Under the firm leadership of Mayor Gary Phillips, the city of San Rafael is on the verge of assembling a package of practical changes that will do much to limit the impact of the chronic homeless in the Mission City’s downtown.
The negative impact from the long-term homeless on those who live and work in downtown San Rafael is painfully obvious.
Statistics compiled by the city indicate in 2015 there were 588 homeless individuals in San Rafael of whom, according to Police Chief Diana Bishop, 50 to 75 are chronic homeless. Those are the troubled folks, many of whom are substance abusers or psychologically challenged, and that causes the highly visible negative impacts.
San Rafael is a relatively small city with a substantial homeless population. On a per-capita basis it has more homeless than San Francisco. This phenomenon is common among medium-sized politically liberal coastal county-seat towns with fair weather.
Think Monterey, Santa Cruz, San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara, all of which face similar dilemmas.
The county seat aspect is relevant because that’s where social services are provided.
Phillips and the council understand it’s morally wrong to turn their back on these troubled individuals. Simultaneously, they recognize that the status quo is unacceptable. Phillips and his proactive council colleagues are prepared to bite the bullet and take decisive action.
Their strategy is to acquire a structure outside of downtown in an area with minimal impacts to existing residents.
Finding that site has been tough.
Even homeless advocates rarely point to their own neighborhood as a location. It’s always “over there, not here.”
San Rafael is now working to facilitate acquisition of a 20,000-square-foot, two-floor vacant office building on Mark Drive. That’s in an office and industrial neighborhood on Highway 101’s east side, not far from the Smith Ranch Road off-ramp.
Ritter Center, a social service provider consistently under fire for allegedly failing to supervise its downtown San Rafael clientele, has agreed to move its entire facility to Mark Drive. This includes its medical program and shower services, with the food pantry dispersed to churches and social service providers around the county.
Phillips indicates that the Rotating Emergency Shelter program — or REST — has also signed off. REST, administered by Marin’s parish-based St. Vincent de Paul Society, provides winter shelter for about 40 men and 20 women. It has long requested an all-year permanent site.
Full disclosure: I have volunteered serving meals at REST church shelters.
There’s proposed to be a residential component to the Mark Drive plan. Twenty formerly homeless women residing at 55 Mill St. near the Canal’s auto repair shops, along with the 20 women in REST, would move to Mark Drive. Men would remain at 55 Mill St., but at least 20 are proposed to be relocated at county expense to housing outside San Rafael.
Perhaps the few remaining “nuisance hotels” populated by transients, prostitutes and drug dealers could be cleared out and become assisted housing for these desperate men.
Phillips’ plan will result in positive change to downtown San Rafael. The concept isn’t perfect, but if Marin waits for the ideal it will never address the problem.
The scheme needs a transportation component. Now chronic homeless are predominately downtown, but that’s where the services are centered drawing them in. In reality, many of the chronic homeless live in open lands throughout Marin.
San Rafael’s plan is compassionate and in the best interest of the vast majority of city residents.
In an era when we see more talk than action from government, it’s refreshing to see a proactive City Council address difficult long-term issues.
Columnist Dick Spotswood of Mill Valley writes about local issues on Wednesdays and Sundays in the IJ. Email him at spotswood@comcast.net.
