Westside Summit to Tackle Homelessness

By Olin Ericksen

February 17 -- Santa Monica officials are cautiously optimistic they may be on the verge of a breakthrough when it comes to a regional plan to tackle homelessness.

When the Westside Council of Governments meets Thursday, representatives may approve a draft signaling the most formal agreement yet between area cities to offer a comprehensive safety net to the homeless, including increased emergency and year-round shelter, and more housing and services.

After two years of negotiations with the other cities on the council -- including Beverly Hills, Culver City, West Los Angeles, and western sections of Los Angeles -- it would be no small feat to formalize an approach to homelessness, said City Council member Kevin McKeown.

"This is a huge step," said McKeown, who along with former Mayor Richard Bloom, represents Santa Monica on the council of governments. "This is the first time all the cities have pulled together to collectively address the problem of homelessness... in a formal manner.

"This is the bearing of the fruits of our labor over these last two years, a big success," he said.

Just talking about the issue has been a major step, Santa Monica officials said.

When the cities first began meeting in a voluntary setting to discuss such unifying issues as transportation, the subject of homelessness was taboo, McKeown said.

"We couldn't even get it on the agenda before," he said. "This marks the first time we have something this specific on the agenda regarding homelessness."

City Council member Bloom agrees.

"What's important is that we have a comfort level to discuss this on a Westside basis at all," Bloom said, adding that it is important to "always counsel caution."

"I'm hopeful we will approve this," he said. "It may be the representatives of the different cities may want to take it back to their city councils to discuss it."

Cities that were resistant to a regional approach began coming around once there was a promise to seek help from the state and federal governments, as well as the cities, and to establish a year-round homeless facility away from the Westside cities' downtowns.

Participants hope that the presence of County Commissioner Zev Yaroslavsky, who will be at the meeting to discuss expediting a light rail line to Santa Monica, could help add urgency to the homeless issue.

The meeting will be held Thursday at noon in the Patacci Conference Room at City Hall in Culver City, 9770 Culver Boulevard.