$1.9m to fight encampments

By Jim Tortolano/Orange County Tribune

The appropriation of $1.9 million in state grant money to clean up homeless encampment areas in the city and move the occupants into permanent housing was approved by the Garden Grove City Council on Tuesday night.

The city manager is authorized to execute a memorandum of understanding with the County of Orange for the use of what’s called the Encampment Grant Resolution Round 3 Lookback.

According to a staff report, the areas to be targeted – based on calls for service and incidents of violent incidents – are four locations along the Garden Grove Freeway, at Beach Boulevard, Euclid Street, Newhope Street and Haster Street.

Funding will go to operations of the Central Cities Navigation  Center ($500,000), the GGPD’s Special Resource Team ($150,000 annually for three years), OC Office Care Coordination ($165,000 twice) and to the BeWell Mobile Response Team ($200,000, $175,000, and $175,000 over the three years).

Withdrawn from the agenda was an item calling for the issuance of a purchase order for $1.2 million for a new mobile police department command force.

The next council meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, Nov. 14.