City councils in Anaheim and Fullerton this week voted to support what could be the county’s first year-round homeless shelter site at 1000 N. Kraemer Pl. in Anaheim, the Orange County Register reported.
Both cities also pledged to chip in money to buy the industrial building at the site, according to the Register. County supervisors Chairman Todd Spitzer suggested the site after backlash from residents around other proposed locations scuttled those ideas.
From the Register article:
While it’s unclear how much they would contribute, both cities also pledged to help county officials purchase the property at 1000 N. Kraemer Place, priced at $4.2 million.
If built, the county-operated facility in an industrial-zoned stretch would replace a pair of emergency shelters that open only during the winter in Fullerton and in Santa Ana. County supervisors last month asked its real estate team to launch negotiations to purchase the property.
“I think it’s important for anybody who objects to understand that we haven’t come to this point in time easily,” Anaheim Councilwoman Kris Murray said. “We can’t continue to push the issue in hopes that some perfect scenario is going to materialize. We need a permanent solution, and we need a quality facility.”
The Anaheim City Council voted 4-0 to support the shelter, with Mayor Tom Tait abstaining because his company, Tait & Associates, has done business with the county within the past year.
The Fullerton City Council voted 4-1 to back to the project, with Councilman Bruce Whitaker the lone dissenter.
“I’d much rather see nonprofit, volunteer, religious-based efforts as our primary mode for resolving this problem,” Whitaker said. “I have concerns that once the county is involved in creating open-ended commitments for taxpayers, instead of ending homeless in Orange County, we will begin to accommodate larger numbers of long-term homeless.”
Please contact Adam Elmahrek directly at aelmahrek@voiceofoc.org and follow him on Twitter: @adamelmahrek