California has experienced an increase in the number of homeless individuals throughout the State, including within the City of Bakersfield. In November 2018, City Council passed Resolution No. 143-18 in response to the local 2019 “Point in Time Count” showing 643 “un-sheltered” homeless persons within the Metropolitan Bakersfield area, or individuals out on the streets, without access to an “Emergency Shelter bed.” Resolution No. 143-18 declared a shelter crisis within the City.
In Spring 2019, after passage of Measure N by the voters, City Council approved a budget with multiple provisions related to homelessness, including the allocation of federal HUD funds for existing homeless service providers and Public Services Vital Safety (Measure N) funds for the construction of an emergency shelter, affordable housing, Rapid Response Teams, and support of homeless service providers.
On September 11, 2019, Council was presented with a Research Report related to the construction of a new Emergency Shelter (Attachment #1) and Council gave Staff direction on five new Action Items (see Table 1 below).
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Table 1. City Council Action Items – September 11, 2019
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Action Item
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Description
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Next Steps
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1
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Downtown Cleaning
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Return to Council with Contract for cleaning service.
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Complete.
City Council approved Contract 9/25/19
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2
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Private Security
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Return to Council with Contract for private security service.
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Complete.
City Council approved Contract 9/25/19
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3
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Homeless Collaborative
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Return to Council with MOU/appropriation to support Homeless Collaborative.
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Complete.
City Council approved Contract 9/25/19
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4
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Emergency Shelter
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Within 30 days, return to Council with a Purchase or Lease Contract for property.
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Pending:
1/22/20 City Council Agenda Item
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5
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Community Prosecution Program
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Negotiate with Kern County to provide partial funding in support of the Program.
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Pending:
Awaiting cost information from County
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On September 25, 2019, Council completed Action Items 1, 2 and 3 and directed Staff to return within 30 days with a purchase agreement for a specific location to construct a new Emergency Shelter.
On November 6, 2019, Council was presented with a Purchase and Sale Agreement (PSA) for the Calcot property (Attachment #2a) to construct an Emergency Homeless Shelter. Council also received a presentation of the site search process, an overview of the recommended site, operational information, and estimated budget impacts (Attachment #2b and 2c). Several members of the public appeared and spoke in opposition to the location. Council voted to delay action on the item until January 22, 2020 to allow Staff time to evaluate and bring back a cost benefit analysis of not just the Calcot site, but any other available M-2 sites. Prior to the motion, some of the Councilmembers also mentioned the importance of Community outreach, a Good Neighbor Policy, the suitability of a Police Substation at Calcot, and operator involvement.
On Wednesday night, Staff will present the following 4 selected properties in alphabetical order:
Ø Brown Street
Ø Calcot
Ø County facility on Golden State
Ø Weill Park
Staff selected the available properties that had the basic attributes of:
Ø 150 beds
Ø Space for pets
Ø Space for possessions
Ø Space for co-habitants (partners)
In order to compare the properties in a somewhat equitable manner, Staff will compare and contrast the properties in power-point and chart format in terms of: zoning, square footage, acreage, office space, access to freeway/arterials, annual operational expense, and capital.
We will also provide some thoughts on miscellaneous issues relative to each site, including potential operators, infrastructure assessment, site readiness, and neighbor concerns gleaned from community outreach meetings since November.
Also attached to this Administrative Report is a written draft the Good Neighbor Policy (Attachment #3), and the Police substation assessment for Calcot (Attachment #4), both based on requests from Councilmembers during the November 6, 2019 meeting. The Community Presentation and a summary of the emails, comment cards, and verbal remarks from speakers at the various community outreach meetings conducted since November are attached (Attachment #5a and 5b).
Needless to say, Staff has invested a tremendous amount of time on this issue and we have a wealth of facts and studies which we will utilize to answer questions Wednesday night.