On June 17, 2008, the Santa Barbara City Council established a Council Committee, comprised of three Councilmember, to study a range of issues related to homeless services and neighborhood impacts. This committee will make recommendations, with input from community members, to the Council on strategies to address the identified issues.
The five identified issues are:
1) Need for increased coordination between City Police and homeless street outreach staff from various agencies to reduce calls for service to City Police;
2) Recommendation from the Milpas Action Task Force to consider establishing a Recovery Zone or Alcohol Impact Zone in the Lower Milpas Street area;
3) Gain the support of the courts, District Attorney and County Probation to curb negative behavior (i.e. injunctions and increased penalties) and require offenders to receive services/treatment to get on the track to recovery.
4) Aggressive panhandling, primarily in the Downtown;
5) Utilization of existing shelter services to more effectively assist the most vulnerable homeless persons;
Meeting Schedule
A series of community forum type meetings will be held over the next several months beginning with the first meeting on August 6, 2008 from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. (PT) at the Louise Lowry Davis Center. This meeting will focus on issue #1 - Street Outreach Coordination.
Councilmembers
- Chair - Iya Falcone
- Members - Dale Francisco, Helene Schneider
Staff Contacts