LA HOMELESSNESS – THE #’S DON’T MAKE SENSE
Larry Slade, SOHA Homelessness Committee Chair
May 2025 | Sherman Oaks Homeowners Association Newsletter
$24 billion over five years. An average of $4.8 billion per year ÷ 50,000 homeless = $96,000 per person each year – or $8,000 per month. For $8,000 per month, we can rent a homeless person an apartment, buy them groceries, hire them a housekeeper, lease a car, pay insurance, pay into a 401K or IRA, donate 10% of their income, and give them a vacation a few times a year. Despite this extraordinary financial commitment, the results are alarmingly underwhelming. Recent reports highlight the findings of an independent audit – revealing the city’s inability to account for literally billions of dollars. This raises a profound and pressing question – is local government capable of efficiently using the abundance of resources available to it to bring about meaningful changes for the homeless? Funding is no longer the primary hurdle. LA has proven that it can generate the financial resources needed to address this humanitarian crisis. However, the persistent lack of visible progress suggests that the problem lies in the system’s ability – or inability – to effectively implement solutions. Sure, we can throw money at it, but it looks like money won’t fix the problem. The obstacles are numerous. – bureaucratic red tape, overlapping agencies, and fragmented strategies seem to mire efforts in inefficiency. Even well-intentioned plans often get lost in the maze of regulations and competing priorities. For instance, a significant portion of the funds is spent on administrative costs rather than directly on services that could house or assist those living on the streets. The delays in project approvals, coupled with skyrocketing costs of construction and services, further erode the impact of every dollar spent. Should we, as citizens, accept this state of affairs? Or should we demand higher standards of efficiency and accountability from those entrusted with the public’s resources? It is not enough to point fingers at the complexity of the issue. What LA needs is a thorough reevaluation of its approach – one that prioritizes measurable outcomes and streamlined processes over mere appearances of action. The stakes are too high for complacency. This government has the money to make a difference, but can it summon the competence and political will to ensure that funds are used effectively? If not, how long must Angelenos endure a cycle of mismanagement before real change finally takes root? And, most importantly, is this a problem that money can solve? It’s looking like the answer is a resounding “NO”!
WHAT THE HOMELESS COUNT MISSES
Larry Slade, SOHA Homelessness Committee Chair
March 2025 | Sherman Oaks Homeowners Association Newsletter
The City of Los Angeles conducted its annual homeless count in mid-February. We must wait until this summer for the results to be released. The count itself is a good idea and should be continued. But it’s important to note, the count will not produce an accurate or reliable measure of the total number of homeless. This will occur not from a lack of good faith but from a flawed process that falls far short of accuracy. When the count is released, any alleged reduction in the homeless count will be touted by local elected officials as a “victory”. But let’s get real for a minute. Counting homeless is far from an exact science. We can only count in areas that volunteers can access, and then volunteers can only count what they see. Homeless people (contrary to popular belief) are not always out in the open. They hide. They look to station themselves (if they can) where they won’t be disturbed. People driving around a neighborhood from inside a car looking for homeless are bound to miss some, if not many. Plus, there are thousands of homeless that are not living on the street but in friends and family’s houses, in hotels, or wherever they can find a safe place. None of these are counted. Additionally, this is a hand count conducted by individuals and small groups in different areas using US Census tract maps to divide the city into small regions. This is a necessary step and using the census tract is as good an approach as any. In addition, this year there were a shortage of volunteers, technical glitches with the phone app, and rescheduled dates for the count (because of the fires). All likely impacted the number of registered volunteers which was reported to be about 10% lower than last year. But the actual number of volunteers was probably even lower due to registered volunteers that did not show. This is bound to have impacted the results – which we will not learn about until this summer. Politicians pay close attention to this count and look to it as evidence that their efforts to reduce homelessness are working. I support the count but think its value has severe limitations. As a result, I will wait to see what numbers the count produces – but plan to take the numbers with a grain of salt.
MOTHER NATURE EVICTS LOS ANGELES
Larry Slade, SOHA Homelessness Committee Chair
February 2025 | Sherman Oaks Homeowners Association Newsletter
In recent weeks LA has experienced shocking impacts of the power of Mother Nature. No rain. No humidity. High winds. All a recipe for the disaster we experienced last month. We must have every reason to believe that this will happen again and again. We have cultivated and inhabited an ocean-front desert. Mother Nature is blind and harsh, and she seems pissed. It’s said that “homelessness is an ocean fed by many rivers.” An endless river of poverty, mental illness, domestic violence, sickness, addiction, and the collapse of the family keep tens of thousands on the streets of Los Angeles. However, this past month we were reminded that Mother Nature can be and now has been the most powerful force to cast tens of thousands of us into “homelessness.” Anyone want to count the number of homeless in LA during the fires? Nope. The LA Annual Homeless count was rescheduled to mid-February due to the fires. A wise move. Whatever housing gains LA experienced were wiped away in 72 hours. We can expect LA’s number of homeless to jump significantly. This, as we head towards hosting the World Cup this summer and the Olympics in less than four years. How many Los Angelenas who lost their homes remain in temporary housing, hotels, rentals, or couch surfing with friends and family? Thousands! It will take years to rebuild. Mother Nature evicts its tenants without regard for title, economic status, age, color, faith, or ability. Clearly, the newly homeless (like mostly all homeless) find themselves so due to no fault of their own. No one asks to be homeless. To be sure (and unlike most homeless) some of this group can afford to rebound from such a catastrophic event. Many more cannot and will struggle for years to come. We can and should expect more fires in the future. We are going to need bold leadership to help guide LA through the changes in our climate. Whatever the cause (a debate for another time), the changes in the weather are readily apparent to anyone with a pulse. As our weather continues to be “weird” to the extreme, Mother Nature will continue to force Los Angelenas out of their homes. This is our new norm. Sure, we get an average of 284 days of sunshine a year in LA. We do live in paradise. But just like any paradise, it’s not all good. We have our trifecta of natural disasters – earthquakes, fires, mudslides – that will continue to fuel the homeless problem in LA for many years to come. Not an uplifting message I know. But its real and we need to face it. We are going to need a bigger boat (see “Jaws”, 1975).
