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CC - ACTION ITEM: (1) Adoption of a Resolution Ratifying the Proclamation of Local Emergency on Homelessness by the Director of Emergency Services of the City of Culver City, California, Issued by the City Manager on January 3, 2023, and Confirming the Existence of Such Emergency; (2) Authorization to the City Manager to Approve Emergency Response Agreements and Purchases up to the existing FY 2022/2023 Budget Authority; and (3) Direction to the City Manager as Deemed Appropriate.
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Meeting Date: January 9, 2023
Contact Person/Dept: Jesse Mays/City Manager’s Office
Tevis Barnes/Housing and Human Services Department
Phone Number: City Manager’s Office: (310) 253-6000
Housing and Human Services Dept.: (310) 253-5780
Fiscal Impact: Yes [] No [] General Fund: Yes [] No []
Public Hearing: [] Action Item:[X] Attachments: [X]
Commission Action Required: Yes [] No [X] Date:
Public Notification: (E-Mail) Meetings and Agendas - City Council (01/04/2023); St. Joseph Center (01/04/2023); Upward Bound House (01/04/2023); Exodus Recovery Inc., (01/04/2023); Advisory Committee on Housing and Homelessness (01/04/2023); and Landlord Tenant Mediation Board (01/04/2023)
Department Approval: John M. Nachbar, City Manager (01/04/23)
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RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends the City Council (1) adopt a Resolution ratifying the Proclamation of Local Emergency on Homelessness by the Director of Emergency Services of the City of Culver City, California, issued by the City Manager on January 3, 2023, and confirming the existence of such emergency; (2) authorize the City Manager to approve emergency response agreements and purchases up to the existing FY 2022/2023 Budget Authority; and (3) provide direction to the City Manager as deemed appropriate.
BACKGROUND
In recent years, the City of Culver City (City) has taken numerous actions in the face of rising numbers of unhoused persons in the City. In 2004 the City Council formed the Committee on Homelessness which would later be renamed the Advisory Committee on Housing and Homelessness (ACOHH), an appointed body of City residents and representatives from the business and supportive service community whose goal is to identify and advocate for solutions to end homelessness and methods and means for improving the quality of housing and life for all individuals. On November 28, 2016, in support of the Los Angeles County Homeless Initiative, the City Council adopted Resolution No. 2016-R113 to partner with Los Angeles County to combat homelessness. The City Council affirmed that all members of the Culver City community should have their basic human needs met, with services provided in a manner that maintains human dignity and respect. At its meeting of February 13, 2017, the City Council took a position in support of Measure H, the Los Angeles County quarter cent sales tax increase to fund homeless services and prevention. In 2022, the City contributed $5.6 million in sales tax to support Measure H funds countywide for homeless supportive services.
Witnessing the growth of homelessness in the City and in the region, in July 2018 the City Council adopted the Plan to Prevent and Combat Homelessness. The City is located in the County’s Service Planning Area 5 (SPA 5), falls under the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA) Continuum of Care (CoC), and is reliant and dependent on Los Angeles County for countywide welfare and social services, such as outreach and mental health care.
According to the LAHSA 2022 Greater Los Angeles Homeless Count Point-in-Time final figures, there are approximately 350 persons experiencing homeless in the City. The 2023 Homeless Count is scheduled for later in January 2023.
To protect renters at-risk for homelessness due to unreasonable rent increases, unlawful evictions and discrimination, the City Council adopted urgent, interim rent control measures in 2019 and permanent Rent Control and Tenant Protection Ordinances in 2020. However, state and local residential eviction moratoriums, which prevented many residents from falling into homelessness, have expired locally or will soon expire. Culver City’s residential eviction moratorium expired on September 30, 2020, and California state law, which governed all residential eviction protections related to pandemic impacts, expired on September 30, 2021. The Los Angeles County’s COVID-19 Tenant Protections Resolution, which provides protections against certain evictions is currently in effect; however, it is set to expire on January 31, 2023, unless extended.
Further, the homelessness crisis has strained the City’s public safety resources, with paramedic and fire calls to address the crisis on City streets and in other public spaces increasing at alarming rates. In 2022, there were over 1,150 calls to the Culver City Fire Department (CCFD) involving unhoused persons, including 646 calls for emergency medical services, which is an increase of 12% from 2021 and a 20% increase from 2020; and 105 calls to CCFD regarding fires, an increase of 40% from 2021.
To address the need for local shelter space and supportive housing, the City applied for and was awarded $26.6 million from the State of California, Housing and Community Development Department (HCD) under Project Homekey for the creation of harm reduction, service enriched interim and permanent supportive housing for chronically homeless individuals through the conversion of two local motels. Further, the City made a one-time commitment of $7.3 million from the Culver City Housing Authority’s Low and Moderate Income Housing Asset Fund (LMIHAF) for Project Homekey construction and an ongoing annual commitment of approximately $5 million from the City General Fund for Project Homekey staffing, operations and services. Project Homekey Interim and Permanent Supportive Housing project will be the first in the City and will provide housing for approximately 20% of the homeless population.
The City has responded to the rapid increase in its homeless population with unprecedented investments into homelessness solutions, including a $3.2 million annual commitment from the City’s General Fund for the creation of a Mobile Crisis Intervention Unit consisting of professionals to address the homelessness and mental health crisis; $275,000 from the City’s General Fund to explore a Safe Parking or Safe Camping Program; $845,000 from a combination of Measure H funding, the City General Fund and the LMIHAF Low and Moderate Income Housing Asset Fund for an expanded Culver City homeless street outreach team; $260,000 from the City General Fund and in Westside Council of Governments Innovation Grant funds for an internal motel voucher program; and $112,500 from the City General Fund for professional services with a communications firm to develop a public communication and messaging program to educate and engage the public about homelessness and the City’s efforts to address homelessness.
