Settlement Talks Begin Over Homeless Suit

In a surprise announcement, City Attorney Phil Kohn said the city's elected officials unanimously agreed to begin informal settlement talks with the American Civil Liberties Union, which the week before had filed a lawsuit on behalf of five homeless plaintiffs, challenging the lawfulness of city ordinances.

About 150 homeless advocates and activists had packed the council chambers, girded for battle.

Prior to the public meeting, council members met in closed session with staff and the city attorney to forge a less scarring strategy than a legal battle. The suit names as defendants the city, its council members and police department.

Kohn said he was instructed "…to take talks to the next level," and to authorize staff to generate a report on the activities of its homeless task force. Its most controversial recommendation, the establishment of a temporary shelter and multi-service center, and city ordinances banning sleeping overnight on public grounds, served as lightning rods that instigated the litigation.

Homeless advocate and Laguna Beach resident Jim Keegan put aside confrontational remarks in recognition of city efforts. "I appreciate the city trying to reduce the rancor," he said, though he pointed out police officers are still issuing citations he described as "harassing" to the homeless.

Later, Assistant City Manager John Pietig clarified that citations are still issued to the homeless who trespass on private property, but citations for sleeping on public property were halted in April, with an exception in November during wildfire season.

Jason Paransky, a board member of the all-volunteer Laguna Relief and Resource Center, pled with the council to reconvene the task force, which had not officially disbanded. "We cannot fight the A.C.L.U., like Chicago or New York ," said Paranasky. He also pointed out that, "People are watching us." Earlier in the week, in a special meeting of the town's Interfaith Council, Paransky urged advocates to embrace the litigation as a clarion call to act on homeless issues. "We can serve as a model for the entire country. Why should we not do that?" he asked.

Neighborhood Congregational Church Pastor B.J. Beu, speaking as a representative of the city's spiritual leaders, thanked city officials for re-engaging in negotiations with ACLU attorneys. "The perception is we have an enforcement issue, rather than a health issue," he said.

Earlier, the religious leaders vowed to urge elected officials to abolish anti-camping statutes, to hire a social outreach worker and to establish its own emergency shelter. "We would like to help the city and council and police to …be the best we can be," Beu said.

During the council session, Pietig laid out a longawaited update on the city's response to the task force's 14 recommendations, which were unanimously embraced by council members last January.

The first recommendation was continuing support for the police community outreach officer. Officer Jason Farris, with almost four years of active duty as an officer, had been assigned since last February to connect homeless people with their families, services or get them to shelters. He is still on the job.

A second recommendation was support of a multi-service center to provide outreach and casemanagement. In September, the Council approved a $100,000 no interest loan to help a nonprofit group acquire a site. Efforts by Resource Center leaders, who considered at least two properties, failed to come to fruition. Center supporters instead renewed for three years a lease at its current location, inhibiting expansion of services.

A third recommendation called for city staff to work with the Chamber of Commerce to educate the public about refusing panhandlers. Flyers were distributed downtown with a vision of redirecting donations to more broad-based community solutions.

Staff was also directed to work with private volunteers to relocate the Saturday morning breakfast at Main Beach away from the children's play area, boardwalk and volleyball court. Last spring, a new location on the Main Beach cobblestone was established.

On each of the other ten recommendations, Pietig's memo took pains to point out that the city ignored none of the items but instituted most of them in a timely manner.

The ACLU lawsuit criticized Laguna Beach for not doing enough to implement the recommendations, particularly in establishing an emergency shelter.

While city policies and volunteers assist the homeless, the symptoms plaguing the chronically homeless, stemming from mental disease or cognitive impairment, often result in illegal actions, such as public intoxication, threats to citizens and public urination.

Sheila Bushard, owner of Bushard's Pharmacy, described homeless people yelling profanities at pedestrians. "Tonight an entourage was blocking the breezeway and I saw alcohol bottles and told them I would call the police.

"Businesses here do have a problem," she said. "But these people do need social care and help."

"I'd like our town to be safe," said resident Margaret Baldwin, describing an incident where customers of Shirley's Bagels were yelled at by a man who tried to steal handbags and urinated on a nearby wall.

"We are now facing a human disaster," said resident Arnold Hano. "We are addressing managing the homeless rather than addressing homelessness itself."