SANTA ANA (CNS) - A dispute between Orange County and Santa Ana officials over a cold-weather shelter for transients this winter has prompted a federal judge to hold a hearing on Friday to consider how south county cities can contribute more to providing beds for the homeless.
U.S. District Judge David O. Carter, who presides over the settlement of a lawsuit that provided shelters throughout north and central county for the homeless, last Friday ruled the county's plan for a cold-weather shelter this winter at a Salvation Army facility in Santa Ana was unnecessary because he determined there were 150 beds currently available.
However, Carter later scheduled a hearing for this Friday to continue discussion of the issue.
Santa Ana officials have objected to the Salvation Army facility accepting the county's project because they say the city has already done enough to provide beds for the homeless and that it was time for other cities, particularly the south county cities, to accept some responsibility.
Santa Ana and the county have a memorandum of understanding under the settlement of the homeless lawsuit that a cold weather shelter can be opened if there is an emergency. If the city and county cannot agree on the conditions that warrant opening of a shelter than it is up to Carter to referee the dispute.
County officials put out a request for proposals for a winter shelter in July, but none of the usual contractors put in a bid. The contractors told officials that it was difficult to hire labor for a four-month project and the profit margins are scant. So county officials turned to the Salvation Army, which provides shelter for men only in a smaller program, but were willing to expand the service.
"We have an existing settlement MOU with the city of Santa Ana and the county attempted to operate a cold weather shelter," Orange County CEO Frank Kim told City News Service. Santa Ana "disputed the conditions requiring the establishment of a shelter program in the city. We have met and conferred and we did not come to a resolution and in the MOU disputes they will be resolved by Judge Carter and we're in that process."
Orange County Supervisor Andrew Do said, "If a time comes when we find there is an emergency it will take the county time -- at least weeks if not months -- to line up a facility and enter into a contract with a provider to run that shelter."
Santa Ana Mayor Vicente Sarmiento, who is running for the District 2 seat on the Board of Supervisors, told City News Service, "My position is we're not opposed to a cold-weather shelter. We agree with the court that pursuant to a grand jury report that was drafted and circulated earlier these additional shelter spaces should be done regionally and not concentrated in one city. We're encouraged that Judge Carter understands this should be a more shared responsibility."
Carter has invited south county leaders to attend Friday's hearing, but it's unknown if any of them will attend. The south county cities -- aside from Laguna Beach, which has a shelter -- rejected any attempts to join the settlement agreement and instead opposed the litigation.
A federal lawsuit seeking to compel south county cities to provide more shelter was eventually taken out of Carter's hands and assigned to a judge in Los Angeles, where it was eventually dismissed.
Sarmiento said he thought Carter's comments last Friday about seeking to have south county cities shoulder more of the load were "thoughtful."
"As a city that has stepped up and complied with its responsibilities we want to ensure other cities do the same," Sarmiento said. "It is going to take the court for the county to make some decisions that these resources are ... not concentrated in a city like Santa Ana that already has challenges.
"The optics are really not good. You place all of these obligations on a low-income community, a community of color, a marginalized community. It can't be Santa Ana shouldering this burden alone."
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