Four petitions strive to address Costa Mesa’s homeless issues
Officials recently closed restrooms at Wilson Park, which has reportedly curbed some illegal activity.
Four online petitions, all related to the plight of the homeless in Costa Mesa, have sprouted on the city’s social media scene in recent days.
The petitions come at a time when homelessness — and the perceived problems associated with it — have sparked fierce debate.
Costa Mesa officials have noted that the homeless seem to be more spread out in the city than in years past, particularly in Wilson Park, which is experiencing a crime surge and, consequently, more police patrolling efforts.
Two of the four petitions are related to Wilson Park.
One of them, hosted at ThePetitionSite.com, is titled “Demand an end to providing an attractant for criminal and nuisance behavior at Wilson Park.”
The petition, which had 96 signatures Tuesday afternoon, cites a weekly event that involves local churchgoers and others providing food to the homeless. Organizers have disputed descriptions of the park activity as a “homeless feeding,” calling it instead a “picnic” and “potluck” for “homeless neighbors.”
The petition says Costa Mesa residents are “in fear” of using Wilson, where drug use, public intoxication, littering and aggressive panhandling occurs.
The appeal asks organizers to move their event to a non-residential location.
The second petition, at Change.org, is titled “Restore public picnic tables and benches and unlock public restrooms in Costa Mesa city parks.” It was authored by Costa Mesa resident Nina Reich.
City officials recently removed picnic tables and locked the restrooms at Wilson Park, where illicit activities by homeless and criminal transients reportedly were occurring.
The petition had 33 signatures as of Tuesday afternoon.
“The picnic table removals and locking of restroom facilities have done nothing to change the systemic problems, which continue to occur around our city,” according to the petition. “Instead, the table and bench removals negatively impact our ability, as community members, to use the structures for their intended recreational purposes (e.g., birthday parties, barbecues, lunches, outings, scouting projects, etc.).
“Families and community members are deterred from using the parks, as there are no available restrooms.”
A second Change.org petition, also by Reich, wants to see Costa Mesa bus facilities — where homeless have been known to loiter — restored.
Titled “Return the city’s bus stop weather shelters and retain bus bench seats with back rests,” it says that such “anti-vagrant” measures “do nothing to stop the influx of the homelessness.” In addition to city resources being poorly spent, it charges, the removal of the items “hurts the disabled, pregnant women, the elderly, individuals with health issues and everyday bus riders.”
It had about 165 supporters as of Tuesday afternoon.
Within the past year, city crews have removed nine benches and four shelters, said city spokesman Tony Dodero.
“The shelters and benches were routinely being used by homeless and drug users, making them unusable for regular transit passengers,” he said in an email. “In addition, the city was unable to conduct scheduled cleanings of the shelters because they were occupied. This caused the shelters and surrounding areas to be unsanitary.”
Some of the bus amenities have since been replaced with a type of bench containing partitioned seats, which deter people from sleeping on them.
A fourth petition, distributed by former City Council candidate Tony Capitelli, is seeking a permanent supportive housing development in the city.
“Please tell the city of Costa Mesa that [we] support this proven solution to address chronic homelessness in our community,” the petition says.
In 2013, city officials recommended building a facility with as many as 50 units in Civic Center Park, across from City Hall. The plan lost support following an uproar from nearby condominium homeowners associations.
Capitelli’s petition is on his website, TonyCapitelli.com.
