Quick Take
The City of Watsonville is calling for community members to participate in a task force designed to focus on the city’s homelessness issue. The task force will replace the series of community meetings held earlier this year to brainstorm solutions.
The City of Watsonville is forming a new task force composed of Watsonville residents designed to find solutions to the city’s increasing issues with homelessness.
The population of homeless people in Watsonville increased by 60% this year and exceeded the number of homeless people in the city of Santa Cruz for the first time in recent memory, according to the county’s most recent point-in-time report. Santa Cruz County officials have also pointed out the lack of resources available to South County and have outlined plans to provide more services.
Watsonville officials previously turned to residents for potential solutions to homelessness during a series of community meetings held earlier this year. The new task force will essentially replace the larger community meetings with the intention of having more “solution-oriented” conversations, said Watsonville City Manager Tamara Vides.
“This is an open invitation to everyone in the community that wants to sit at the table and contribute to solutions,” said Vides.
Before forming the task force, the city will organize five working groups, focused on housing, homelessness prevention, policy, enforcement and management and resources and services, Vides said. Each group will then choose two representatives to form the 10-member task force.
Ultimately, the task force will be in charge of writing up an action plan that can help guide future policy, Vides said. She is still figuring out how the working groups will aid in developing those plans.
Many cities around the state have adopted citizen-led task forces to address homelessness and monitor policy effectiveness in those communities. Vides is hoping for the same results with Watsonville’s nascent task force.
While Vides said the previous community meetings were helpful in guiding city officials toward potential solutions to homelessness, she felt that the conversations couldn’t focus enough on identifying what the next steps could be.
“I think this way we’re staying more focused, or more targeted on the topic and that will help us move the needle much more effectively. That’s my hope,” Vides said.
Watsonville residents are encouraged to apply for a spot on a working group by Dec. 4, and applications can be found on the city’s website. Vides expects to form the groups in late December and have the first meeting in January.
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