They had arrested three by the first week. Lompoc Police Chief Pat Walsh told the City Council members on Sept. 18 that the individuals had been found roaming the borders of the homeless triage center on the north side of River Park. They were charged with trespassing.
A few days later, officers made their fourth arrest.
“We call it periphery enforcement,” Walsh told the Sun. “We’re kind of trying to work that angle.”
It’s been a busy couple of weeks in terms of enforcement for the Lompoc Police Department, as they’ve provided near nonstop patrols around the cordoned off area housing the homeless population that once lived in the Santa Ynez Riverbed on the city’s northern and eastern edges.
On Oct. 10, after one month of operation, the triage center will close for good, packing up porta potties, extra tents, and all the social services and workers that came with it. The homeless who remain will have to find a new place to go, instead of receiving shelter or treatment there.
Where those who either refuse or are unable, for whatever reason, to accept help and services will disperse to remains a mystery. As does the method for how the city of Lompoc will foot the half million dollar price tag to cover the costs for officer overtime, the emergency homeless shelter, and the inevitable riverbed cleanup that is to follow.
It’s a reality county and city officials have had to accept in recent weeks as ultimately the price of eliminating, or at least alleviating, what they describe as a bona fide nuisance.
“All of this stuff we are doing, this isn’t really what cities do, we know that, but we just couldn’t deal with the criminality anymore in the riverbed,” Walsh explained. “I get it, that’s a lot of money, but wouldn’t it be nice to go for a walk in our riverbed that’s clean and looks nice and ecologically restored?”
When all is said and done, the Santa Ynez Riverbed and homeless camp cleanup project is estimated to cost $500,000. Lompoc’s city manager, Jim Throop, told the Sun the initial expenses would come from a combination of the city’s general and water funds.
In an email, Throop explained the water money could be used “due to the need to maintain water quality in the aquifer.” He said the city had to cover the upfront costs due to time constraints for the project.
“However, financial assistance from other organizations will be imperative to successfully complete the project and prevent the city from bearing an unmanageable funding burden,” Throop added.
Staff is in talks with Santa Barbara County to find a way to help fund at least some of the cleanup. The city is also applying for several grants, some of which will allow for reimbursement of expenses already incurred, according to Throop. He said staff had additionally reached out to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to help repair the riverbank, which several makeshift homeless shelters damaged.
One of the biggest chunks of funding would come to Lompoc via the Homeless Emergency Aid Program after the city declares an emergency shelter crisis. Established by statute in June to help assist communities with homelessness, the program could bring more than $9 million to Santa Barbara County alone over the next two years. The county declared its own crisis in early September.
According to Throop and Walsh, the city is expected to declare a shelter crisis and may go even further by pushing for a “state of emergency” (read more about a crisis declaration on page 7). That latter option would provide a pathway for more federal funding. Declaring a state of emergency is currently being considered by the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors as well.
Emily Allen, the program director at Northern Santa Barbara County United Way, told the Sun the federal and state dollars would inject needed revenue to assistance and housing programs but noted that the money was hardly a silver bullet for the county’s homeless problem. She said that the massive housing shortage continued to frustrate nonprofits and governments attempting to house at-risk individuals and families.
“The hope is with this new state funding we can really make an impact,” she added. “But we’re definitely not going to be able to build enough units.”
It’s an issue already bubbling to the surface in Lompoc with its triage center. On Sept. 14, Chief Walsh pleaded with the public in an open letter to house a select handful of people currently in the center.
“Housing is in short supply and many of these individuals are desperate for housing,” he wrote. “Many are older, some are veterans, and if given the chance they would be good tenants.”
The reaction from the public was mixed to say the least.
“I took it on the chin for saying that,” Walsh said. In an attempt to clarify, he told the Sun he had only a select few in mind for the public to house in that manner.
“I wouldn’t ask them to let an addict move in,” he explained. “I’m not saying you have to, just telling you there’s a couple out there, sweet as pie, and they don’t have any problems with alcohol and drugs, and then there’s another guy, just one, single, older, really quiet, very respectful, and he just wants to get on with life.”
In all, the Lompoc Police Department has come into contact with hundreds of the homeless in the riverbed in the past year. Walsh estimated that number had been whittled down to just 35 to 40, all of whom are now at the triage center.
He said the department and social workers available would try to connect as many people as they can before the Oct. 10 deadline.
“I know that’s not ideal, but the people that want help we’re gonna help,” Walsh said, “and at the end of these 30 days the people that don’t seek help are gonna have to go find a solution to the next chapter in their life.”
Staff Writer Spencer Cole can be reached at scole@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Sep 27 – Oct 4, 2018.