The Bridgehouse—a shuttered emergency homeless shelter previously owned and operated by Lompoc Housing and Community Development Corporation (LHCDC)—could reopen and be serving Lompoc residents within a week’s time, according to Good Samaritan Services Executive Director Sylvia Barnard.
“We’re waiting to sign a contract agreement with the county. We’re hoping to have [the shelter] reopened by the end of next week,” Barnard told the Sun on Feb. 27.
County staffers procured a signed license agreement from the corporation on Feb. 24. The permit enables the county to reopen the shelter while documents transferring ownership of the facility are approved by the state.
“The next step will be to work out an operating agreement with Good Sam,” Assistant CEO Renee Bahl said.
Barnard said Good Sam leaders are eager to work with the county to get the shelter running again. She also said her agency is more than willing to negotiate operation costs with county representatives.
In its bid for operation, Good Sam proposed a yearly budget of $242,000. However, Barnard said, “We could probably do it for less.”
The total operating cost included in the county staff report is estimated at $257,000 because of an additional $15,000 in landscaping fees.
That price tag proved somewhat daunting to the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors when board members discussed the future of the shelter at their meeting Feb. 21. But Barnard told the Sun the cost is warranted.
“We don’t want to open a flop house,” she said. “If you want to get people out of homelessness, you need to have the proper services. Those are provided by staff, and that costs money.”
Good Sam leaders and employees are planning to launch a finance campaign to supplement funding from the government. Barnard said there will also be an “adopt a room or bathroom” campaign through which community members can sign up to decorate rooms in the shelter once it’s reopened.
“We’re also looking for churches and religious organizations to serve hot meals at the [Bridgehouse] shelter,” Barnard said. “And we need towels. We don’t have any towels.”
All of these developments came less than a week after county supervisors voted 4-0 on Feb. 21 to accept the deed to the shelter from LHCDC board members. Fourth District Supervisor Joni Gray recused herself from the discussion because her law firm, Wittenburg, O’ Neill, and Gray, once provided legal services to the bankrupt nonprofit.
Before voting, the board received a collective tongue-lashing from more than 20 people outraged by the nonprofit’s financial mismanagement and apparent mistreatment of homeless people. Speakers also criticized the county for a lack of financial oversight when allocating funds to organizations like LHCDC.
The public outcry seemed to partially trigger the supervisors to reject a recommendation from CEO Chandra Wallar and other staffers that the county not accept ownership of the shelter.
“I can’t believe the county could come up with $60,000 to study poverty but then … say we’re going to close the shelters in Lompoc,” one woman said during public comment.
Both Santa Maria Mayor Larry Lavagnino and Lompoc Mayor John Linn lamented the effect the shelter’s closure has had on their respective towns.
“The Santa Maria shelter is totally maxed out. We’re full. It has exceeded capacity, in fact,” Lavagnino said. “And Santa Maria, we really pride ourselves on the fact that we take care of our own. But we’re getting to a point that we can take care of our own, but we cannot absorb the Lompoc influx that we’re receiving.”
Each of the supervisors took the opportunity to voice frustrations about the corporation and the fact that none of its board members bothered to show up to the meeting. First District Supervisor Salud Carbahal even compared the corporation and its leaders to the Loch Ness Monster. Everyone except the supervisors, Carbahal complained, has seen these people face to face.
Second District Supervisor Janet Wolf called upon Auditor-Controller Bob Geis and his subordinates to conduct a forensic audit of “every single dollar that we provided this organization.”
To which Carbahal asked, “Is there even an entity that we can go audit?”
However, it was Pastor Doug Conley, whose congregation runs the Warming Center, who managed to speak to the heart of the matter: “My fear is that we get so caught up in the political arena that we forget we’re talking about human beings.’
For more background information on the LHCDC mess, read the Sun’s February cover story online at santamariasun.com/cover/7787/what-do-you-do-with-a-problem-like-lhcdc/.
Contact Managing Editor Amy Asman at aasman@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Mar 1-8, 2012.