Santa Monica<\/a> has ignited controversy among residents who say they were blindsided by the project in one of the city\u2019s most exclusive coastal neighborhoods.<\/p>\nWhat they’re saying:<\/p>\n
“For the county to be able to just come in and place this right in the neighborhood, I find it to be a little confusing for everyone,” said Derrick Townsend.<\/p>\n
The facility, a former senior living center located on Ocean near Georgina, will provide transitional housing for individuals battling severe mental illness. Operated by St. Joseph\u2019s Center and funded through a Los Angeles County grant under California\u2019s Proposition 1, the site will feature 24\/7 staffing and an open-door policy, allowing residents to come and go freely.<\/p>\n
“It doesn\u2019t make any sense,” said Cort Wagner, a nearby resident who relocated to Santa Monica after the Palisades Fire damaged his home. “Everybody here pays a premium, and the safety is less than anywhere else in the city.”<\/p>\n
According to Wagner, just months after relocating to Santa Monica, his family had a violent incident with a knife-wielding homeless man near his home.<\/p>\n
“If this really turns out to be similar to what the other [mental health] houses have done where they\u2019re escaping and there\u2019s criminal behavior, and violent behavior [then] yeah, we\u2019re going to move again,” said Wagner.<\/p>\n
Neighbors expressed frustration over the lack of community input, while Santa Monica Mayor Lana Negrete said she had no direct role in approving the project due to county and state oversight.<\/p>\n
“I\u2019m not in favor of where it is,” said Mayor Negrete.<\/p>\n
Mayor Negrete said she learned of the plans within the last two weeks.<\/p>\n
“We don\u2019t have local control,” Negrete said. “And, if we want to change that, we need to write to our governor, and address this with our county.”<\/p>\n
Dig deeper:<\/p>\n
Across from Santa Monica College, another St. Joseph\u2019s-run mental health facility has drawn similar complaints, with residents reporting disturbances, including screaming and regular police and ambulance visits.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“It doesn\u2019t feel safe at all,” said one neighbor, who avoids walking near the site. “I hear a lot of people screaming.\u00a0 The police and ambulances are always there.”<\/p>\n
The new facility, located steps from million-dollar oceanfront properties, is part of a broader state push to address mental health and homelessness through community-based care.<\/p>\n
“We\u2019re just wondering why the residents weren\u2019t notified and why this couldn\u2019t go somewhere else,” said John Alle from the Santa Monica Coalition.<\/p>\n
Supervisor Lindsey P. Horvath said her office was also unaware of the facility. They sent FOX 11 the following statement, “Santa Monica leaders have made clear the community\u2019s desire for more mental health beds to serve a population in need. However, the Department of Mental Health did not inform my office about this project until after funding had already been secured \u2014 and that\u2019s unacceptable. I\u2019ve been on the record about the bureaucratic challenges the County faces and this is one example. Transparency and trust are foundational to meaningful community engagement.<\/p>\n
While there were clear breakdowns in process, the need for these services is real. Addressing untreated mental illness in Santa Monica is essential, and this type of housing\u2014with on-site care and oversight\u2014can be part of the solution.<\/p>\n
Unlike The Manor, St. Joseph\u2019s is launching this project from the start with the Department of Mental Health with a robust enhanced staffing model which can lead to better outcomes for all, including the community. \u00a0<\/p>\n
I support efforts to ensure the facility and its residents are good neighbors, and that the program delivers visible, measurable results. Los Angeles County is working to build a more accountable homelessness system \u2014 one that meets both the urgent needs of our most vulnerable residents and the expectations of the broader community.\u00a0<\/p>\n
What’s next:<\/p>\n
A town hall is planned within days to discuss the project, though officials say the opening later this month is likely set.<\/p>\n
The Source: Information for this story came from interviews conducted with Mayor Lana Negrete and local Santa Monica residents.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Santa Monica<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SANTA MONICA, Calif. – A new 49-bed mental health housing facility set to open this month along Ocean…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":208977,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[60],"tags":[4647,97,13489,259,260,3,41838,25],"class_list":{"0":"post-208976","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mental-health","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-health","10":"tag-los-angeles-county","11":"tag-mental-health","12":"tag-mentalhealth","13":"tag-news","14":"tag-santa-monica","15":"tag-us"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/208976","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=208976"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/208976\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/208977"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=208976"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=208976"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=208976"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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