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By Joseph Geha. San Jose Spotlight. Bay City News.
A new bill is introduced to help house the homeless, it would give the Santa Clara Valley Water District expanded authority to help thousands of people who live along creeks, creeks and other district land to find housing and services.
District officials say Assembly Bill 1469 would add language to the district's governance law specifying that it can help the unsheltered, allowing it to play a more active role in addressing the growing crisis. deep homelessness in Santa Clara County.
The bill, authored by local Assemblyman Ash Kalra and sponsored by Valley Water, passed unanimously in the Assembly on Monday and will then head to the state Senate, though it is unclear when it will come to a vote.
Jim Beall, a Valley Water board member since December and a longtime South Bay leader, said that under current law, the district can't do much more than clean up trash and debris along creeks. where the homeless live, costing about $2.4 million per year.
"We can't just ask (other government agencies) to do all the work on this, we have to participate and engage in a more proactive way," Beall told San José Spotlight.
Despite the efforts of city, county and state governments, the homelessness crisis in the county has escalated, with approximately 10,000 people without permanent housing by 2022. About 77 percent of those people do not They have shelter, which means that they live outdoors, on the street or in vehicles, depending on Destination: Residence.
Valley Water owns and manages 294 miles of streams and habitat. Officials said 2,300 people currently live on district property, often in camps near waterways, which can be dangerous due to flash flooding, among other factors. Human waste and other debris from camps can degrade water quality and animal habitats.
“We want to help people in a more humane way to find housing, places to live and solutions instead of having them live in the creeks where they have a negative impact on the environment,” Beall said.
The bill would allow the district to use part of its revenue from an existing 1 percent assessed property value tax to fund outreach, counseling, transitional housing or other services for the unsheltered.
Bart Broome, Valley Water's assistant state government relations officer, said a little financial flexibility for the district could go a long way. He said the district would only use a "small part" of existing tax funds on these efforts, but said it's too early to determine a number.
“If we can access just a small part of that, we can do the things that are urgently needed to improve the situation. Not just for the homeless people that live along the creek, but also for the neighbors that live around it," Broome said. San Jose focus.
The bill could also allow the district to use some of its excess land for housing projects, Beall said, but the timeline for those potential projects is not yet clear.
Homeless advocate Richard Scott said Valley Water, San Jose and other government agencies have been "ruthless" in their raids on various encampments in recent years, but said he was confident in the intent of the bill if Beall is leading the effort.
"Jim Beall has always been involved in community mental health," Scott told San José Spotlight.
Scott said that in addition to creating more permanent affordable and supportive housing, the district must work with the county or cities to quickly invest in temporary solutions.
“What we need right now is to have sanctioned and regulated encampments where people are stable, where advocates and providers can find them, and where they feel safe,” Scott said, similar to Hope Village, which was dismantled in 2019. “You can Don't treat a person when they're under the kind of pressure you have when you're homeless."
Good intentions
As it pursues this bill, the water district is also monitoring its nearly $5 million contract with San Jose to clean up people who live along about nine miles of Coyote Creek and work to find them services or housing, so the district can begin a major flood prevention project.
Homeless advocate Scott Largent said people living near Coyote Creek and other water district land were forced into those areas after being evicted from other parts of the city, such as the Spring Street, sidewalks and underpasses.
"They've been harassed, swept away, their RVs towed, everything. People try to get further into the creek and try to be creative and build bunkers or find camouflage," Largent told San José Spotlight.
Broome said Valley Water's intentions are good and the bill would not be used simply to order more mass sweeps of homeless encampments.
"It's in everyone's backyard, these public lands are owned by the people, it's everyone's problem," Broome said. "We want to do it in a way that actually finds solutions for people, not just moving from one public land to another."
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