| June 7, 2018 |
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Volume 6 Issue 18 |
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| Bridges at Kraemer Now at Capacity as Safe Community Partner |
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(L to R): Larry Haynes, Mercy House Executive Director; Supervisor Todd Spitzer; Susan Price, Director of Care Coordination; Karen McGlinn, Chief Executive Officer of Share Our Selves, and Darin Rorrer, a licensed clinical social worker specializing in addiction therapy. |
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Supervisor Todd Spitzer led a presentation offering a glance into Phase II of the Bridges at Kraemer Place homeless shelter in the Third District on Friday, June 1.
The site for Bridges at Kraemer Place is strategically placed near a freeway and in an industrial area. The operational plan ensures it is a good neighbor to surrounding businessess. |
“When we starting this project, I emphasized that Bridges at Kraemer Place must be designed with the public’s safety in mind,” Spitzer said during the press conference that took members of the media through Kraemer’s new onsite medical ward, stainless steel commercial kitchen, and cafeteria.
Thanks to the resulting shelter operational plan, no sex offenders are allowed and persons with outstanding warrants are prohibited, “walk-ups” are not allowed, and cameras, a secured fence and gate, and security guards are onsite 24/7.
Phase II doubles Kraemer’s capacity from 100 beds for single men and women to 200 beds. That is 100 more people we are helping every day.
The industrial-size kitchen features Energy Star appliances. The kitchen is near completion and will soon be operating and feeding all 200 clients daily. |
A centralized onsite intake, assessment, and crisis evaluation center ensures individuals are assessed safely inside the facility. Staff identifies the medical and physical needs and job-preparedness of each client and individualizes services to meet those needs. Clients are provided delivered meals, transportation to services and off-site assistance, separated sleeping facilities for men and women, laundry services, and access to daytime service providers and job referrals.
When Bridges at Kraemer Place first opened in May 2017, it was the County’s first year-round, whole-service care shelter. Supervisor Spitzer chose the name because Bridges is a place for individuals to transition from homelessness to self-sufficiency. Since then, over 30 individuals have exited with links to permanent shelter and housing options.
Bridges at Kraemer Place has been heralded as the standard for providing shelter service that leaves minimal impact on the surrounding neighborhood as a good community partner. |
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| Read: Spitzer’s Op-Ed in the LA Times on Orange County’s Homeless |
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A homeless woman in Santa Ana. Photo courtesy of the LA Times. |
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As published in the Los Angeles Times on May 31, 2018: https://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-spitzer-homelessnes-oc-20180531-story.html
Orange County isn’t an exclusive club where only the wealthy can live. We’re 3 million people who have problems just like everyone else in California: We work hard to pay for housing, we’re overtaxed and we’re trying to eke out a safe existence in a county where many cities are facing an increase in property crime.
We put a premium on our quality of life. Law and order are our priorities. We are not complacent about our problems. Maybe that’s why people want to live here, including a large homeless population.
As a supervisor for the county’s 3rd District, I see Orange County’s struggles and its achievements clearly, so I was particularly offended when Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti weighed in on our homeless relocation efforts. “I think that Orange County is a few years behind what we’ve gone through [in L.A.],” he said. “It’s not that we don’t have any NIMBYism, but we have much less.” He also said that Orange County cities would eventually “realize” that they have a homeless problem.
Orange County is neither heartless nor unaware of its homelessness problem. Over the last six months, we cleared the encampments along the Santa Ana River of nearly 700 homeless people, helping them into temporary housing, getting them mental health support and job training.
We have set aside $55 million for homeless services in the current county budget, plus $1.6 million for those with extreme mental health problems and an additional $90.5 million for housing.
The county operates two fall/winter shelters and two year-round facilities, including the well-planned transitional housing at the Bridges at Kraemer Place. The latter opened a year ago in my district and has operated successfully without incident despite initial community concerns.
Los Angeles County’s homeless population numbers well over 50,000; Orange County has about 5,000 homeless people. Los Angeles’ total population is three times larger than Orange County’s. If our rate of homelessness matched L.A.’s, we would have about 15,000 people on the streets. Perhaps Mayor Garcetti should be looking to us for solutions for his homeless problem, instead of taking potshots.
