Julie Ellerton / TMT
Several agencies worked together during a recent meeting at Malibu City Hall to discuss the needs of homeless in Malibu. Pictured, from left: Timothy Lippman, Leah Randall, Gail Block, Tony Walczuk, Mark Winn and Carol Moss.
Although the predicted El NiÑo has only resulted in a few days of rain in Malibu so far, an interagency group is concerned how the Malibu homeless might fare in the face of heavy downpours, flooding and mudslides that could still occur over the next few months. Representatives from the county, city, sheriff’s department and local CART group (Malibu’s grassroots task force for helping the homeless) have been meeting and coordinating a plan.
Timothy Lippman, senior field deputy in Sheila Kuehl’s 3rd district Calabasas office, has arranged for a county shuttle to pick up Malibu’s homeless from the Malibu Community Labor Exchange (MCLE) parking lot on a daily basis and take them to an armory in West LA, located at 1300 Federal Ave., which has been designated by the county as a winter shelter location.
Lippman explained that the decision to bring the free shuttle to Malibu was largely influenced by CART group pressure. Ridership will be re-evaluated after a month to see if enough people from Malibu are using it. The same shuttle bus is also expected to pickup in Venice and Pacific Palisades.
“We have tracked every known encampment,” Winn said. And beyond just counting the homeless (or “address deficient,” as he calls them), Winn explained, “We’re educating them to get away from the creeks because of flash flooding. Someone’s gonna die because of their refusal to move. This is public safety for the homeless.”
For the entire article, written by Jimy Tallal, Special to the Malibu Times, please read more at: http://www.malibutimes.com/new...aa-fb1ae0a03005.html
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