ACLU Leader Approved for City Homeless Panel

A divided Los Angeles City Council confirmed the mayor’s appointment of a third person with ties to the ACLU to a panel on homelessness Wednesday, ending a bruising political battle over how their appointments would affect the city’s efforts to clean up skid row.

Critics worried about Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa’s appointments -- including Ramona Ripston, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California -- because the ACLU had challenged the city’s ban on homeless people sleeping on the streets.

The debate comes as Villaraigosa and other city leaders have vowed to improve downtown’s skid row, where police officials contend that other law enforcement agencies and hospitals regularly dump criminals, the homeless and the mentally ill. It also comes as some advocates assert that the rapidly gentrifying downtown loft district area is pushing homeless people out.

Villaraigosa ended up facing a tougher than expected fight to get the three appointees with ACLU ties -- Ripston, USC Associate Dean Rebecca Avila and attorney Douglas Mirell -- confirmed to the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority. Avila is a member of the ACLU board, and Mirell was a volunteer attorney who pressed an ACLU lawsuit in 2003 that barred police from searching homeless people without reasonable suspicion that they had violated parole.

“My concern is it may reflect a weighting of issues that disproportionately affects people living on the sidewalks,” said Councilwoman Jan Perry, whose district includes downtown’s skid row.

Villaraigosa bristled when asked Wednesday whether his appointments signaled support for the ACLU’s challenge to the city’s efforts to remove people from city sidewalks.

“I’m very proud of the commitment of these individuals to serve the city of Los Angeles and help us with this very important challenge in dealing with the homeless,” he told The Times in a hallway interview before refusing to answer further questions.

Thomas Saenz, an attorney for the mayor, said the appointments were meant to bring in skilled people with creative ideas for improving the delivery of homeless services, and not to remake the homeless authority in the image of the ACLU.

“They were not picked because of their ACLU connection. They were picked for their record of high accomplishment and the ability to step into difficult situations,” Saenz said.

He said he did not know whether Villaraigosa, the former head of the ACLU’s local chapter, supports the civil liberties group’s lawsuits against the city.

The council vote was 10 to 5 to confirm Ripston to the governing board of the homeless authority. The mayor gets five appointments to the 10-member board, with the rest of the seats filled by the county Board of Supervisors.

Perry said she would work to persuade elected county officials to balance the mayor’s appointments by naming experts on mental illness, public health, housing and other fields affecting the homeless.

In a fractious debate on Ripston’s appointment, Perry and other council members cited an ACLU lawsuit that was thwarting efforts to remove people sleeping on downtown sidewalks.

“They don’t seem to fully grasp that the lawsuit had a very catastrophic effect in causing people to remain in encampments because legally we cannot remove them from the sidewalks,” Perry said.

Ripston defended the legal challenge, which argued that the city could not arrest people for sleeping in the street if it couldn’t provide adequate services for the homeless. A court has ruled against the ACLU, but an appeals court decision is expected soon.

Ripston said there were more than twice as many homeless people in the county as there were shelter beds. She said there may be good reason to remove the mentally ill who are a danger to themselves or others.

“The problem is, if we pick up these types of people, we have to have someplace to put them,” Ripston said. “To put people in County Jail is not the answer.”

That angered Perry, who said she was not talking about jailing the homeless. Her preference would be to get those with mental illness or drug problems into treatment, she said.

Councilman Dennis Zine said that allowing the homeless free reign on city sidewalks tramples the rights of downtown residents, business people and tourists.

“I have compassion for the homeless. I also have compassion for the businesspeople and tourists who have to venture into that negative environment,” Zine said.

Ripston said the ACLU, in its current litigation, was trying to allow people without shelter to sleep on the sidewalks between 9 p.m. and 6:30 a.m., which would allow the city to keep the sidewalks clear during business hours.

Perry and Zine were joined in opposing Ripston’s appointment by council members Bernard C. Parks, Greig Smith and Janice Hahn.

Councilman Tony Cardenas voted for the appointment, although he expressed concern about the balance of the homeless panel.

Mirell and Avila already have been confirmed by the council, which Wednesday also voted to confirm the mayor’s appointment of the Rev. Cecil “Chip” Murray to the panel.

Villaraigosa also has appointed Estela Lopez, executive director of the Central City East Assn.

Councilman Jack Weiss, a Villaraigosa supporter, rebutted Ripston’s critics.

“While I don’t agree with many of their [ACLU’s] positions, I also don’t believe in demonizing people for bringing constitutional claims in federal court,” Weiss said.

Cardenas said he was frustrated that other cities and law enforcement agencies had worsened the problem in skid row by dumping their indigent in downtown Los Angeles.

He cited a letter from officials of Santa Clarita that said the city could not host a homeless shelter. He called it “pathetic, appalling excuses.”

The mayor has said that he supports efforts to stop such dumping, and Saenz said Villaraigosa recently proposed that an additional $50 million be spent on affordable housing that would be aimed at the homeless.

Ripston said she might support a lawsuit or law change to prevent other cities from dumping their poor and mentally ill in Los Angeles’ skid row.

“I would be dedicated to seeing that other cities bear the brunt and the expense of this problem,” she said.

Cardenas also objected that court rulings have meant that police cannot immediately remove shopping carts from sidewalks if they have any personal possessions in them, but instead have to tag them to give the owner of the possessions time to take them away.

“That’s an interference with the quality of life of everybody in the community,” Cardenas said.

Ripston said she would need to examine the issue before taking a position. “I do believe the belongings of a homeless person deserve to be respected,” she said.

Avila, former director of the city Ethics Commission, said she did not know enough about the ACLU litigation to take a position and was not directed by the mayor to reshape the homeless authority in the ACLU’s image.

“He wanted to make dealing with the homelessness a top priority,” she said. “He was looking for people with fresh ideas balanced with practical experience.”

Mirell said his pro bono work on behalf of the ACLU was meant only to ensure that the city abides by the U.S. Constitution.

“The litigation sought simply to enforce the constitutional rights everyone has to not be stopped without reasonable suspicion and searched without reasonable cause,” Mirell said.