We don’t accept homelessness as a way of life, and we don’t enable the homeless population. We are dedicated to pulling the homeless out of that existence. A lawsuit on behalf of homeless people who wanted to continue living along the river has resulted in monitoring by a federal judge, who is requiring additional shelters throughout the county. Still, we have an anti-overnight camping ordinance, and we can use it to arrest lawbreakers.
In contrast, Los Angeles does not have an anti-camping ordinance, and it has decriminalized sleeping on the streets. The city’s essentially hands-off police presence beckons homeless people from across the nation like a neon sign. L.A.’s skid row encompasses 50 blocks, and it’s spreading.
One of Mayor Garcetti’s solutions is a pilot program to place homeless individuals in the backyards of homeowners (a huge liability lawsuit waiting to happen). The city and county are trying to build thousands of private-public housing units with no guarantee that the homeless will undergo mental health or job training to make them productive members of society.
In the meantime, the mayor wants to erect a large tented temporary shelter in Koreatown (and in every city council district). Koreatown has reacted with multiple protests and a petition against the shelter with more than 9,000 signatures on it to date. Orange County residents don’t accept housing alternatives that aren’t carefully thought out in order to minimize the impact on residential areas.
Between general funds, donated land and bond money, the city of Los Angeles alone is budgeting $430 million for homelessness in 2018-19, more than double the 2017-18 figure for a problem that keeps getting worse.
San Francisco is in similar straits. The edges of its freeways and open spaces are tent cities for an intractable population of homeless people. Open drug use on city streets among homeless individuals is common. When the city tried to clean itself up before the Super Bowl in 2016, do-gooders handed out tents instead. These cities and their residents aren’t solving their problem, they are fueling the cycle of homelessness.
When Orange County cleared the Santa Ana River encampments, workers found 315 tons of trash, 2.5 tons of hazardous waste and 13,950 hypodermic needles. I was there during the cleanup. I talked to numerous homeless individuals, urging them to use the county’s services. Many people told me they didn’t want the help; they liked living at the riverbed. Our social workers have identified them and keep going back to ask, hoping that one day they will say “yes” to what we offer.
But renters and homeowners in Orange County have rights too — such as the right to a peaceful, safe existence. When they object to another shelter nearby, they should be heard. They don’t deserve to be punished with increased crime and depreciating property values.
Mayor Garcetti may look upon Orange County with disdain for our “NIMBY” stance, but there is a reason people want to live here. We will fight to prevent Orange County from becoming a replica of Los Angeles. We will not accept a permanent skid row. |
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| Spitzer Congratulates Temple Shir Ha-Ma’a lot on its Campus Expansion |
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Supervisor Spitzer joined Rabbi Richard Steinberg at the Grand Reopening Ceremony at the Shir Ha-Ma’alot Temple. (L to R): Charlotte Perley, Howard Perley, Supervisor Todd Spitzer, Rabbi Richard Steinberg, and Bud Steinberg. |
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Supervisor Spitzer was honored to help the congregation Shir Ha-Ma’alot celebrate the grand re-opening of their two new facilities, the Kraut Education Center and the Perley Family Campus. Spitzer presenting his friend Rabbi Richard Steinberg with a proclamation in honor of the grand re-opening and dedication weekend.
The congregation has been a part of the Irvine community since 2001 and has truly honored their temple’s motto by helping over 650 families find “A Lifetime of Belonging.” The campus renovation project was 75% funded by the congregation and lasted approximately one year and nine months, requiring the “Temple Family” to find other facilities to hold their services in. On June 1, 2018 Shir Ha-Ma’alot was able to move back into and hold the first Shabbat service in their renovated and expanded home.
