HomeMy WebLinkAbout02-01-2023_Open Session_Item 18_Garcia-Ponce De Leon, Andreya_RedactedFrom:
To:CityClerkDepartment
Subject:Public Comment 02-01-23 Agenda Item 18
Date:Wednesday, February 1, 2023 2:31:06 PM
Caution - This email originated from outside the City - Verify that the Email display name and Email address are consistent. - Use caution when opening attachments.
We appreciate the Council's recognition of the City's housing crisis. There is an immediate
urgency to find solutions that work, NOW. We urge the Council to adopt resolution No. 2023-
028, declaring a Homeless State of Emergency. It is imperative the City provides necessaary
actions to streamline provisions of shelter to any individuals who are experiencing
houselessness. We want to further urge you to invest monies into EMERGENCY temporary
housing and sheltering that is accessible to our community with no barriers of criminal history,
income criteria, or on citizenship status. There should be no barriers for our most disenfranchised
community members, ever. The housing crisis in San Bernardino constitutes a state of
emergency. More than 1,350 of our neighbors don’t have a place to live in our city, and the
City Council must take urgent, bold action to address this humanitarian crisis. This means
we need to address the root cause of displacement: the lack of affordable housing. And, we
must ensure that people are treated with dignity while they are on the street and that being
unhoused is never treated like a crime. We strongly urge the city council to ensure that law
enforcement does not criminalize the city’s most economically distressed community
members and immediately take steps to meet their human needs, including the need for
permanent, safe, affordable housing and supportive services. We call upon the City to
adopt the Housing First model, which would also provide wrap around supportive services.
Housing is not recognized as a human rights, though it should be. The first layer of a solid
foundation, are basic necessities. Housing is a fundamental key factor that is most often left
out of solutions. Without a housing component as the foundation, it is near impossible to
build upon something that is unsecure. Buildings, and homes should not be built this way.
People should be afforded housing at the very bare minimum. Why do we think the housing
crisis has imploded, if we are not truly building anything at all? We cannot provide any
REAL solutions without supportive permanent housing. Temporary housing, is merely a
temporary bandaid solution.
Respectfully submitted,
Andreya Garcia-Ponce De Leon
Executive Director
San Bernardino Free Them All