by Randal Beeman

It’s only 10:30 AM but “Steve” and “Carol,” a couple in their early 40s, have finished off the better part of a 12 pack of beer just off the corner of Main Street and Ventura Avenue. They toss their empty cans into the flower beds of Mission Plaza townhomes and yell at a friend as he passes by on his bicycle. The friend doubled back and they offer him a beer pulled from a bag hidden behind them. A few hours later a few blocks away a small group of young people gather under the bridge just yards from the sign and artwork welcoming visitors to the City of Ventura. Three of them have their pant legs rolled up and are injecting what is presumably heroin.

For people who live and work in downtown Ventura – indeed downtowns across California – the presence of the homeless, and the pathologies accompanying substance abuse and mental health problems, is a normal part of daily life. Pleas for a handout are as ubiquitous as the trash that piles up around the Mission Plaza Shopping Center. Though some of the down and out are aggressive panhandlers, many are polite and even upbeat, amicably greeting friends and playing cat and mouse with security guards.

While many cities have far greater numbers of street people and panhandlers than Ventura, stories about the homeless problem and emotional letters to the editor on the subject are omnipresent in the local media. Several speakers at the January 9th meeting of the Ventura City Council decried the lack of affordable housing in the city.

Some individuals and groups have accused the Ventura Police Department of being overly tolerant, even exacerbating the homeless problem through deliberate neglect of their duties. Conversely, reformers claim the police are too harsh with the homeless and they accuse the city is failing this vulnerable population by not addressing the issue on a long term and comprehensive level.

Sgt. Jerry Foreman leads the Ventura Police Department’s Downtown Task Force. Foreman recently sat for a brief interview to discuss the VPD strategy as well as some of the challenges in dealing with the homeless problem in Ventura.

There are many misconceptions the public harbors regarding the homeless. Foreman emphatically stated that the police “can’t arrest their way out of the problem.” Recent court rulings and voter initiatives have limited the power of the police and courts. For example, a drunk and disorderly charge used to earn up to a 120 day sentence, now it’s 30 days, usually reduced to 15 but with time served and overcrowded jails a public intoxication case might stay locked up for 4 days or less.

The courts can no longer cajole offenders into treatment if they are caught with drugs due to Proposition 47 making use and possession of hard drugs a misdemeanor. With no threat of a long jail stay the leverage to get addicts and alcoholics into treatment is lessened. Foreman confirmed what other homeless experts suggest: Funding to house the mentally ill has been cut for decades, and many people on the street resist coming into shelters because of the rules and conditions involved.

Police rarely deal with the “episodic homeless.” Folks who find themselves temporarily broke and families in need are usually taken care of by public and private social service organizations. Day to day contact, especially in downtown Ventura, is with the “vagrant homeless.” Instead of using  a confrontational approach, stated the Navy veteran, law enforcement and their partners in Ventura prefer to guide the homeless into long term help instead of short term incarceration.

When it comes to crimes like public intoxication, urinating in public, sleeping in vehicles, and so forth, the VPD has a policy called “assistance based enforcement” where the offender is cited with a ticket and offered contact with social services. If they acquire five citations in a calendar year (including at least one in the last month) the individual will be arrested and enter the Chronic Offender Program. While there are not enough mental health caseworkers to send to every incident, the goal of the City of Ventura is to have all officers and staff exposed to Crisis Intervention Training (CIT), and that anyone seeking help gets connected to a service agency.

Foreman sympathizes with critics on both sides of the argument. He notes that some detractors want more arrests. A law and order man who understands plight of property owners and families worried about this issue, Foreman acknowledges the constitutional and ethical limits to what the police can do in a free and democratic society.

Working his beat in downtown, Sgt. Foreman frequently encounters homeless people with immense intelligence and potential. He suggests that while it might make us feel good or fulfill our faith requirements when we offer a few dollars or some food and clothes to a street person, Foreman suggests we let the “experts” at the Salvation Army, Project Understanding, Safe Sleep, the Turning Point Foundation and other groups channel public generosity into more sustainable solutions for the homeless of Ventura.

by Brian Pendleton, Business Operations Manager Ventura Port District
RE: Letter to editor in December 29, 2016 Ventura Breeze “Ventura Harbor should slow down”

It is with great excitement that after 16 years of planning effort, the Sondermann Ring Project, which is now known as Portside, is under construction. This project will provide much needed market rate and affordable rental housing as well as new recreational amenities including a new public park, new boat slips, and a public launch ramp for personal watercraft such as kayaks and stand-up paddle boards. It will also preserve and enhance public coastal access, an ocean view corridor and increase the City’s inventory of park and open space. The project was approved by the Ventura Port District, City of Ventura and the California Coastal Commission.