DISCUSSION
On December 12, 2022, City of Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass declared a local emergency due to the homelessness crisis. The local emergency declaration is intended to expedite the procurement and contracting for materials, equipment, and services necessary to respond to the crisis, and enhance Mayor Bass’s ability to coordinate citywide and intergovernmental planning. The declaration requires regular evaluation of the City of Los Angeles’s progress in addressing the state of emergency using key performance indicators such as number and size of encampments.
Culver City Municipal Code (CCMC) Section 3.09.020.B empowers the Culver City City Manager, as the Director of Emergency Services, to proclaim the existence or threatened existence of a Local Emergency if the City Council is not in session. The City defines an emergency as an actual or threatened existence of conditions of disaster or of extreme peril to the safety of persons, property or the environment within this City. The proclamation of a local emergency, issued by the Director of Emergency Services on January 3, 2023 (Attachment 1), enables the City to operate beyond its operational policies and procedures and with coordination of the emergency functions of the City with all other public agencies, corporations, organizations, and affected private persons to take such steps that are necessary for the protection of life and property in the affected areas.
The Proclamation of Local Emergency on Homelessness lists a number of key performance indicators of progress so that City Council may continue to evaluate the need for the local emergency, as follows:
• Regulatory relief from other jurisdictions and within Los Angeles County agencies to create flexibility to address the crisis;
• Enactment of an Emergency Procurement Protocol to enable expedited retention of vendors/contractors and acquisition of supplies and services for the provision of services and shelter to protect the unhoused community from life threatening harm;
• Coordination with the City of Los Angeles and LAHSA to address homeless encampments at the City’s shared borders by providing shelter and supportive services;
• Coordination with the United States Army Corps of Engineers and the County of Los Angeles to keep the Ballona Creek clear of any situation that may cause harm to the environment or human life;
• Decrease in the number and size of homeless encampments that create a risk of fire hazard, block the public right-away or are within 500 feet of sensitive receptors;
• Continuation of an annual census of people experiencing homelessness in the community through the use of an Internal Homeless Count involving City staff, the Culver City St. Joseph Center (SJC) Outreach Team and members of ACOHH, along with the LAHSA Greater Los Angeles Homeless Count, to determine size and characteristics of the unhoused population;
• Creation and maintenance of 73 units of Interim and Permanent Supportive Housing through the Culver City Project Homekey;
• Implementation of a Safe Camping program to provide access to sanitation facilities and supportive services, including medical care, laundry service and security, to the unhoused community residing in encampments;
• Establishment of long-term leasing arrangements with local motel owners to provide temporary housing;
• Activation of the Culver City Mobile Crisis Intervention Team to address the mental wellbeing of both housed and unhoused residents;
• Continuation of support to the Culver City SJC Outreach Team, which provides street-based outreach, assessment, and linkage of the unhoused community to services, shelter and housing;
• Continuation of support to Upward Bound House, which provides interim housing to homeless children and their families;
• Continuation of support of renter’s rights and tenant protections through the City’s Rent Control and Tenant Protection Ordinances;
• Continuation of public communication and messaging to educate and engage the public about homelessness and the City’s efforts to address homelessness, and engage the unhoused population in the dialogue about the City’s efforts to address homelessness;
• Evaluation of traffic safety related impacts on unhoused individuals and implementation of mitigation measures to prevent pedestrian related deaths among persons experiencing homelessness; and
• Securing of funding resources from HCD, LAHSA, and the County of Los Angeles to increase service levels, interim shelter beds and permanent supportive housing.
Staff recommends the City Council adopt a resolution ratifying the Proclamation of Local Emergency by the Director of Emergency Services and confirming the existence of such local emergency by the Director of Emergency Services (Attachment 2). The proclamation by the Director of Emergency Services must be ratified by the City Council within seven (7) days.
Staff further recommends City Council review the need for continuing this local emergency at least every 60 days, until this local emergency is terminated, which shall be terminated at the earliest possible date that conditions warrant.
During the period of this local emergency, the City Manager also intends to provide, at each City Council meeting, an update regarding the City’s homelessness programs, including measures that are being taken during this emergency period.
FISCAL ANALYSIS
There is no cost associated with ratifying the Proclamation of Local Emergency. Culver City Municipal Code Sections 3.07.060.B and 3.09.040 enable the City to purchase equipment, goods, supplies and services made in connection with emergency activities in the event of a locally declared emergency without following the bidding procedures otherwise required by the Culver City Municipal Code. To be responsive to immediate needs, staff is additionally requesting City Council to authorize the City Manager to approve purchases and/or agreements up to the approved budget authority in the Non-Departmental - Other Contractual Services Account#10116100.619800. All agreements procured under this authority will be identified in future City Council meeting updates.
ATTACHMENTS
1. 2023-01-09_ATT1 - Proclamation of Local Emergency on Homelessness
2. 2023-01-09_ATT2 - Proposed Resolution Ratifying Proclamation of Emergency
MOTION
That the City Council:
1. Adopt a Resolution ratifying the Proclamation of Local Emergency on Homelessness issued by the City Manager (Director of Emergency Services) on January 3, 2023 and confirming the existence of such local emergency; and
2. Authorize the City Manager to approve additional emergency response agreements and purchases up to the existing FY 2022/2023 Budget authority; and
3. Provide additional direction to the City Manager as deemed appropriate.