individual problems and predilections.

Donald Whitehead, executive director of the National Coalition for the Homeless, said he is dismayed at the hostile responses of so many officials. “Much of the reaction has not been positive,” he said.

Some critics have questioned the methodology of the report, which surveyed 80 communities in 37 states.

Most of the information in the study comes from homeless activists in those communities. Officials note that that approach can lead to a one-sided view.

Los Angeles and San Diego are criticized in the report for lacking enough shelter beds for the homeless, but neither was listed among the 12 meanest cities. There being no scientific definition of meanness, Whitehead concedes that the report has a degree of subjectivity.

He said communities that are adding anti-homeless laws-including rules against panhandling, urinating in public and sleeping in doorways-are dinged more heavily than those that have had such ordinances on the books for years.

The political climate of the community is also factored in, so that an allegedly anti-homeless attitude in liberal San Francisco is more worthy of censure than the same attitude in conservative San Diego.

That kind of thinking infuriates Newsom.

“We do everything in our power to support-some say enable-services for homeless individuals,” he said. “If you’re homeless in San Francisco, you can get three meals a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. We take a back seat to no one.’

Whitehead responds that officials are too quick to tout their successes, even as the number of homeless is increasing.

“Our position is that as long as there is one person on the streets without somewhere to go, you’re not doing enough,” he said.

In San Diego, Catholic Msgr. Joseph Carroll, who operates the St. Vincent de Paul Center for the homeless, said quibbles over methodology miss the point.

Carroll has had his own disputes with the coalition over the years about how best to help the homeless, but he supports its conclusion that the national mood has turned cold toward the less fortunate.

“It’s becoming very tough and very dangerous to be homeless on the streets of America,” he said.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

‘Meanest’ Areas for Homeless

1. New York

2. Atlanta

3. San Francisco

4. Salt Lake City

5. Jacksonville, Fla.

6. Pontiac, Mich.

7. Santa Cruz

8. Austin, Texas

9. Chicago