Santa Ana intensifies efforts to address homelessness

Faced with a sharp increase in homelessness, Santa Ana is stepping up its outreach, enforcement and services.

In a presentation to the City Council on Tuesday, Oct. 1, City Manager Kristine Ridge gave an overview of homelessness in Santa Ana and a plan to combat a problem she says “poses an existential crisis to the operation of our city and the quality of life of our residents.”

Part of that plan calls for doubling down on outreach efforts.

This week, city officials created a second team to address homelessness, doubling the number of police officers and others focusing on the issue from nine members to 18: one team works east of Bristol Street and one works west of Bristol Street. The teams also have expanded their work hours, which now include nights and weekends.

The number of people living in the city’s streets and shelters has ballooned from 1,000 in 2017 to 1,769 in 2019, according to a report Ridge presented the council.

The growing numbers have led to an increase in trespassing and petty crimes and complaints about encampments and garbage.  That’s sucking away public resources: 17 percent of Santa Ana police calls and 18 percent of the Orange County Fire Authority calls are related to homelessness, according to the report.

Many residents are fed up. It affects their quality of life and tarnishes the image of the city, officials said.

“This is the issue that’s polling as the No. 1 issue in the city,” Councilman Vicente Sarmiento told his colleagues.

The cost to the city also has increased. During the 2018-19 fiscal year, the city spent almost $16.7 million addressing homelessness and officials estimate that will jump to $25.5 million this fiscal year, the largest chunk going to police and fire responses.

While being homeless is not a crime, “being drunk in public, high in public, littering and trespassing are crimes,” the report noted.

Efforts earlier this year to clean up debris and remove encampments had officials sweeping property along Union Pacific Railroad rails in the city. Santa Ana plans to bill the company $118,000 for the cleanup. City officials also worked with CalTrans, which cleaned up overpass areas. And along the Santiago Creek, city workers removed some 150 encampments, according to the report.

Other future long-term actions include: responding to service requests within 36 hours, increasing code enforcement efforts, reviewing recycling centers and developing landlord incentive programs.

City staff also will be asked to report homelessness: “We have begun emphasizing with all staff that ‘it is not okay to look the other way.’”

Residents can download for free the MySantaAna app on their cell phone to report abandoned property, and later this month, they will be able to report encampments via the app.

Santa Ana is one of many communities under pressure to deal with the thorny topic of homelessness, which has pitted the county against the homeless and its advocates, as well as against some cities where officials believe Orange County is passing the buck.

Settlements in a January 2018 lawsuit known as the Catholic Worker case call for cities and the county to offer services to the homeless before police can enforce anti-camping and anti-loitering laws.

On Tuesday, a majority of the Santa Ana City Council voted to approve its settlement agreement, which calls for creating another 200-to-250-bed shelter. (The city opened a shelter known as The Link last November for clients who have ties to the city.)

Councilwoman Cecilia Iglesias was the lone dissenter, calling the agreement vague and not having enough protections against “more people dumped in Santa Ana.”

Mayor Miguel Pulido disagreed, telling his colleagues that had the city manager not reached a tentative agreement, “we would never finish” with the litigation.