Pasadena Gets $525,000 to Combat Homelessness

Homeless in Pasadena (Photo – Staff).

While the comparison to a winter’s hibernation may be a fanciful one, still the sight of so few seats occupied by the public in last Monday’s Pasadena City Council meeting did suggest a low level of public interest, not unexpected for this always-busy holiday season.

By Garrett Rowlan

And yet, in a sense, Christmas came early as a present to the city of Pasadena in the form of a state grant in the amount of 525 thousand dollars to combat homelessness, a non-competitive grant that will be used to buy motel vouchers, the preferred mode of shelter for the indigent. Motels, it was explained, have room for pets, possessions, and families, not to mention a greater degree of safety. Funds for motel vouchers go quick, 75 thousand dollars already drained from this fiscal year.  Between Measure H for LA County and this grant, Pasadena seems, in the short term, to have funds for temporary solutions to the homeless issue; permanent solutions are another issue.

Next came the issue of funding to build a restroom at John Muir High School, a 300-thousand-dollar expenditure that involved a somewhat convoluted dance of funding flexibility between the county, city, and school. “We’re basically paying back ourselves,” said Ara Maloyan, Director of Pasadena Public Works, in summarizing the knotty funding issue. Council gave approval to the plan.

Erica Foy addressing Pasadena City Council on Monday, Dec. 3, 2018 (Photo – Garrett Rowlan).

And while the holiday season is an opportunity for gathering family and friends, it is close to the beginning of the new year, and in the case of Pasadena, vending ordinances need to be updated to reflect new state parameters, bringing Pasadena into compliance before January first. “There are more questions than answers,” Mayor Tornek said, decrying the top-down changes that the city must scramble to adjust to. More questions than answers, and maybe more terms than definitions, such as what is meant by “roaming,” when in reference to vendors, who roams where and for how long. Unlicensed vendors remain a problem.

Council adjourned at 9:30 in the memory of Maria Salas, a Pasadena resident who was an advocate for Villa Park and who worked tirelessly to improve conditions at Summit Avenue.

> Watch the entire Pasadena City Council meeting on Monday, Dec. 3, 2018.