The ceremony welcomed roughly 500 attendees who came to tour the new campus, participate in Havdalah and celebrate through other festivities. Congratulations to congregation Shir Ha-Ma’a lot and Rabbi Richard Steinberg on the grand re-opening and renovation of the campus, and thank you for all that you do for the Jewish and Irvine community. |
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| Tustin Street Fair and Chili Cook Off |
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Supervisor Spitzer's Field Deputy Al Tello (L) smiles with attendees, including Barry Cooper (C), Commissioner for the City of Tustin, at the Tustin Chili Cook Off. |
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The Chili Cook Off, located in downtown Tustin, is one of Tustin's largest annual events. |
Supervisor Todd Spitzer supported Tustin, “The City of the Trees,” at the 34th Annual Tustin Chili Cook Off. Supervisor Spitzer’s Field Deputy Al Tello was on hand to greet the hundreds of visitors to this annual Chili Contest supporting local nonprofits, clubs, and vendors. Great also to see the support of the Tustin American Legion - Post 227, Yorba Linda Councilmember Beth Haney, and Orange Councilmember Fred Whitaker. All this couldn’t be possible without the support of the City of Tustin, Mayor Al Murray, and the Tustin City Council. |
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| Radiant Health Centers Stairway to the Stars |
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Supervisor Spitzer and Radiant Health Centers CEO Philip Yeager. |
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Supervisor Spitzer presented a proclamation to Radiant Health Centers, formerly the AIDS Services Foundation, for their Stairway to the Stars Gala on June 22.
All proceeds from the Gala benefit Radiant Health Centers’ expansion of services to the entire LGBTQ community, while maintaining their long-standing commitment to end the HIV epidemic in Orange County.
Philip Yeager, Executive Director and CEO of Radiant Health Centers, accepted the proclamation on behalf of Radiant Health Centers. |
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OCTA Public Meeting on SR 55 Improvement Project
Thursday, June 7 from 6-8:00 pm |
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| More info: http://www.octa.net/Projects-and-Programs/All-Projects/Freeway-Projects/Costa-Mesa-Freeway-(SR-55)/SR-55-(I-5-to-SR-91)/?frm=3555 |
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Road Work: Santiago Canyon Road
Late May-Early July
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Click on the image above to view a PDF version. |
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| Pet of the Week |
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Click on the image above to view a PDF version. |
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| Events Around the District |
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Anaheim
Preschool Storytime
Friday, June 8, 10:30 am – 11:00 am
Anaheim Canyon Hills, 400 Scout Trail
Family Storytime
Saturday, June 9, 11:00 am – 12:00 am
East Anaheim Branch Library, 8201 East Santa Ana Canyon Road
Irvine
Super Swim Lesson
Friday, June 22, 5:30 pm
Woollett Aquatics C, 4601 Walnut Ave.
Movies on the Lawn: Stagecoach
Friday, June 22, 6:30 pm
Orange County Great Park, 6950 Marine Way
Orange
Ruff Readers Therapy Dog Reading Program
Thursday, June 14, 3:30 pm — 4:00 pm
Taft Branch Library, 740 E Taft Ave.
2018 Summer Reading Club for Adults: Reading Takes You Everywhere
Saturday, June 16, 10:00 am—6:00 pm
Library Community Room, 407 E. Chapman Ave.
Silverado
Family Drop-In Crafts
Saturday, June 23, 11:00 am — 2:00 pm
Library of the Canyons, 7531 East Santiago Canyon Rd.
Tustin
Farmer’s Market
Wednesday, June 13, 9:00 am – 1:00 pm
El Camino Real & W. 3rd St.
Family Sunset Storytime
Wednesday, June 13, 5:00 pm – 5:45 pm
Tustin Library, 345 E. Main Street
Villa Park
Reading with a Deputy Storytime
Tuesday, June 19, 10:00 am – 11:00 am
Villa Park Library, 17865 Santiago Blvd.
Yorba Linda
Fantastic Family Storytime
Saturday, June 30, 10:30 am — 11:15 am
Yorba Linda Public Library, 18181 Imperial Highway
US-China Workshop: The Rise of Xi Jinping and China as a Global Power
Tuesday, June 26, 7:00 pm—8:00 pm
Richard Nixon Library and Museum, 18001 Yorba Linda Blvd.
For questions or comments regarding Spitzer’s E-Newsletter
please contact the Supervisor's office staff at: (714) 834-3330 or Montana.Sudul@ocgov.com
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