No more winters without shelter

By: North County Times opinion staff - | Saturday, January 20, 2007 7:09 PM PST ∞

Our view: North County must tap its reservoir of goodwill to avoid crisis in the cold

It took the El Nino-driven storms of winter 1997-98 for the region to seriously focus on shoring up our vulnerable beaches with sand. It took the deadly wildfires of 2003 for us to get serious about clearing brush from the backcountry. It took the relentless rain of early 2005 for Southern California to look anew at its muddy foundations.

When Mother Nature is to blame, we have an admirable history of response. Thus we must not let the recent run of bitterly cold weather pass without committing ourselves to a regionwide reassessment of how we provide for those among us most vulnerable to the elements, the homeless.

For many of us, this cold snap will forever be linked to the Escondido City Council majority's decision to block an emergency application by the Salvation Army and Interfaith Community Services to host an emergency shelter on the coldest nights. We continue to lament that choice, and trust the memory of it won't grow cold in the memories of Escondido voters.

Sam Abed, Ed Gallo and Marie Waldron can talk all they want about Escondido's generous contributions to the region's homeless shelters and services. And they're right; Escondido deserves applause for what it does for the higher number of homeless people within city limits. But choosing to actively stand in the way of good people trying to bring down-on-their-luck people out of the freezing cold is unconscionable.

That said, we've wasted enough ink trying to prick the consciences of this trio. Their arguments, that the region as a whole needs to do more to address North County's homeless population, are indeed worth a listen, even if their priorities are so sorely misplaced.

We can't let another winter pass without adopting a better plan to house people who just need a warm place for the night. Escondido's actions have shed light, however harsh, on a subject we need to be talking about. So let's do it.

Escondido's crisis came about partially as a result of Interfaith's shift from providing emergency shelter to longer-term, more comprehensive care. The regional nonprofit converted its 50-bed winter shelter into Merle's Place, a transitional housing option for seniors and disabled veterans.

It's great to improve services for these especially sympathetic populations, but shelter from the elements can't be a zero-sum game. Put simply, as a region, we can't afford to close a winter shelter without finding a replacement.

We can do this. We have done this. Perhaps a reminder would help.

When El Nino's fury lashed the North County coastline in 1995 and then especially in the winter of 1997-98, we responded by rebuilding broken beaches ---- check out the work being done at South Cardiff State Beach, or Seaside, which was wrecked shortly after its last major overhaul in 1994 ---- and replenishing the shoreline with sand, albeit temporarily.

After the Harmony fire burned its way from the western border of Escondido clear across to Carlsbad in 1996, San Marcos and Carlsbad passed stricter fire codes for new development. The county widened major roads like Rancho Santa Fe and Mission roads and San Marcos Boulevard to let escaping vehicles out and emergency responders in.

When the Cedar and Paradise fires of 2003 killed 16 people and destroyed more than 2,500 homes, we got serious about clearing brush. The county fire code now requires a 100-foot perimeter around homes in the backcountry, and they can't be made of combustible materials.

And after the deluges of January 2005, which brought mudslides down on homes in Oceanside and Carlsbad and killed 10 people in Conchita to the north, the city of Oceanside, especially, stepped up in response. City officials pressured the federal Army Corps of Engineers to get serious about clearing brush along the banks of the San Luis Rey River that threatened a flood, and the city posted a helpful Web site full of tips for folks anxious to protect their homes from landslides.

U.S. postmen are hailed for not letting the elements stop them from "their appointed rounds." Here in North County, we have an equally proud tradition. Now we must commit that same effort toward making sure homeless men, women and children have shelter when the nights turn dangerously cold.

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