THE THREAT TO THE “DANGEROUSLY HOMELESS”
Larry Slade, SOHA Homelessness Committee Chair
January 2025 | Sherman Oaks Homeowners Association Newsletter
Unless you have been living in a cave, you have heard about the trial of Daniel Perry in NYC. Perry was a passenger on a subway train on May 1, 2023. While riding the subway, Perry witnessed Daniel Nealy, a homeless man, behaving in a threatening and unstable manner. The other passengers on the train appeared afraid and intimidated by this man, and Perry, a former Marine, took matters into his own hands and restrained Nealy in a chokehold to protect the other passengers. Unfortunately, Perry restrained Nealy to the point where he cut off Nealy's oxygen supply until he died. It was an unfortunate outcome all around – but most of all for Nealy. Here, we have a situation where a homeless and deeply disturbed man was permitted to wander the streets and pose a risk to passengers on a subway. Nealy clearly presented a danger to himself and others, but the system let him wander and threaten freely – and this resulted in his death. Did Perry “kill” Nealy? According to a NYC jury, the answer is a resounding “no”. The jury even found Perry “not guilty” of a lesser charge of “criminally negligent homicide”. In the end, a jury of Perry’s peers found him guilty of nothing and let him walk out of the court the applause of the onlookers in the court. Indeed, people across the country cheered for Perry’s acquittal – although not everyone was celebrating. To my mind, Perry was not found to be guilty because people are sick of living in fear of the “Nealys” of the world. People no longer want to elevate the rights of the “dangerously homeless” above those of everyday citizens. Being homeless might not be a crime, but posing a very real danger to others remains criminal. The justice system failed. It failed Nealy and rewarded Perry when the jury told him “It’s unfortunate that Nealy died, but we understand why you did what you did, and we will not punish you for it”. I must admit I understand the verdict in this case and take it as a sign that our government, including the City of Los Angeles, is out of touch with the frustration level of our citizens. We are tired of subordinating our rights as members of this community to the untreated mental health of any given homeless person. We want to be safe in our community. I certainly do not condone vigilantism. But I must admit to understanding how a jury can refuse to convict a person who was trying to protect the public at the expense of an untreated, unhoused, and dangerously mentally ill person. It seems clear to me that the system failed Nealy, and that resulted in his death. Sure, Perry held the grip around Nealy’s neck, but the noose around Nealy’s neck was already there. This event presents a sad state of affairs. Until LA decides to forcibly remove and treat the dangerously homeless, this will no doubt happen again. It’s just a matter of time. I pray that I am wrong.
DON’T LET THE HOMELESS STEAL MY PASTRAMI
Larry Slade, SOHA Homelessness Committee Chair
September 2024 | Sherman Oaks Homeowners Association Newsletter
I read with frustration the recent story about the possible closing of Langer’s Deli resulting from the impact of the homeless on its business. I have lived in Sherman Oaks for the past 28 years, but I am still a kid from NYC who needs to have a great pastrami sandwich once every six months. The thought that the best deli in LA would close because their customers cannot patronize the deli since the homeless render the experience unsafe and unpredictable should be unsettling to us all. Great pastrami notwithstanding, Langer’s is nothing but a reflection on the conditions in Los Angeles for thousands of businesses. Faced with the homeless living in front of their storefront or verbally accosting their customers on the way in and out of the business, the owners are at their wits ends. Business owners in Sherman Oaks in particular have been suffering under such conditions for a long time. Unfortunately, the news from Langer’s is not news to Sherman Oaks business owners. In some ways the homeless problem has improved. We are faced with smaller and fewer homeless encampments which is a good thing. However, as I have been ranting about in this column for the past two years, it’s the mentally ill and/or drug-addled homeless that have the greatest impact on our local businesses. And you better believe that as customers of those businesses, Sherman Oaks residents feel it as well. Anyone that has sat at an outdoor café or restaurant patio has been forced to be conscious of their surroundings and on guard in case they need to act fast in response to a homeless assault, verbal or otherwise. Nothing will shift a customer’s experience of a restaurant faster than an unbalanced homeless person directing unwanted attention their way. This unfortunate reality forces businesses into the role of law enforcement. Not a good idea. For whatever efforts and funds LA is expending on preventing and ameliorating the homelessness problem, not enough of it is targeted at the problem I describe. The “dangerously homeless” as I have come to unapologetically call them, still rule the roost and the locals – residents and business owners alike – are left scrambling to grab their purses, hide their cell phones, and look to the server or manager to deal directly with an aggressive and unbalanced homeless person. Again, not a good idea. The city needs to retake the business of enforcing the laws and protecting businesses and their customers. The alternative – the maintenance of the status quo – is not acceptable.
