Guest Opinion | Rick Cole: Homeless Count Results: Good News, Bad News and What’s Next

Last week, the City announced the results of its annual Homeless “Point in Time” count conducted in January. The good news is that homelessness did not significantly increase in Pasadena. The bad news is that it did not significantly decrease – and in fact the number of unhoused people on our streets actually rose. Anyone who’s spent time on North Lake in the five months since the count was conducted has seen the proliferation of tents and temporary encampments.

The City continues to treat homelessness in our community as an issue to be managed instead of a problem to be solved. The City is doing a lot of things right – but that’s no cause for complacency. The documented rise in first-time homelessness is a danger sign that we can’t ignore.

That uptick in first-time homelessness presents both a challenge and an opportunity. The least expensive interventions are those that prevent homelessness. The next most cost-effective strategies target those who’ve recently become homeless to get them quickly rehoused. The longer people spend out on the streets, the more vulnerable they are to the pathologies of mental illness, substance abuse and declining physical health – and the harder and more expensive it is to treat those issues along with providing housing solutions.

That’s why we need a sense of urgency — so Pasadena doesn’t slip into the tragic human and community crisis we see in so many other parts of Los Angeles City and County. Both those jurisdictions have declared “homelessness emergencies.” Pasadena should do the same.

Yet a City government commitment is just the first step. Our entire community must treat homelessness as the emergency that it is. That means we need to mobilize not only the resources of government, we must also tap into the vast volunteer and philanthropic resources of Pasadena’s vibrant non-profit, business, faith and civic sectors. Knocking on more than 5000 doors during my Council campaign, I encountered tremendous desire for solutions – but people had no clear roadmap for how to help. 

As a person of faith, I would never begrudge someone providing food, clothing or blankets to those in need. But those only temporarily relieve suffering, they don’t end the deadly misery of living on the streets. We need comprehensive efforts that coordinate housing and jobs as well as recovery, mental and physical health services — to get the right help to the right people at the right time.

Again, on this front there is good news – and bad. The good news is that the board of the “Continuum of Care” charged with coordinating our community’s efforts back in February adopted a Five Year Plan to improve collaboration and actually measure results. The bad news is that their next step is to embark on another plan to actually implement the recommendations in the plan that took two years to prepare. Absent is the operational structure to effectively meet the plan’s goals – so it was not surprising that the new count shows we are already behind in reaching them.

Moreover, more than a year ago, the City and County jointly announced a bold plan for a combined housing and mental health services center at the old Kaiser clinic site at Lake and Villa. Since then: radio silence. Ironically, it has become a daily gathering place outside the fence for the unhoused and unserved. Where’s the urgency to move forward?

Pasadena was the third city in the nation to conduct an annual homeless count – starting in 1993. I know, because, along with Dr. Joe Colletti, I spearheaded that effort when I was Mayor. Today, we still conduct the count once a year, yet technology enables literally a monthly, weekly or even daily tally that other cities utilize as a “byname list” to better target outreach and services and to better measure results. Pasadena should lead again in applying cutting edge tools to focus our efforts to produce timely results.

The toughest challenge is surmounting the regional housing affordability crisis. Here again, Pasadena is doing good, just not good enough. We can’t solve it within our 25 square miles. But in partnership with our neighbors (including the new San Gabriel Valley and Glendale/Burbank/Pasadena regional housing trust funds) we can set the example for others to emulate.

We are all fortunate to call Pasadena home, a place Mayor Gordo calls the “center of the universe.” We are far better endowed with the resources to end street homelessness than most communities. I believe we have the will. Now we just have to get to work so next year we can see the positive results! 

Rick Cole won the election in March as Councilmember from District 2 to take office in December. He previously served three terms on the Council, including terms as Vice Mayor and Mayor. He is currently a member of the Planning Commission.