It says a lot about leadership, empathy and charity when 10 Orange County mayors agree homeless people should be shunted off to a relatively remote area where public transportation, jobs and groceries are few and far away.
The mayors’ suggested site for up to 400 homeless people?
A preschool and library off Santiago Canyon Road where the only regular residents are BooBoo the sheep, goats Taffy and Little Joe and Luna the pony.
It’s no wonder that Santa Ana is echoing a federal judge and now promising to sue all 34 Orange County cities to force them to pony up to help solve this county’s out-of-control homeless problem.
If you haven’t driven Santiago Canyon Road — and if you aren’t homeless — the area’s a treat. Canyon country is a land lost in time, a place where cattle and cowboys still roam, an expanse where clear streams gurgle and a firm handshake means something.
But parts are almost off the grid. From the library, you need at least a horse to get to the closest ma and pa grocery store. Still, you don’t want to be in canyon country without speedy transportation. Wildfire and mudslides are common.
“Is it a perfect site? No,” allowed Irvine Mayor Don Wagner. “But it does seem to be a potentially viable option with a lot of space.”
Fortunately, the board of supervisors on Tuesday unanimously nixed the Santiago site, agreeing with Lake Forest Mayor Jim Gardner that the location was unsuitable.
Still, the mayors’ naive — or uncaring — solution is both troubling and indicative of the way homelessness is treated across much of America.
“It sits in relative isolation from any possible services or amenities, in an area designated as ‘very high fire hazard’ risk,” said Gardner. “The site sits on a dangerous road known for speeding and collisions.
“There are no sidewalks or street lights,” continued Gardner, a licensed clinical psychologist. “It’s hardly the place where people with physical and mental problems should be housed.”
Now, I’m no fan that nearly a thousand homeless people took over chunks of the Santa Ana River trail before the county finally forced them out earlier this year. Similarly, I applaud the effort this month to clear out several hundred homeless from the county’s Civic Center.
But it’s a sad day in Mudville when we attempt to simply bat away the homeless, thinking that stuffing them out of sight will also keep them out of mind.
When south county mayors gathered the other week to consider options for housing the homeless, most cried the old refrain: Not in my backyard.
In an era that’s increasingly less tolerant, the mayoral mood is understandable. After all, you are swimming against the tide when you tell voters you are bringing in homeless people.
But that is what leadership is about. It takes courage to offer unpopular ideas.
OK, so I have one.
Instead of moving homeless people to the mountains, let’s offer them the beach.
Life’s a beach
My wacky idea was birthed on a radio show while I was being interviewed about the homeless.
The question was where should we put them. I blurted, “The beach.”
But the more people I talk to, the less nutty the idea sounds — or so I’m told.
From Seal Beach to San Clemente, we have some 40 miles of oceanfront. That includes vast stretches of open space as well as hundreds of sturdy bathrooms and showers.
Many beaches front retail outlets and restaurants. Jobs are relatively plentiful.
Some may suggest the beaches will become too crowded in summer. Trust me, they already are.
On heavy days such as the Fourth of July, hundreds of thousands hit the sand. A thousand or even 2,000 homeless people stretching along miles of public beach won’t make a difference.
If you’re worried about bathrooms, most homeless people are too. They could be hired to clean and ensure safety.
Too expensive?
Think again. A UCI-United Way study reports that in a 12-month period, to address homelessness Orange County spent $299 million.
If the impact on tourism is a concern, it needn’t be. Although officials deny it, even Singapore has homelessness. The world understands.
I also like the idea of ensuring our homeless population isn’t hidden from sight. Instead of pretending we don’t have a problem, let’s keep it front and center until we implement permanent and reasonable solutions.
Even beach blanket bingo — minus Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello — makes more sense than watching the board of supervisors and city leaders play hot potato with the homeless population.
Smaller is better
After the majority of south county mayors supported the remote Santiago Canyon site, the Lake Forest mayor wrote that his biggest problem with the plan was the enormity of the homeless population that would live there.
“Warehousing 400 people is not an acceptable model to deal with this problem,” Gardner stated. “The warehousing model has been abandoned for more than 50 years as it proved inefficient and ineffective in dealing with people with mental illness as well as people with developmental disabilities.”
That makes sense. Massive homeless camps don’t serve people in need and they don’t serve local residents.
Instead, the solution may be a large number of small shelters, which also meets U.S. District Court Judge David O. Carter’s mandate.
After battles last month between the county and city leaders about who should care for an estimated 2,500 unsheltered homeless people, Carter made it clear that all cities should help.
Instead of searching for remote locations, if every city steps up to provide housing for its proportionate share of the county’s homeless, care could be provided for those who are addicted or mentally ill.
Perhaps that makes more sense than beachfront tents.