NO RIGHT TO LIVE ON THE STREET
Larry Slade, SOHA Homelessness Committee Chair
August 2024 | Sherman Oaks Homeowners Association Newsletter
On June 28, 2024, the Supreme Court of the United States issued its decision in the City of Grants Pass case wherein it found that it does not violate the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition against “Cruel and Unusual Punishment” for local governments to impose criminal penalties on the homeless for sleeping in public, even if there is no shelter available. Put simply: it is now the law of the land that the homeless cannot live on the street without breaking the law thereby empowering municipalities to forcibly remove them. In balancing the tension between the rights of the homeless against the rights of the community, the Supremes sided with communities and against the homeless. Sorry, but you do not have a constitutional right to live on the street. Now what? What does this mean for Los Angeles and its 2nd worst in the nation homeless problem now that the police are empowered to break up the encampments and make the homeless move? In response to the Grant’s Pass ruling, Governor Newsome has issued an executive order directing state agencies to “move urgently to address dangerous encampments while supporting and assisting the individuals living in them.” In other words, “move ‘em outta there and try to help them … but move them no matter what.” Of course, the Governor cannot force California municipalities to remove encampments so that will be up to each city. How will LA respond? Will the Mayor order the forcible removal of encampments? Well … she has done a lot of that already (thankfully) but ultimately, the Mayor and I am sure our councilmember, do not see the ruling or executive order from the Governor as a “fix” to the problem (it’s not) and they are unlikely to change their focus on building housing as the best solution to the homeless problem (which it is). It’s important to note that both the Mayor and our councilmember disagree with the ruling. Since SOHA’s focus has been largely on the “dangerous homeless” and how to get them off our streets, the Grants Pass case gives hope to those of us who hold two truths to be self-evident: 1) the mentally ill and homeless need help and they should get it; and 2) by virtue of their dual status as both “homeless” and “mentally ill” the US Constitution does not render them to be magically immune from following the basic rules of civic decency and adhering to all of the public safety laws. The question now becomes, how will the City of Los Angeles make use of the newly defined confines our US Constitution when it applies to the Homeless – especially to when it comes to the “dangerously homeless.” What will our local representatives do now? Will anything actually change
THE THREE LEVELS OF HOMELESSNESS
Larry Slade, SOHA Homelessness Committee Chair
June 2024 | Sherman Oaks Homeowners Association Newsletter
Bottles and cans, eyesores, and violent crime. To my mind, these represent the three levels of homelessness. We can cast a wide net and generalize that all homeless are in the same boat and can be categorized as just “homeless” (or “unhoused” for the politically correct) – but that’s too broad a brush. Not surprisingly, it’s more complicated. Nary a day goes by in Los Angeles without its residents being forced in one way or another to deal with the issue of homelessness. To be sure, actually being homeless is much worse than having to witness homelessness, and I remain mindful of this reality whenever I write about this subject. The issue is in our faces daily – whether it’s watching someone rifle through your recycling bin, driving past an encampment under the 101, or most disturbingly, thinking that the ranting homeless man on Ventura Blvd will suddenly direct his negative attention and perhaps attack you as you walk down the street. To be sure, there are different levels of being homeless. Just because you pick bottles and cans out of the trash does not mean that you are homeless. I think most of us would agree that this manifestation of poverty or homelessness (or both) is perhaps the least disturbing and disruptive to our way of life. Many of us have long since stopped schlepping our bottles and cans to the recycler in exchange for a few dollars. Many of us have no problem with people in need taking what they can get from our recycling bin that we were tossing anyway. Then there is the next level of homelessness which I will refer to as the “eyesore”, for example, an encampment or the mess it leaves behind if and when it is dismantled. No one wants to see encampments in their neighborhood but most of us are not physically threatened by an encampment. It just looks bad – really bad. And it undermines our faith in the sanctity and safety of our community. But for the most part, we witness these encampments through glass and steel from the safety of our cars. Finally, there is the third level of homelessness – the one that SOHA has consistently focused on: the homeless who are clearly suffering from mental illness and could pose an immediate danger to themselves or the safety of anyone walking down the street. For many of us, we ignore the recycling efforts and tolerate (as best we can) the eyesore of the encampment. But it’s the real and present danger of physical harm threatened by this group that is the most dangerous and upsetting. It’s this group that requires the most intervention and presents the most vexing problems. It’s this group that is the focus of SOHA’s Homelessness Committee. What is easy to conclude when examining this problem is that our laws are ineffective at empowering the city to help people suffering this third level of homelessness. I see change coming from the US Supreme Court in the coming weeks
SHOULD IT BE ILLEGAL TO SLEEP ON THE STREET? THE GRANT’S PASS DECISION
Larry Slade, SOHA Homelessness Committee Chair
May 2024 | Sherman Oaks Homeowners Association Newsletter
This last week the Supreme Court of the United States heard arguments in what may be a landmark case in the battle to regulate homelessness. The case of City of Grant’s Pass (Oregon) v. Johnson will likely have a significant impact on the homelessness challenge in cities across the western United States. The court could overrule the seminal case of Martin v. Boise (Idaho) which ruled that the city cannot enforce restrictions on “public camping” – sleeping on the street – unless it also provides the homeless with a place to go (like adequate temporary shelter). The Boise case is currently the law of the land in California, and it serves to tie the hands of cities seeking to enforce their health and safety laws – elevating the rights of the homeless above the rights of the community. Opposition against Grant’s Pass: Those who are opposed to permitting cities to fine the homeless characterize the issue in many ways. Does a city have the right to “punish” someone for sleeping outside? Should the homeless be a “protected class” and therefore not treated as criminals simply for “being homeless”? Should a city not be able to remove or fine the homeless unless there are adequate shelter beds? If the Supreme Court rules that it’s not a violation of the 8th amendment to the US Constitution, they will make the problem much worse than it is now by pushing the homeless from point “A” to point “B” with no solution to the problem. And the imposition of stiff fines and even jail time for the homeless constitutes “cruel and unusual punishment” because many are homeless due to no “fault” of their own. It would literally make poverty a crime. Support in Favor of Grant’s Pass: Those in favor of the law under review in Grant’s Pass see it this way. Cities must have the right to enforce basic laws that supporting a constitutional right to sleep in the street simply tramples. This situation has gotten out of control with the rights of the homeless seriously infringing on the rights of local citizens and businesses, as well as the city, who expect basic health and safety laws to be enforced – such as: you cannot use my storefront or front lawn as a toilet; you can’t do drugs and pass out in my cul-de-sac; and you can’t build a tent city on my corner. Something needs to be done to help the homeless and we support that. But, regardless of what alternatives are available or not available for the homeless to sleep somewhere else, they can’t sleep here (insert homes, businesses, public transport, or parks). A decision from the Supreme Court is expected sometime in late June. Its issuance will have a significant impact on the degree cities can regulate and punish the homeless. But one thing is certain – whatever the ruling, it will not solve the homeless crisis in America.
