Tuesday, May 13, 2014

Harbor must shut down Ventura homeless program VC Star + Comments


Harbor must shut down Ventura homeless program

A controversial homeless program run out of a church in midtown Ventura must shut down, city officials said Monday night.
The city will send Harbor Community Church formal notice to stop Operation Embrace, a program that for more than five years has provided meals, showers and religious worship to a mostly homeless population.
Community Development Director Jeff Lambert said officials planned to take that action “expeditiously,” delivering a letter that could give the church as few as 10 days to cease operating.
Harbor Pastor Sam Gallucci wasn’t sure if the church would appeal.
“We’ll have to see what the letter says,” he said. “What we do is our faith, and the issues have been extremely exaggerated.”
That Operation Embrace must stop stems from an October decision by the Planning Commission, which denied the church a conditional-use permit. In general, commissioners felt the program wasn’t appropriate for the location.
Harbor, at 3100 Preble Ave., is next to an elementary school, park and day care facility.
Harbor, the Unitarian Universalist Church of Ventura and the Ventura Interfaith Ministerial Association filed separate appeals arguing commissioners had violated the church’s religious freedoms.
That brought the matter to the council.
After four and a half hours, the council failed to reach consensus on a motion. Mayor Cheryl Heitmann and Council member Mike Tracy voted to uphold the planner’s decision while Council members Neal Andrews and Carl Morehouse voted against it.
Morehouse’s motion directing staff to return a permit with conditions failed on the same 2-2 vote. When it's a tie vote, the motion fails, and the original decision stands -- in this case, planners' denial of the permit.
Council member Christy Weir was absent. Council members Erik Nasarenko and Jim Monahan recused themselves from the hearing when it started in January because they had voiced opposition to it during last fall’s election.
If anything changed since the last time sides gathered in March, it’s that the situation got worse, residents said.
Just in the last six weeks, a neighbor’s house was robbed, a man asked to see a 10-year-old girl’s feet and “I, for the first time in my life, have a home security system,” resident Julie Salomonson said.
Six years ago, she never even locked her door, she said.
Numerous residents spoke of crime they’d witnessed, experienced or heard about.
Harbor participants shared how the program helped them get back on their feet about bouts with cancer or other issues.
Jenni Garcia, who runs Harbor’s children’s ministry outreach program, said the church wasn’t about giving out services to homeless people.
“It’s really to share the good news about Jesus Christ,” she said.
For Tracy, the issue wasn’t about the work the church did as part of Operation Embrace, but what happened before and after in the neighborhood.
"My decision has nothing to do with what goes on inside 3100 Preble," he said.
The negative secondary impacts though, are so significant, they cannot be mitigated, he added.
Should Harbor fail to stop the program, it will be cited, Lambert said. After three citations, the matter would get referred to the city attorney’s office.


Read more: http://www.vcstar.com/news/2014/may/13/harbor-must-shut-down-ventura-homeless-program/#ixzz31cIrVDUO
- vcstar.com 
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
jcowgillcpp#358581 writes:
I heard there is a nice park on Thompson that folks can go to instead of the church.
Eagleshift writes:
Poorly written article by Martinez. If the Council deadlocked on the vote why is the operation shut down? This isn't the first time her stories have been unclear.
venturaoma#238538 writes:
I agree with Eagleshift. The council deadlocked so we need a better explanation.
traciehmiller#720100 writes:
The church are the one's to appeal the planning departments denial of the conditional use permit. They needed a majority vote last night to override that decision. You can watch the video online on the city's website.
Shoreslocal writes:
went to the location of the church and surrounding area, I can not blame the residents at all for not wanting this so called church in their neighborhood. Was surprised with the cost a pack of cigarettes these days that all these bums standing around can afford them. For the cost of a pack of butts you can get a full meal at any fast food outlet.
RM33333 writes:
in response to Eagleshift:
Poorly written article by Martinez. If the Council deadlocked on the vote why is the operation shut down? This isn't the first time her stories have been unclear.
The hearing was whether to sustain or over-rule the Planning Commission's denial of the church's permit. Because it was a tie, no decision was made and the Planning Commission ruling remains. In fairness to Ms. Martinez, she made this clear in the print article, so it is the editor of the digital edition who is to blame for the lack of clarity, not she.
Cy writes:
Welcome to Vagrantura!
carthomas7 writes:
disapointed in Cheryl; her being Jewish , though she would be for helping the vulnerable; what happened to being a progressive??
NIMBYISM is alive and well and kicking. Next time they will kick you; in T O they stopped 2 projects for elderly. These are extremists who are into property values and denial like Sterling!!


Read more: http://www.vcstar.com/news/2014/may/13/harbor-must-shut-down-ventura-homeless-program/#comments#ixzz31cKknZLI
- vcstar.com 
Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)