By Brooklynn Wong
The highly-anticipated meeting on the proposed Navigation Center in Buena Park has come and gone. Questions were answered, information was provided and residents remained civil for the most part.
A regular City Council Meeting was held in the early evening on Tuesday, Feb. 12, and it was lightly attended, but as the 7 p.m. start time for the special Town Hall Meeting approached, the Chambers began filling up. By the time the meeting began, the Chambers were full, a few media outlets were on hand, and overflow rooms were set up in the Police Department.
Strict guidelines for how the meeting was to go helped keep people in line. It was made known that only the first hour and a half would be somewhat of a free-for-all, where residents could raise their hands, ask direct questions and receive answers, then an “oral communications” hour would follow, where those who had signed up and gotten a spot would be able to come to the dais and express their opinions, but not interact with city staff. Then the last half hour was to be reserved for City Council members to give their feedback.
Up until that part of the meeting, the Council members sat in the audience with residents, gathering information from the panel that was composed of the City Manager, City Attorney, other city staff and representatives from some homeless-assistance organizations.
Hundreds turned out, literature was provided at the entrance and all was kept orderly.
Location, location, location
Many raised questions as to why exactly this area is the one the city has targeted for building a homeless shelter.
City Manager Jim Vanderpool said this area, around the intersection of Knott and Lincoln, is a “homelessness corridor of concern.” He said the city did look at 17 other properties, but this one aligned most closely with the size of what the city had in mind (100-150 beds) and budgetary constraints. The city does now own the property, having closed escrow last October.
Many residents also were concerned as to why Buena Park, a relatively small city, is being forced to shoulder the county’s burden, with one attendee saying the homelessness around that area is “a West Anaheim problem.”
When asked why there’s been such urgency, the City Manager Vanderpool and City Attorney Chris Cardinale said there is a practical sense of urgency, to get shelter beds in place so the Police Department can resume enforcing anti-camping ordinances in public places. Also the funding that is available now will not be available forever.
Vanderpool also talked about how the sense of urgency is mostly a result of the county’s action, when last February they cleared the homeless encampment along the Santa Ana Riverbed, and transients were pushed out into surrounding cities with little to no notice given to host cities. This action raised Buena Park’s homeless population by 25%. Vanderpool said this is not necessarily a critique of the county’s actions, that they “did the best they could [but] at our expense.”
Now the way things are is the fact of life, and the cities in the North Service Planning Area must adapt.
Homeless advocate Rebecca Kovacs said, “We should baby step our way into this,” referencing temporary shelters that have been set up in Anaheim, in modular units in lots.
Residents suggested alternative locations, including former hospital and supermarket sites, the “Los Alamitos Armory,” and “right next to City Hall,” which drew laughter and cheers.
Those who live around the site and have expressed concern over whether property values would be impacted have been met with reassurances that a several-foot-high wall will be built around it, 24-hour security will be provided to keep crime down, and the facility itself will be redesigned and improved.
School considerations
Four schools are within a mile away from the proposed site at 7101 Lincoln Ave.: Centralia Elementary, Danbrook Elementary, Western High School and Orangeview Junior High.
This has been one of the biggest points of contention thus far. Parents with children who walk through the area to get to school spoke, including resident Amber Cervantes, who brought her three children with her up to the dais. She said, “I wanted you to see the faces of the kids” this will impact. She continued, saying a homeless shelter there “will affect their future,” as they will be in the house in that neighborhood when she is no longer around.
Another woman said, “I don’t think having a homeless shelter this close to schools and homes is a safe choice.”
Many fear that the crime rate will increase with the shelter’s presence.
Buena Park Police Chief Corey Sianez said in investigating Anaheim’s Bridges at Kraemer Place facility, it was found that there has been “no real increase in the crime rate” around the shelter as a result of its presence.
Similarly, Patti Long, Associate Director of Mercy House, who was on the panel, said in meetings with those who live in the neighborhood around Bridges, those individuals have stated that Bridges has improved their neighborhood from what it was before the shelter was in place.
Many have expressed desire for such a shelter to be built in an industrial area, rather than a residential one.
Some said that comparing the proposed Navigation Center in Buena Park to Bridges in Anaheim is unfair, because Bridges is in fact in an industrial area.
Council members’ reaction
At the end of the evening when the City Council offered feedback, they thanked the public for coming, for participating and for being civil and polite. There was heavy pushback and frustration in two instances—when the statement was made by city staff that people do not walk past that area to get to the nearby schools (although the claim seemed to be misunderstood by many residents—the statement seemed to imply that the majority of students come from other directions, not that no one walks there) and when Chief Sianez said that the idea that a shelter would attract more homeless to the area is “a myth.”
But other than these two times, attendees remained mostly respectful, and followed the wise and thorough guidelines put in place by city staff.
City Manager Vanderpool said, “The decision is far from over,” and that there will be another meeting to discuss this.
Mayor Art Brown concluded the evening by giving March 26 as a possible deadline on which the Council may make the decision to proceed with the Navigation Center or use the 7101 Lincoln Ave. site for some other purpose, and pursue other homeless shelter options. However he said, “don’t hold me to that date,” saying the decision will be made only when they feel they have enough information.
