LTC 133-2019 Motion Made by the Committee on the Homeless ts\A AMI 133-2019
OFFICE OF THE CITY MANAGER
NO. LTC# LETTER TO COMMISSION
TO: Mayor Dan Gelber and Members of t e City Co ission
FROM: Jimmy L. Morales, City Manager
DATE: March 11, 2019
SUBJECT: Motion by the Committee on the H eless
The purpose of this Letter To Commission is to transmit the attached motion approved
by the Committee on the Homeless at its February 13, 2019 meeting and sent to my
office.
If you have any questions, please see me or Maria Ruiz, Director, Office of Housing and
Community Services.
JLM/KGB/MLR
m MIAMIBEACH
Interoffice Memorandum
To: Jimmy L. Morales Date: February 13, 2019
City Manager
From: Committee on the Homeless
Subject: Motion from Committee on the Homeless
Issue: When a person first becomes homeless, he/she is very scared of the streets and
therefore more willing to accept services, such as a shelter, therefore contribute to
decrease the number of homeless in our streets. But once someone stays just a few days
on the streets, this fear starts to diminish and they begin adjusting to their new
circumstances. In many cases, in order to cope with this new environment, people look for
help and comfort in alcohol and drugs. This leads to addictions hard to overcome, and that,
due to the Marchman Act, may be costly to taxpayers, with expenses that often recur
several times for the same individual.
The purpose of this Motion, noted below, is to avoid this sad situation and extra cost to
taxpayers.
While the Committee is fully aware that some individuals may take advantage of this
proposed change, the Committee also understands that this is a very small percentage of
individuals that would always try to (mis)use the system, no matter what. The Miami Dade
County Homeless Trust has a Prevent Homelessness program that these certain
individuals may be redirected to. This was already discussed with VP Vicky Marlette during
the Committee meeting.
The current city guidelines require a person to be homeless for at least 30 days to qualify
to receive assistance.
At its February 12, 2019 meeting, the Committee on the Homeless passed the following
motion:
The Committee urges the City Manager to dismiss the 30-day wait for people who are
homeless for the first time at the discretion of city staff.
Motion: Ms. Lori Bakkum
Seconded by: Mr. Mitchell Korus
Passed: 5 — 2 (Ms. Debra Schwartz and Mr. Darren Cefalu in the minority)