Santa Monica Declares Local Emergency On Homelessness

SANTA MONICA, CA — The Santa Monica City Council unanimously voted to declare a Local Emergency on Homelessness Tuesday, following Los Angeles County's declaration as well as other cities in the county.

This declaration will enable Santa Monica to secure additional funding and resources at the county, state and federal levels as well as remove barriers to building affordable housing.

“Clearly, we all know that here in Santa Monica and in our region, addressing homelessness is a top concern,” said Santa Monica Mayor Gleam Davis. “As your mayor in the coming year, I promise to remain focused on this issue. I am already advocating from the federal level on down for more resources for housing and supportive services, and I am committed to working with other mayors in our region to address this regional issue.”

According to the city, addressing the homelessness crisis has been an urgent priority for decades, and put efforts into investing in programs and services with the intent to prevent and end homelessness in Santa Monica. New resources available due to the emergency declaration will accelerate the city's local response to homelessness.

In the county, more than 69,000 people were reported to experience homelessness, and in Santa Monica alone there are 807 unhouse people, according to data from city officials.

“The reality is that we cannot address this crisis on our own, and we need our regional, state, and federal partners to support us,” said Santa Monica City Manager David White. “By declaring a homelessness state of emergency, Santa Monica is poised to receive more resources.”

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass also signed an emergency declaration on homelessness as her first act as mayor in December 2022 and followed up with an executive directive expediting the approval and permitting process for fully affordable housing projects in Los Angeles.

Under Bass's directive, city departments must conduct all reviews and issue approvals for 100% affordable housing projects within 60 days. Once construction starts, the utility permitting and certificate of occupancy process must be completed within five days for affordable housing units and two days for temporary housing.

In the past, the city has made efforts to address the issue of homelessness that include opening 114 new affordable homes at three city-funded properties, assigning 100 federal Emergency Housing Vouchers to unhoused individuals and granting over $8 million to 19 community organizations and 35 programs that address homelessness.

"Homelessness is a complex regional issue that cannot be solved by or ignored by any single community, and the City has an extensive history of deep investments and coordinated efforts with other agencies to prevent and address homelessness," city officials said in the official proclamation document.

The emergency proclamation will be in effect for 180 days. The full proclamation document can be viewed at this link.