Nuisance Code amended to strengthen the ability to address safety hazards posed by homeless encampments
The Malibu City Council unanimously approved amending the City’s nuisance code to strengthen the City’s ability to address hazards posed by homeless encampments in Malibu during the August 9 Council meeting.
Homelessness Task Force Members Appointed
During the July 21 meeting, the City Council each appointed two members to the newly created Homelessness Task Force, which will be charged with: reviewing existing efforts, evaluating the need for an alternative sleeping location (ASL), developing strategies to mitigate the fire safety concerns of encampments located in open space and on undeveloped private property, addressing other issues related to homelessness, developing a robust public engagement and outreach plan to obtain community input on proposed strategies to protect the health, safety and welfare of the community from the dangers of homelessness and provide assistance to Malibu residents experiencing homelessness, and providing regular updates and recommendations to the City Council.
Although the City already had a Homelessness Working Group, the City Council aims to focus more effort, resources, and attention on addressing homelessness by creating a Brown Act-governed Homelessness Task Force. The Brown Act requires open meetings and public record keeping by government bodies in California to ensure transparency and accountability.
Homelessness Task Force Appointments
Mayor Paul Grisanti: Ian Roven, Terry Davis
Mayor Pro Tem Bruce Silverstein: Deborah Benton, Bill Sampson
Councilmember Mikke Pierson: Bill Winokur, Wayne Cohen
Councilmember Steve Uhring: Kelly Pessis, Scott Dittrich
Councilmember Karen Farrer: Paul Davis, Chris Frost
Background
In response to a growing homeless population in Malibu, the City has been increasing its measures to address homelessness and its impacts on the community for the last several years, including the development of a strategic plan, increased participation in events to aid the homeless, and the formation of the Working Group to strengthen cooperation between the various agencies and organizations providing assistance within the community.
Since 2018, the City has been funding an Outreach Team through The People Concern who work full-time in Malibu and can connect homeless people in Malibu with The People Concern’s housing, mental healthcare and other services. The City also funds a Housing Navigator, who works with the Outreach Team and landlords to help people experiencing homelessness get off the streets and into housing.
In October 2017, the City received Measure H funding from the County of Los Angeles to develop its Homelessness Strategic Plan, which was developed by the Homelessness Working Group and adopted by the City Council on June 25, 2018.
The community can review documents about the City’s past and ongoing work to address homelessness, including the Homelessness Strategic Plan, community survey results, outreach efforts, and agendas and minutes from public meetings at https://www.malibucity.org/1066/Reference-Documents.