WE LIVE IN A DIFFERENT WORLD NOW
Larry Slade, SOHA Homelessness Committee Chair
April 2024 | Sherman Oaks Homeowners Association Newsletter
Everyone knows that there are plenty of people in the world who are okay with stealing from others. I am not talking about breaking into your home to steal your possessions or many other examples of typical “theft”. I’m talking about theft through scam. This is a wholly different kind of crime. It’s not a violent crime. No weapons are used. And it’s not even a crime that its victims see coming. We live in a world now that is smaller and much more deeply connected than ever before in history. While we still need to worry about car theft from our own driveways, we also need to focus on crimes that are committed right under our noses – ones that we didn’t see coming. Each year, there are hundreds of thousands of people who are defrauded, manipulated one way or another, and end up the victim of a “scammer”. They are all over the place and coming at us from all directions. Phone scams, IRS scams, home repair scams, counterfeit scams, and now Artificial Intelligence scams. But it’s not only about how people are scammed, it’s about who are their targets. It’s not random. Victims of scams are “targeted”. Thanks in part to social media, scammers can discover some very personal information about each of us that can be used to manipulate and steal from us. The name of your grandchild and a panicked call which uses an AI-generated voice to convince you that “It’s me, grandma, Jessica.” She is panicked and begging for immediate help. This is a whole other level of scam. But wait, more are coming. People around the world are “scammed” out of literally hundreds of billions of dollars each year. The weapons used are common: the computer or smart phone (emails, texts, websites, social media, targeted ads), the telephone (landline or cell phone), skimmers or card readers, malware or ransomware, fake documentation, Ponzi or multi-level marketing (MLM) schemes, and investment fraud. The targets are anyone with a phone, anyone online, senior citizens, ethical and honest people (using their desire to “do the right thing” against them), anyone that wants to be helpful, anyone that needs money (get rich quick, work from home and earn lots of dollars), anyone with ambition (to be a model, actor, or performer, to get into a specific industry), pretty much anyone. At this month’s SOHA Community Meeting, I will be hosting a roundtable where a panel of experts will explore the types of scams commonly occurring in our area and tell you about specific steps that you can take to avoid being victimized by a scam. Please join us.
TWO SIDES OF THE HOMELESSNESS COIN
Larry Slade, SOHA Homelessness Committee Chair
April 2024 | Sherman Oaks Homeowners Association Newsletter
Politics is often defined as the art of “of the possible.” Placed into the box of political issues that define homelessness, we must ask ourselves “what is possible?” To be sure, there are competing political interests all around the political hot potato that has become the most pressing issue in Los Angeles politics – homelessness. On one side of the political spectrum are those who believe that having a roof over your head is not even close to being a fundamental right guaranteed by the US Constitution. They often believe that if you want to live inside, you need to make it happen. It’s not the job of taxpayers to provide anyone with a roof they argue. Personal responsibility is the theme that permeates this thinking augmented by a limited-role-of-government philosophy. Taking care to make sure that all people in Los Angeles live inside is just not part of the equation. On the other side of the political spectrum is a more humanistic and selfless philosophical viewpoint that ladens our government with responsibility to care for its people and put roofs over their heads. Whatever the resources and costs to get the homeless “safe inside” it’s a price worth paying. We have a responsibility to each other the argument goes, and no one is just “out there” on their own. For those initiated into the political morass that is “homelessness” these two diametrically opposing sides of the coin lack nuance and a true understanding of how the problem is caused, perpetuated and (most importantly) solved. Put simply: the problem cannot be reduced to tag lines or a “one-size-fits-all” approach. There is no single strategy to fix the problem. It’s a complex problem that requires a remarkable about of money, time, and commitment to resolve on a daily and individual basis. To my mind, both sides of the coin are right, and they are also both wrong. The personal responsibility and it’s-not-the-role-of-government position may sound heartless but there are real limitations on what we can and can’t do to fix the problems of another. The costs are high and concerns about those costs are fair and reasonable. On the other side of the coin, how can we deride a political position which seeks to help and protect the most vulnerable amongst us? Are we not our brother’s keeper? I have been advocating in this column for a balanced, nuanced approach to mitigating the problem which now effects everyone in LA in one way or another. As I stated above there is no simple or cheap resolution to the problem. I fear that mitigating the problem of homelessness is the best that we can hope for, and I am left wondering if, notwithstanding our differing philosophical differences on whose job it is to fix it, to what extent can we impact the outcome that we all desire – to get the homeless off the streets.
THE RIGHT MAYOR, IN THE RIGHT TIME, WITH THE RIGHT FOCUS – WILL IT WORK?
