What should the city do when confronted with homeless individuals who refuse to go into a shelter or temporary housing?
The city should find out WHY they refuse shelter or temporary housing. From conversations with some of these houseless individuals, these places are dangerous, unsafe and inhumane, from their perspective.
There is a difference between “homeless” and “chronically homeless!” Before you can access housing and services as an unhoused individual you need: valid identification, Social Security card, birth certificate, proof of income (last two W-2s) or food stamps and GR [General Relief]. You also need a valid place or address to receive mail. Once you accomplish all of this while sleeping on concrete, you then can begin the process into temporary housing. Many unhoused Long Beach residents are on a waiting list to enter temporary housing. Going into an overnight shelter does not mean they are not homeless. Have you tried pushing a grocery cart from Cesar Chavez to the Atlantic Bridge Shelter?
We need a STREET paper in Long Beach that will provide income to 300-500 unhoused residents converting them to vendors. We must have a City Council person who will oversee this program working with a few nonprofits and ensure and designate areas that are allowed and not allowed. The contributor street paper is a great example and is working. Doing the same thing expecting different results is INSANITY.
I have personally met and talked with many houseless people in Long Beach, and they have gone through the system over-and-over again and have “given” up. We have a huge veteran homeless population. Veteran homelessness services are different from civilian homeless services, it can take months to help one non-veteran homeless individual whereas using veteran homeless services can do in 24-48 hours. I personally have been helping homeless veterans get into temporary housing bypassing the city’s Multi-Service Center.
How would you address crime in the city?
Start with giving criminals a reliable source of income. Brett Johnson, US Most Wanted cybercriminal, overcame his addiction to crime when the Fed gave him a job.
Poverty, education, communication are all needs that need to be addressed. Lack of parking (Bembridge House double murder), graffiti (gang territories), drug addiction (meth), catalytic converters, and gas are all things we can and will address. We need to invest in more mental health, education, and work more with the amazing nonprofits trying to stop the killings, crime, violence. We also need to restore the anti-field gang unit. Having eight police officers walk around in our district for a photo opportunity did not work.
The state is requiring Long Beach to make room for 26,502 new housing units by 2029. How should the 1st District be a part of that plan?
The 1st District should be responsible for only one-ninth of the required units. We should share the burden with other districts. When these developers come and buy older properties and evict 30-year tenants, these tenants must be offered the first right of refusal. We need to lower the standard for what’s “affordable”—$86,000 per year for a single person getting you a studio is not reasonable. We need landlords to accept HUD-VASH vouchers for our veterans and maybe offer incentives.
What would you do about the high cost of housing in Long Beach?
Incentivize more project-based Section 8 developments, develop new HUD 202 projects, repurpose underutilized buildings and build housing across all income levels.
There’s been a historical lack of investment in open space and recreational opportunities in your district. How would you secure more resources for open space?
Perhaps we need to revisit why open space and recreational opportunities are important to our health and well-being. Have you visited and talked with residents about Drake and Cesar Chavez Park? We need a dog park at Drake! We need a new community center for 1st District residents. We need new leadership in order for this to occur. Go back to 2009 and look at each of the 1st District candidates’ promises! It’s 2022, and we are still discussing this issue. Notice any patterns?
Do you believe the city is doing enough to alleviate climate change and the effect it’s having on the city? If not, what additional actions should be taken?
No. As long as the port is not electrified, there is always room for improvement. No, the city is making it worse. Most residents must drive to other cities to find a job. More cars and less jobs equals more air pollution. Have you walked along our beaches lately? It’s our amazing residents that do beach clean-ups. More cars equal more smog. Exit the 405 Freeway heading south, down the 710. You can smell and see the difference in air quality. Have you driven down Terminal Island Freeway (103)? Have you seen the trash and toxic materials being dumped along Highway 103?
We need more trees planted along the Terminal Island Freeway. We need a riverpark, not a parking lot!
Parking is a huge quality of life issue in the 1st District. What, if anything, would you do about parking?
Incentivize less cars, more public and micro transportation and implement parking priority for residents. Stop street sweeps at 5 a.m. Offer community service instead of paying the ridiculous $70 parking fees. If we do not have enough beds for the houseless, the city cannot remove the houseless. What if the city cannot write parking tickets until they have enough parking spaces? My guess is that miraculously parking would be the number issue and parking would be located. Parking tickets go to the General Fund, then the City Council can spend it as their constituents suffer.
I also want to change the fees doubling after 30 days. I have met and observed neighbors sleeping in their cars until residents, guests or tourists leave, creating a parking space. Many hotel visitors and tourists are told to park in the neighborhoods over the weekends, which saves them money from the expensive valet fees. Many 1st District residents who own homes have told me that people are parking in their driveways and nothing is being done to help them.
I have called and emailed the current 1st District councilperson and was told that, “Parking is a resident issue, not a City Council issue.” We need to have T-marks painted so that two cars don’t take up three spaces. Residents are now parking in the middle turn lane; residents are being run over and killed, and yet zero help from the incumbent on parking. I encourage every person to go back and look at every City Council person’s promise on their campaign websites. In 2009 District 1, parking; again in 2014, 2018, 2019 and now 2022! We need new leadership that cares about parking rather than making parking a buzzword at election time.
I have been working with a few gas stations and private businesses asking them to charge a nominal fee and allow us to use their empty space overnight, which helps the owners and residents.