After hearing dozens of residents opposed to a county plan to build cabins for the homeless on the property of the State in Lemon Grove, the municipal council discussed the meeting on Tuesday in camera to examine the means to oppose the proposal.
Several residents asked the council to take a stand for months and around 200 people attended Tuesday’s meeting to hear a presentation of the county.
Most of them in Reunion have opposed the plan, with concerns such as its cost, safety, efficiency and proximity to schools. Some in favor of the plan included the ancient homeless who spoke with passion of treating the homeless with humanity and not to make generalized hypotheses about them as dangerous or toxic.
The new members of the Council, Steve Faiai, Jessyka Heredia and Yadira Altamirano, raised various concerns concerning the project, Faiai and Altamirano saying that they were not opposed to the accommodation of people, but not to the location planned at the corner of Troy Street and Sweetwater Road.
“Obviously, the community is not in favor of this, and they were dupped by thinking that they had a voice,” said Heredia.
She also said that the City should focus on prevention or financing the homeless of the Assistance, Restoration and Empowerment Act (CARE) of Community Assistance in State to provide services to people with mental health and drug addiction disorders.
Altamirano, who was sworn in as a member appointed during the last council meeting, raised several concerns concerning the project, including people gathering outside the doors and wondering if his soil was safe because he had formerly been a nursery.
Mayor Allyson Snow said that she was disappointed to learn that the cabins would not be for families with children, but also said that more homeless services were necessary in the city, and Lemon Grove did not have the funds to create a shelter itself.
“We want to have the best possible scenario here, but we hear you hard and strong,” said Snow. “We know that there is a population of people here who do not want it, but we must also listen to people who need it.”
Snow said that the Council would send a letter to the county with several requests, which could include the authorization of families and the increase in patrols of the sheriff in the region.
In their presentation, county officials said that the construction of 60 small cabins for the homeless should start this summer on the property of Caltrans, with a completion date scheduled for mid-2026. The county will provide $ 11.1 million to the project and $ 3 million a year to operate it.
Because the property is not on the property of the city or financed with money from the city, the municipal council cannot stop the county plan with a simple vote.
The council could adopt a resolution to officially oppose the plan or even to continue to arrest it, with a possible dispute discussed in session on camera.
Heredia proposed a meeting in session on closed doors and the member of the Council Jennifer Mendoza, who spoke of the need for the project, also agreed to put a discussion on closed doors on a future program.
In the presentation, the design of the project was described as a hub and speech, with a safety station in the middle and cabins arranged in lines similar to the shelves on a wheel. The installation would also have toilets, showers, storage area, administration office, case workers, laundry room and pet area.
Customers would be projected before being admitted to the program, and people with history of serious violence, registered sex offenders or criminal fire convictions are not authorized, depending on the presentation. Drugs would not be authorized on site, but as a low barrier house, customers would not be tested for drugs or alcohol.
Once customers do not have to be fully sober, a member of the public began to laugh hard and said: “I heard enough.” He went to Snow’s instruction.
His overflow at 30 minutes after the meeting was the first of many of the public, followed by the clear Strong moderator to ask people to be respectful several times and not to interrupt the speakers.
The former member of the Municipal Council Liana Lebaron, who was arrested on February 25 after refusing to follow Snow’s instructions to leave the council meeting after talking about the question of the cabin in turn, appeared during Tuesday meeting by carrying accessory handcuffs and holding a panel mocking the mayor.
“Get your power to be good guards from this community,” she said, addressing new members.
After Lebaron spoke of the public later in the meeting, Snow said that she had been warned and asked her to leave the meeting. Lebaron respected, but called Snow a vulgar name when leaving.
The meeting occurred one day after the State announced that it provided Lemon Grove $ 8.4 million to house more than 100 living homes living along a highway in the city.
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