Larry Slade, SOHA Homelessness Committee Chair
January 2024 | Sherman Oaks Homeowners Association Newsletter
Recently, I had the honor of being interviewed by both the Los Angeles Times and the New York Times in connection with the one-year anniversary of Mayor Karen Bass’ inauguration. They wanted to talk about her anniversary but also specifically focus on how her efforts to date were helping to ameliorate the homeless problem in Los Angeles. I was anxious to provide them with my feedback. I told them that I thought Mayor Bass was the right person for this job. She’s experienced and hyper focused on the issue. She declared a state of emergency on day one and has remained focused on helping people off the streets. She has been proactive and has worked diligently bring all the resources that she can to bear on the problem. That is all good and I give her an A-minus for her prodigious efforts. Coupled with the significant support the problem is receiving from the state and Governor Newsom, our mayor is on the court and in the game. We now know more about what causes homelessness and understand more deeply how to address it. We have elected officials sharply focused on fixing it. And, we have allocated more resources than ever before in history to pay for it. If we are ever going to be able to help fix the problem, now is the time it will happen. Now is the time we will see that change. This mayor, at this time and place, harnessing and applying these resources, will either finally put a dent in the number of homeless on the streets or we will be left to wonder what, if anything, we can do to fix the problem. Like you, I am pulling for these efforts to bear fruit and for the reduction of homeless in our community to be palpable. Of course, we would all like a permanent fix to the problem. We dream of a day when no one must suffer by living on the streets. But is that even possible? It is often said that homelessness is an ocean fed by many rivers. One of the strongest rivers feeding homelessness is mental illness. The mentally ill homeless (of which there are many) present a unique challenge. Our government agencies and non-profits do not have the tools that they need to force the mentally ill homeless, who are often dangerous, into treatment. The laws don’t exist to permit it. The facilities to house them likewise don’t exist. I want to have an optimistic outlook for the future of homelessness in Los Angeles. I want to believe that with the right leadership, resources, and resolve, we can get people the help they need to get them off the streets. For now, I am seeing the glass as half full. Time will tell if my optimism is well founded or simply wishful thinking.
REBALANCING OUR COMMUNITY’S RIGHTS AGAINST THE RIGHTS OF THE MENTALLY ILL HOMELESS
Larry Slade, SOHA Homelessness Committee Chair
November 2023 | Sherman Oaks Homeowners Association Newsletter
We live in a country where the rule of law is the foundation of our society. In the United States, we enact laws to restrict and limit the conduct of the government (amongst other things). Our government can’t just burst into your home and search it and place you under arrest at will? It can’t suppress your free expression of your opinion or your ability to practice or not practice any religion. It can’t lock you in jail without a hearing. And it can’t just grab you off the street and incarcerate you simply for not having a place to live. But each of these civil liberties has its limits. Each needs to find its balance when juxtaposed against the rights of others and society in general. And none of these rights or issues take place in a vacuum. What happens when our ideals conflict with the harsh reality of a post-pandemic world? What happens when the pendulum of balance swings too far to one side? Under current law, it’s not illegal for someone to live on the streets. It’s not illegal for someone to live on the streets and be addicted to drugs. It’s not illegal for someone to be homeless and suffer from mental illness. But is it or should it be legal to be homeless, drug-addicted, and suffer from mental illness? Again, by itself, without knowing more, it still sounds “legal.” But what happens when that person starts to act out on the street in a way that endangers themselves and others? At what point do the rights of the community outweigh the rights to live outside? Certainly, there must be some point at which the interests of the state outweigh the rights of the individual – where the rights of the many outweigh the rights of the few – where even very liberally minded people scream “enough!” Governor Newsome is working to test this proposition and to better “balance” the rights of the homeless against the rights of the community. The CARE Court is coming to Los Angeles. This “court” will aim to better balance these rights by removing the dangerous homeless from the streets, forcing them into treatment, and – if they meet the threshold – providing them a process to set up “conservatorships” for homeless persons who truly present a danger to themselves and others. Prior to now, there were no real options to get these suffering souls off the street. They were left to suffer in public and their presence served to fundamentally alter our own perception of our safety in our own neighborhoods. A classic lose-lose for all involved. CARE Court is a pilot program and will both need funding and patience to work and strike the proper balance of the rights of everyone involved. IT’S OUR HOPE THAT THE CARE COURT PROGRAM WILL HELP LEVEL THE PLAYING FIELD for the most dangerous of the homeless amongst us and provide a valuable tool to serve all the interests involved. It will be interesting to watch its progress.
HOMELESSNESS AND THE CYCLE OF MENTAL ILLNESS
Larry Slade, SOHA Homelessness Committee Chair
September 2023 | Sherman Oaks Homeowners Association Newsletter
Over the past year, I have learned a lot about homelessness. What causes it, what exacerbates it, how it can be prevented, and how it can be mitigated. One thing we have all learned is that there is a very clear connection between homelessness and mental illness. Mental illness often causes homelessness to be sure – but homelessness also causes mental illness. While I was not aware that there was truth in the last statement, when you examine it, it certainly makes sense. To be sure, losing your home can cause people to lose their grip on reality. Living on the street in constant fear for your own safety (and that of your family if you are not alone) has to be very mentally taxing. It seems obvious to me now. Building affordable housing is a big piece of getting people off the streets. But, for many, the option of having a roof over their heads will do nothing to address their mental and emotional challenges. For those homeless who also suffer from mental illness – their numbers are hard to track and the percentage of homeless who suffer from mental illness is far from clear – they experience special challenges that cannot be fixed with a roof. It’s like arguing that the solution to anorexia is food. In these cases, lack of food is not the issue. It’s the relationship with food and to eating that presents the challenge. So too does it go for the homeless who suffer from mental illness. Our road to helping them stabilize and get off the street is much more complex than putting a roof over the heads of the homeless who are in this situation because of financial reasons, domestic violence, or many of the reasons other than mental illness. For these people, who appear to make up the majority of the homeless, access to housing is itself a solution. Not so for those suffering from mental illness. The level of support that the mentally ill homeless require is well beyond simply offering them a roof over their heads. They need medical treatment, counseling, medication, and individualized attention. The “wrap-around services” they need – that LA endeavors to offer – come from multi-disciplinary teams of professionals trained in a broad swath of services. It’s expensive and labor intensive – and most importantly – it’s temporal. We can and do take some of these suffering homeless into involuntary custody to treat them. They receive many services that they need to take them out of an agitated or dangerous state and stabilize them – but only for 72 hours – just long enough for them to appear before a judge presenting themselves as grounded and cogent, and then to be released back into the cauldron of homelessness that quickly challenges and overwhelms their grip on reality. In these situations, homelessness is the symptom of a much bigger problem. If we cannot help them maintain their grip on reality, we cannot keep a roof over their heads. There is no quick, easy, or inexpensive fix to this problem. Nor do I possess the answers needed to properly address the problem. I am not sure if anybody has the answers, though I know there are many people working on the problem with love in their hearts and faith that a solution will be found. I am somewhat less optimistic, but I am hopeful that I will be proven wrong.
