Although Santa Cruz claims that street homelessness has declined by 36% based on recent Point-In-Time counts, it seems that a good number of people can still be seen sleeping on sidewalks and in other public spaces. Has anyone noticed the number of transients huddled in front of downtown buildings in the late evenings? Or the growing vehicle encampment on Darwin Street near El Portal Park? Or the accumulation of trash being left in that park by people who are ignoring posted signs and sleeping and panhandling there?
It’s hard to take these PIT counts seriously when it’s so easy to simply manipulate the numbers to support any desired outcome. Claiming that street homelessness is down based on these counts is part of our city leaders’ disingenuous attempt to defend policies that are clearly ineffective.
The City of Santa Cruz’s homelessness response manager is being overly optimistic when he claims that building more “affordable” housing will help get people off the streets. Seriously, does it look like those folks would be able to afford any kind of housing at all?
— Jim Sklenar, Santa Cruz
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