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malibusurfsidenews.com Sound Off
Malibu surfside news | July 13, 2016 | 13
From the Assistant EdiTor
Thank you, Mayor Rosenthal
Alex vejar
alex@malibusurfsidenews.com
The tenure as
Malibu’s mayor
came to an end
for Laura Rosenthal at
Monday’s City Council.
And as a person who has
worked quite closely with
her for the past four or five
months, I’d like to extend
my thanks to Rosenthal for
the job she has done not
only with me as a member
of the media, but also as a
public official for the City
of Malibu.
It must be hard being
mayor. Constant community
events and involvement,
working as the
face and voice of the City
Council, sitting on various
committees and having to
deal with annoying reporters
who tell bad jokes and
“um, so” their way through
every question has got to
be tiresome. If someone
offered me a position like
that, I’d sprint in the opposite
direction.
But Rosenthal was at
many events I covered,
and she was always gracious
and stayed to chat
for a few minutes even if
I didn’t stick my recorder
in her face. She seemed
connected with the Malibu
residents she encountered,
and that’s no surprise
seeing as how she’s lived
in the community for
decades.
So mayor, I want to
say thank you for all the
interviews, long and short,
important or routine. Thank
you for the little jokes you
make toward me during
meetings of the Malibu
Unification Negotiations
Committee (no, I never used
any of those in a story).
Thank you for the small
nuggets of information
you’d give me periodically
that helped me get a lead
on a story or topic. Thank
you for being the only government
official, on any
level, with which I had an
inside joke. And, of course,
Letters to the editor
Gratitude for Grant
On behalf of the Malibu
Task Force on Homelessness,
we heartily thank our
mayor and [City] Council
for approving the grant request
made by our partner,
OPCC, a highly respected
social service agency with
over 50 years of experience
and success.
This much-appreciated
$38,000 grant from the
City of Malibu, combined
with generous gifts from
other major donors, will
enable OPCC to provide,
for one year, two full-time
outreach workers to engage
with homeless individuals
in Malibu, and link them
with OPCC’s comprehensive,
integrated system of
care. OPCC will focus on
helping homeless individuals
find permanent housing,
while also connecting our
most vulnerable neighbors
with needed services in areas
such as mental health,
substance addiction, physical
health, and more.
The crisis of homelessness
is growing, and our
small town is not immune.
Based on its 2016 Greater
Los Angeles Homeless
Count, the Los Angeles
Homeless Services Authority
estimated that there are
46,874 individuals experiencing
homelessness in Los
Angeles County. Homeless
individuals who were “unsheltered”
in this year’s
count numbered 34,701,
an 11.8 percent increase
over last year. Locally,
LAHSA’s 2016 estimate of
Malibu’s homeless population
was 161 individuals,
all of whom were classified
as “unsheltered.”
Although the efforts of
OPCC and the Malibu Task
Force on Homelessness will
not eliminate homelessness
in our community, we are
hopeful that this initiative,
coupled with a townwide
emphasis on public safety,
will produce meaningful
results by reducing the
number of people living on
our streets, beaches, and
hillsides.
The threats to safety that
Malibu’s homeless men
and women face every
day are numerous, but the
risks to safety are not theirs
alone. The safety of everyone
in Malibu is at risk
when a shivering homeless
individual lights a fire in a
canyon encampment, when
a person without needed
medication becomes aggressive,
when someone
without access to addiction
treatment gets behind the
wheel on the PCH.
We applaud the City’s
recognition of the importance
of addressing these
risks, while at the same
time working to help our
homeless neighbors find
housing and needed services.
We hope that once
thank you for putting up
with me in general.
And last — but certainly
not least — thank you
for putting in your time
to serve Malibu. It’s a
task too many people are
either too scared, apathetic
or busy to take on. Our
government, especially at
the local level, relies on
community members like
Rosenthal and the rest of
the board who decide to
give up some of their free
time to work for the community.
It’s often a thankless
job. More often than
not, in fact, it’s one only
recognized amid negative
circumstance.
And even though I know
Rosenthal isn’t going
anywhere — she’ll at least
still be part of the negotiations
meetings that I attend
weekly — I felt it appropriate
to publicly show
appreciation for the only
mayor I’ve worked with
significantly as she leaves
the post behind.
Relationships in journalism
are important, especially
when a reporter has
to work with officials on
a regular basis. And some
officials can give reporters
a hard time, deny them access
and decline interviews.
But Rosenthal never did
any of those things, which
made my job easier. So for
that, I’m very grateful.
Thank you, mayor. See
you at the negotiating
table, and probably everywhere
else.
And for the last time:
No, I’m not following you.
OPCC services begin this
summer, this initiative will
demonstrate its worth, and
that the City will consider
funding this program in the
future as part of its annual
budget for public safety.
Over the coming year,
the Malibu Task Force on
Homelessness will keep
City officials and residents
updated on the results of
OPCC’s work in Malibu.
For now, we again express
our heartfelt thanks to the
Mayor and Council for the
City’s generous support of
our efforts.
Jay Scott and Pamela
Conley Ulich, co-chairpeople
of Malibu Task
Force on Homelessness
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