Recently, suggestions have been made that the Port District is being too hasty in considering additional improvements to our Harbor.  In May 2016, the Port District issued a request for proposals (for new visitor serving uses at two undeveloped Port District sites). Some seven months later, in November three development teams were invited to participate in a community meeting to present their proposals. The meeting was widely publicized and well attended – and presented exciting new uses that will benefit the Harbor, the City of Ventura, and our county. Proposals under consideration include a three-story boutique hotel with on-site event capabilities, a two-story hybrid hostel, and/or a mixed-use project with fisherman and farmers market, and restaurants with live entertainment. All proposals being considered are required to provide parking solutions, be financially self-sufficient, and pay lease revenue to the Port District, amongst many other RFP requirements.

One proposal the District received was rejected for being non-responsive to the RFP. It was called the Ventura Ocean Center. The proposal lacked an experienced development team, identified the “developer” as an unformed 501c3 non-profit entity, had no project pipeline or experience developing projects in coastal California, had no detailed project budget, revenue or ground rent projections, provided $1 per year for 100 years in guaranteed ground rent to the District, and lacked a ready source of development funding, relying instead on future grant applications and fundraising efforts to construct and operate the project.

The Port District is a special district and generates its revenues primarily through real estate leases of the various tenants at Ventura Harbor. This accounts for nearly 90 percent of all operational revenues. These revenues are budgeted annually and used to provide a safe and navigable harbor and a seaside destination that benefits residents, visitors, fisherman, and boaters alike. The District has taken seriously its responsibility to city tax payers to evaluate each proposal on its merits including future rental income to the District.

In the next six months, we expect that the Commission will further refine which team or teams to enter real estate negotiations. As we know from our 16-year long experience with the Portside Development, any proposed project selected for further consideration will undergo lengthy and rigorous public vetting and environmental review processes by the Port District Commission, City of Ventura, California Coastal Commission as well as other regulatory bodies. This essential review will assure that the project which moves forward will be consistent with our many coastal development policies involving affordable coastal lodging, view corridor preservation and public coastal access.

With the leadership and guidance of our Commission, we will continue to move through the RFP selection process and carefully plan for other Harbor improvements.  All of which will help to secure a vibrant Harbor for all to enjoy and an economically viable future for the District.

The Ventura County Women’s Political Council is honored to have California State Controller Betty Yee as keynote speaker at its Annual Luncheon on Saturday, January 28, 10:30 – 1:30 pm at the historic Pierpont Inn, Ventura. Tickets are $35/members; $50/non-members. Sponsor opportunities are available. Seating is limited.  RSVP and reservations at vcwpc.org. For more information [email protected] or call  216-8518.

Betty T. Yee was elected California State Controller in November 2014, following two terms of service on the Board of Equalization. As the state’s Chief Fiscal Officer, Ms. Yee also chairs the Franchise Tax Board and serves as a member of the California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) and the California State Teachers’ Retirement System (CalSTRS) Boards. These two boards have a combined portfolio of nearly $500 billion.  Ms. Yee also currently serves on the board of directors for the Equality California Institute. She is a cofounder of the Asian Pacific Youth Leadership Project, which exposes California high school youth to the public service, public policy, and political arenas.

Only 10 women have held constitutional positions in the state’s history and Ms. Yee is currently the only woman holding statewide elected office in California. Kamala Harris served as Attorney General from 2011 through 2016 and is now serving in the U.S. Senate. Ms. Harris was the keynote speaker at VCWPC’s annual luncheon in January 2016.

VCWPC is a multi-partisan organization whose objective is to achieve equality for all women. They encourage, recruit, train and support women candidates who will advance the goals of VCWPC and bring women’s perspectives to every issue, foremost including reproductive health; and social, educational, environmental and economic justice.