BAILING WATER OUT OF THE HOMELESSNESS STREAM
Larry Slade, SOHA Homelessness Committee Chair
August 2023 | Sherman Oaks Homeowners Association Newsletter
The State of California has spent literally billions of dollars to combat homeless. Yet, the problem has not only persisted, but it has also worsened. According to CNN, one-half of all homeless in America live on the streets of California. Put another way, one out of every two homeless in America is a Californian. Shocking statistic. I love California – but c’mon! Our state has spent about $17.5 billion in the past four years addressing the homeless problem. Has this money been spent in vain and to no avail? Is this a problem that cannot be fixed with more funding? These are tough questions the answer to which I do not purport to have. I am not sure anyone else does either. Like trying to empty a stream with a bucket, the work to “fix” homelessness is a daunting and never-ending task. We – meaning the government, the community, and non-profits – can and will continue to fight to help people and get them off the street. We can and will do it with love in our hearts and pockets full of tax dollars. We will provide on-site health/mental health care and wrap-around social services, and transfer thousands of homeless into either temporary or permanent housing. We will have an impact and make a real difference in peoples’ lives to be sure. You can see it happening on a smaller scale now. Every “homeless” person who losses that title by being placed in a home is a victory. Every person helped is a victory. But how will we address the constant influx of new homeless? How can we ever provide enough housing and services to mitigate the problem of homelessness (and everything that comes with it for the homeless and for us) when the stream of homelessness is constantly being fed up-river? Work harder. Spend more. Get more buckets. Bail faster. I write these things not to sound pessimistic. Rather, I do so because we are faced with the reality that people continue to find themselves homeless and living in our community on the streets. Put simply: the water keeps flowing and the number of homeless keeps increasing. How best to deal with that reality? Well … I believe we have good, hardworking, well-intentioned people addressing the challenges every day in Los Angeles. Say what you want about the effectiveness of the homeless initiatives, but our elected leaders are focused on the issue. They cannot be accused of ignoring it. Nor, can “we” be accused of not supporting more and more resources being thrown at the problem. That said, one must wonder what happens, if after all this money and effort, the problem continues to grow? For now, though, I am content to give the “new team” (our mayor, city councilmembers, and county supervisors) time to apply more and more pressure to the problem. And I am sure you will join me in wishing them nothing but success. We all have a vested in interest in having them succeed.
WALKING THE WALK ON HOMELESSNESS
Larry Slade, SOHA Homelessness Committee Chair
June 2023 | Sherman Oaks Homeowners Association Newsletter
Heroes come in many shapes and sizes. Often, they display their heroism in the shadows, late at night, toiling in LA’s most challenging and dangerous places as they work to help the down and out and deeply afflicted. I am talking about the hundreds of professionals, civil servants, and volunteers that labor to help some of the neediest among us – those brave caring souls who commit to helping the homeless who suffer from significant mental illness or drug addiction. Let’s be clear. Most of us, me included, have an interest in this issue only insofar as it impacts us, our families, and our way of life. No, we are not uncaring, narcissistic monsters only worried about ourselves. But as they say in LA “enough about me … What do you think about me?” Kidding aside, we all care. We all want to help people (at least most of us understand why this is important). But there exists another breed of person operating at a different level and coming from a different place. The person who puts into action the values and beliefs that inspire them to help other people. Their work is certainly not glamorous nor prestigious. It’s largely anonymous. No kudos or “attaboys”. And no one is in it for the money. Nay, they are just committed to helping, to making a difference, and to (though none would admit this out loud) “walking the walk.” On the evening of May 17th, SOHA’s Homelessness Committee hosted a roundtable discussion about how best to deal with this segment of the homeless population – yes, the same ones I have been writing about for months. Our guests were four extraordinary people who are indeed “walking the walk”. After leading this discussion at the meeting with more than 100 Sherman Oakians in attendance, I was left in awe and possessed by respect for our speakers. They came at night and volunteered their time to help educate our community. Commander Billy Brockway from LAPD, LaTina Jackson from the County Department of Mental Health, Amy Perkins from Supervisor Lindsey Horvath’s office, and Hayes Davenport from Councilmember Nithya Raman’s office. All four work full time on the front lines fighting homelessness – meaning hustling to help get people a roof over their heads, providing a host of needed services, and removing them from the street if they present a danger to themselves or others. We rightly express criticism about how LA handles this crisis. We complain that no matter how much we spend or who gets elected, conditions worsen for the homeless and for our community. While I have criticism of “the system” to be sure, I am left with nothing but admiration and respect for the “heroes” that gave Sherman Oaks a peek at what they do, explained how important their work is, and provided an active example of what it looks like not to just “talk the talk” but to “walk the walk”.
