City Of Napa Responds To Grand Jury Report On Homelessness In County

NAPA, CA — The City of Napa has responded to a grand jury report published in June entitled "Homelessness: Much is Being Done — More is Required" about the county's response to the problem of unsheltered residents.

The city was not mandated to respond to the report but was invited to by the jury.

The jury used 2020 statistics that said there were an estimated 464 homeless people in the county, a 46 percent increase over any of the previous six years. Service providers estimated even higher numbers.

Overall, the jury praised the county's approach to tackling homelessness but found that there is "little true coordination" between the 33 entities that provide services. By increasing data collection and sharing information between city and county officials, as well as greater cooperation among organizations that serve unhoused people, county agencies and other stakeholders, a more effective approach against the problem can be taken, the jury found.

Not surprisingly, the jury also found a lack of affordable housing in the county, which is a widespread issue in not only the Bay Area but California in general. The jury specifically called out so-called "NIMBYism," however, or the "not in my backyard" mindset that some communities are accused of having when it comes to allowing housing for low-income residents to be built.

"Some believe that most homeless suffer from mental illness and substance abuse; they see them as potentially dangerous and do not want housing projects located near their neighborhoods," reads the report.

The jury invited the city manager and deputy city manager of Napa to respond, but the city's response went through the City Council as part of the consent calendar at Tuesday's meeting. The item was not pulled for discussion and therefore the council stands behind the city's response.

The city disagreed with three of the jury's findings and either agreed with or has already implemented some of its other suggestions.

First, the City of Napa partially disagreed with the jury's finding that there needs to be more "integration" between city and county leaders toward the goal of reducing homelessness. It pointed to the county's 2022 Strategic Plan to Address Homelessness, which was put together by a steering committee made up of people "from a diverse group of organizations." The county also brought up a Joint Powers Agreement that has been in place since 2017 and "clearly defines each entity's role and responsibility in the funding and provision of services" to reduce homelessness. Further, the City of Napa itself said that there is a bi-monthly workgroup with representatives from police, fire, public works, parks and rec, community development and the city manager's office that communicate regularly on homeless-related issues.

The jury disagreed.

"Evidence suggests that there is insufficient use of any formal organizational model by Napa agencies serving the homeless," it reads. The jury said there is no "shared vision" for how best to coordinate program funding decisions, track the impact of services and "maintain an understanding of how to maximize the numerous resources being offered by federal, state and local sources."

The jury recommends creating a leadership council solely to focus on affordable housing, create an inventory of services that are currently available to homeless persons to better inform clients and increase collaboration between partners, develop a more detailed budget, and make data more accessible for all stakeholders to access.

The City of Napa agreed with the jury that there should be case management available for homeless clients but says it does not have the capacity to provide it at this time. It also agrees that better data retention and sharing should be implemented between all stakeholders.

As for affordable housing in the City of Napa, the city "respectfully disagrees" that the suitability of and availability of land on which to build it is an easy reach, saying that to do so requires analysis and negotiations to determine feasibility. However, the city says it is "actively" engaged in discussions about possible land with local, state and federal counterparts and private landowners.

The city also rejects the idea that there has been NIMBY resistance to the building of affordable housing, though the jury says that both the Heritage House and Valle Verde housing projects initially met with community resistance.

The City of Napa said that those projects were met with "community concerns" but also got a lot of community support. In fact, said the city, in the last year, two new Project Homekey supportive housing sites have not received any public opposition.

The response from the city was sent to the Napa Superior Court and was signed by City Manager Steve Potter.

By Katy St. Clair, Bay City News Foundation. Copyright © 2022 Bay City News, Inc. All rights reserved. Republication, rebroadcast or redistribution without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited. Bay City News is a 24/7 news service covering the greater Bay Area.