HomeMy WebLinkAbout11/16/2021 Item 6a, Brooks
Delgado, Adriana
Lea Brooks <leabrooks332@gmail.com>
Sent:Wednesday,
To:E-mail Council Website
Subject:Strategic Planning for Homelessness Response
Attachments:Stragetic Planning fo Homelessness Response.docx
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I had trouble trying to comment during last night's council meeting. My expanded comments are attached. Thanks.
Lea Brooks
SLO
1
Nov. 17, 2021
To: Mayor Stewart and Council Members Christianson, Marx, Pease and Shoresman
From: Lea Brooks, San Luis Obispo resident and Friends of the Bob Jones Trail Board
(The Friends’ initial focus was extension of the trail from its Ontario Road staging area
to the Octagon Barn, but our efforts have expanded to help transition the city’s segment
into a multiuse trail, park and open space where people feel safe.)
I listened to last night’s presentation on Strategic Planning for Homelessness Response
-excellent presentation! I planned to comment and had my hand raised – the icon was
raised on my screen – but I wasn’t acknowledged. Candidly, I’ve had mixed success
with commenting during public meetings…sometimes I’m successful and other times
not.
I’m following up with the comments I intended to give last night with a few additions to
encourage the council to also consider the effects of houselessness on neighborhoods
and parks, trails and open spaces in addition to addressing the complex issue of
providing services to the houseless.
The Friends of the Bob Jones Trail began informal monthly trash pickups of the city’s
segment of the trail in January. Our goal is to encourage more people to use the trail by
helping it look cleaner. We focused on the trail rather than the camps for safety reasons.
Unfortunately, we paused our pickups a couple of months ago when the number of
unhoused people camping immediately adjacent to the trail increased as did their
aggression. We did not want to put our volunteers, including members of the San Luis
Obispo Bicycle Club, in danger.
On Monday, Helene Finger and I met with City Manager Johnson, Police Chief Scott
and Parks and Recreation Director Avakian to strategize on how the Friends can help
the city transition its segment of the trail into a multiuse trail, park and open space
where people, including residents of the mobile home parks and other neighborhoods
on South Higuera, feel safe. We will soon be meeting with Parks and Recreation
rangers to develop a plan so we can restart our cleanups.
On a similar issue, my husband and I started cleaning up trash at Mitchell Park, our
neighborhood park, earlier this year after growing frustrated at the trash generated by
houseless people in and around the park. The prohibition of tents has been a significant
help – thank you! We pick up trash approximately five days a week and continue to be
amazed at the trash generated, especially cigarette butts and discarded food and
clothing. I think every cigarette butt properly disposed means one less floating down the
creek to Avila Beach.
Please consider preparing guidelines to people who leave food and clothing in Mitchell
and probably other parks for the houseless to clean up afterwards. While some of the
food is consumed and containers properly disposed, the amount of food and clothing
after it’s soiled strewn throughout the park is mindboggling. Much of the food is
perishable and often left sitting uneaten in the gazebo and on park benches for hours,
raising concern about food poisoning.
The Friends also supports and offers our assistance to develop an Adopt-a-Trail
program. There are other city residents eager to help keep our neighborhoods, parks
trails and open spaces clean and safe, but would appreciate a program that includes
proper disposal of the trash collected. For example, on the Bob Jones Trail, we dispose
the trash collected in the huge dumpster on the trail. At Mitchell Park, we dispose the
refuse in the trash cans.
Below are images from the Bob Jones Trail shot by my handlebar-mounted camera.