HELPING THE HOMELESS “GO INSIDE”
Larry Slade, SOHA Homelessness Committee Chair
May 2023 | Sherman Oaks Homeowners Association Newsletter
In life, I often find myself in a position where this joke is applicable: “How many psychologists does it take to change a light bulb? Only one. But the lightbulb has to want to change.” So too is it true when applied to that subset of the homeless population that refuse to “go inside”. You can build all the housing that you want, but it means nothing to someone who simply refuses the offer to go inside. So, what happens in that situation? What happens to the person who just won’t go? Is our community simply forced to accept the presence of the often highly agitated, consistently unpredictable homeless whose presence on the streets has the most immediate and significant impact on the quality of life in Sherman Oaks? I have been writing and talking about this issue for months now. SOHA’s Homelessness Committee has dedicated its efforts at understanding and working to mitigate exactly this issue. To be sure, some of this population is served by hard-working and dedicated politicians and non-profits who work with these homeless at the ground level and can sometimes, after extensive and repeated efforts, convince someone to “go inside”. But often that is not the case for various reasons (mental illness and drug and alcohol addiction top among them). So, what can be done? Can we find a way to forcibly remove people from the streets and lock them up? Put simply: no … we cannot. First, the law does not permit it. Second, that is not a solution to the problem. That process fosters the “revolving door” approach that even the police have lost interest in pursuing. No matter how we slice it, the first part of the solution is money. Without funds, we cannot harness the resources needed to proactively address this problem. Of course, we have been throwing money at the problem for many years and no matter what incremental reductions in this population are achieved, the homeless in this category continue to suffer on the streets and their presence continues to drain the sense of community that we have worked so hard to build here in Sherman Oaks. There has been much attention paid to the political position that asserts that homelessness can be solved with housing. Again, that is true for most homeless but not all. In order to solve this issue, it seems, we will need a combination of love, money, grace, new laws, resources and (yes) housing – and we will address all these at our May Homelessness Roundtable.
MENTAL ILLNESS, HOMELESSNESS, AND THE LAW
Larry Slade, SOHA Homelessness Committee Chair
April 2023 | Sherman Oaks Homeowners Association Newsletter
I remember the day when our councilmembers primarily focused on fixing potholes. Today, issues of rampant homelessness exacerbated by a mental health crisis have replaced simple issues like potholes. Our community is more threatened by homelessness and the mental health crisis than any other issues in recent memory. We have more homeless in California than in any other state – approximately 160,000. Of the approximately 60,000 homeless in LA, we do not know how many of them suffer from mental illness. But we do know that just being homeless has a deleterious impact on a person’s mental health. The longer a person is homeless, the more likely they are to suffer from mental illness. Put simply – being homeless challenges a person’s grip on reality and feeds the mental health crisis. So … what can we do about it? Last week, Governor Newsom began a campaign for a bond measure that would raise $3 billion to fund and “construct mental health campuses, residential settings and permanent supportive housing.” He plans to redirect another billion dollars in taxes on top earners to operate the facilities. This is very encouraging. We have been here before. We have voted repeatedly to issue bonds that address important aspects of homelessness like adding affordable housing. The measures often pass, and the bonds are issued, making the money available. But despite everyone’s best intentions, the city is unable to spend the funds which are mired in regulations so thick that very little housing is ever built, and the money sits largely unused. Bond funds were allocated to build 10,000 units of affordable housing. Five years since the measure passed, fewer than 1,200 units have been built, though more than 4,000 units are currently under construction. These numbers are not encouraging. We often hear the common lament: housing is the only thing that can solve homelessness. But even if we build all the housing that we have allocated funds for, that will still leave tens of thousands on the streets. And the segment of the homeless population that suffer from significant mental illness generally refuse to be housed. We can build as many affordable housing units as we can – and should – but those units cannot and will not force those homeless with significant mental illness inside. In fact, part of the problem is that we cannot “force” anyone into treatment, into housing, or onto medication for anything longer than 72 hours. That window is clearly insufficient to have an impact on the problem. According to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in the case of Martin v. City of Boise, laws that seek to punish the homeless with criminal penalties just for being homeless cannot be enforced if the homeless have no alternative options such as beds available for them. This decision has gone a long way to gut laws designed to prevent people from sleeping on the street and has handcuffed many jurisdictions who want the homeless off their streets. We will explore this case and its impact on Sherman Oaks’ homeless problem in next month’s SOHA Newsletter. Please join us for our Roundtable Discussion on these issues at the May 17th SOHA Community Meeting.
DYING ON THE STREETS OF SHERMAN OAKS
Larry Slade, SOHA Homelessness Committee Chair
March 2023 | Sherman Oaks Homeowners Association Newsletter
In recent months we have been writing about, talking about, and planning ways to remove the homeless from the streets – especially the ones that present a danger to themselves and others. It’s true enough that many in our community are deeply concerned about the proliferation of homeless on our streets. But it’s also true that our community is deeply concerned about the welfare of those it seeks to “remove”. Our “emergency” is so much more of an emergency for the homeless than it is for the “homed”. Recently, there have been several homeless people that have met their deaths on Sherman Oaks streets. Yes, that’s right. Homeless people dying on our streets. Let’s put aside our sadness at how this impacts our community and focus instead on how much greater impact this has for the homeless and their families. We are after all, thinking and caring people. The homeless are dying on our streets because they are victims of crime, drug addiction, no health care, and traffic accidents – exacerbated by extreme weather like our recent frigid spell and torrential rains. Per an article in the LA Times on February 19th, many also are dying because they can get no relief from the heat in summer. They are literally baking to death. Think about how it would feel being unable to escape that cold or hot, and having no ready access to shelter, heat, shade, or water. This is the horrible reality for the homeless. It’s not hard to feel outrage at the seemingly out-of-control carnage playing out on our streets. Sure, it’s unsightly, frustrating, and unsafe for Sherman Oaks residents when the dangerous homeless threaten our peace. But this reality poses a much greater risk to the homeless themselves than to us. Our lobbying efforts to get the dangerously homeless removed from the streets is about protecting our community and making our streets safe again. But this is not the only motivation behind the work that we do for our community. We seek to ameliorate the other more profound life and death impacts on homeless people themselves. We do not lose sight of the significant impacts of these realities on their lives. Regardless of why they are homeless, these are human beings who should have the reasonable expectation that they will not be left on the street to die. They need help and basic human decency requires that they receive the help they need. Yes, it’s true … we want to remove the dangerously homeless from the streets. We don’t want to have to look at them, deal with them, or be threatened by them. But we don’t want them to die or be put in a jail cell. And we certainly do not want anyone to freeze or bake to death on our streets. We want them removed and helped. We continue to work with elected officials and the courageous nonprofits that work so hard and in good faith to help as much as they can. We do so with our hearts filled with compassion for the homeless. And we know one thing for sure – leaving this specific subgroup of homeless on the streets is not the answer. Not for them. Not for us. Not for our great city. They must be both removed (voluntarily or involuntarily) and helped. We have a moral obligation to both the homeless themselves and to the sanctity of our community to make sure that both occur. The status quo cannot stand.
THE DANGEROUSLY HOMELESS
Larry Slade, SOHA Homelessness Committee Chair
February 2023 | Sherman Oaks Homeowners Association Newsletter
We have heard a lot of talk about the “criminalization of homelessness” and how it is not ethical to throw people in jail just for being homeless. It’s easy to agree with this proposition and most of us do. But, agreeing that being homeless is not a crime in and of itself does not change the reality that homeless people commit crimes too. Being homeless does not exempt people from having to follow our laws. If a throng of teenagers were blocking the entrance to a local business while drinking alcohol and harassing and accosting customers … you better believe the police would remove them. Of course, the teenagers have somewhere to go. The homeless don’t. Hence, the problem. There can be no question that new housing is desperately needed in LA. And it certainly appears that our elected officials are focused on addressing the problem. Seeing it and being willing to do something about it are indispensable prerequisites for fixing it. But what about the homeless that refuse to move into housing? The ones that for various reasons prefer to be on the street? A recent study by the Rand Corporation cited in a January 26, 2023 LA Times article reported that 80% of homeless people, when asked if they would accept housing, replied “yes”. This means that 20% of the homeless would refuse housing. Building more housing will not address their problem. If there are approximately 70,000 homeless in Los Angeles (see LAHSA 2022 homeless count) and 20% of them will refuse to “go inside” this amounts to 14,000 homeless individuals who chose to live on the street. Addressing this problem, fixing this issue, needs to be a top priority. Over the past several years, the City of Los Angeles has become one of the poster children representing the homelessness crisis in America. To a lesser extent, Sherman Oaks has become the first stop sign at the three-way intersection of tragedy that is played out on our streets: 1) a mental health crisis that fuels homelessness; 2) a political morass (lack of process to create housing and provide mental health services); and 3) a mélange of contradictory laws that fail to empower the city with the authority to force people off the streets when they refuse housing. To be sure, the road to fixing this problem is laden with unique and vexing challenges. No one would suggest a simple or obvious “fix” to the problem in general. However, specifically addressing the issue of the dangerously unstable homeless – the homeless who pose a threat to themselves and others, and who refuse to “go inside” – needs to move to the very top of our elected official’s priority list. The sanctity of everything that we fight for as Sherman Oaks Homeowners is at stake.
PERFECT STORM FOR HOMELESSNESS IN SHERMAN OAKS
Larry Slade, SOHA Homelessness Committee Chair
January 2023 | Sherman Oaks Homeowners Association Newsletter
SOHA’s new Board Member Larry Slade reports that it’s become clear lately that Sherman Oaks, like all of LA, is suffering from a “Perfect Storm” of political factors that have exacerbated our currently untenable homelessness predicament. We don’t need to describe how bad the problem has become in our beautiful community. But what’s causing it? Clearly, there is no single simple answer, but here are four realities that make homelessness much more challenging than it should be: 1. Mental Health is a significant part of the problem. Mentally ill and severely drug-addicted homeless people do not want to “go inside” and under current law, they cannot be forced to do so. 2. Law Enforcement cannot be the “tip of the spear” to handle the homeless. For far too long, the political system has looked to local police to “Band-Aid” the problem. They can play a critical role, but they first need better laws empowering them to remove homeless who pose a threat to the safety of pedestrians, shoppers, diners, and strollers. They further need a multidisciplinary team of anti-homeless responders working the streets to engage the homeless, determine whether they pose a threat to themselves or others, learn what they need, and make helpful resources available. 3. The Disconnect that exists because the City of LA is responsible for housing and LA County is responsible for mental health services. The degree that the city and county work together is limited, and their coordination is minimal. This separation lays bare a disconnect that throws a wrench in “let’s get the homeless off the streets”. There is no centralized approach to fixing the problem and different agencies often work in different directions. 4. LAMC 41.18 is LA City Council’s new ordinance that prohibits homeless from sleeping or lying on public streets within 500 feet of schools and several other locations. This is a promising ordinance to keep our streets safe and our school-age kids from dealing with the homeless. However, for LAPD to enforce the law, the city must post signs warning the homeless that they are in an area where it is illegal to live on the street. No signs – no enforcement. Our Councilmember Raman opposed the passage of LAMC 41.18 but recently committed to posting the needed signs. That’s progress. Our new mayor has certainly been taking the issue seriously. She properly declared a state of emergency and is working to coordinate city-county efforts. She’s aiming to get the homeless off the streets by building more housing. She is headed in the right direction, and we remain hopeful that she will continue to proactively address the problem. Mayor Bass appears to have the will. But will she find the way?