Cleanup conundrum 

It sounds like San Luis Obispo County wants the Santa Maria Riverbed cleanup remnants to land squarely in the lap of Santa Barbara County.

And by cleanup, I really mean clear-out. As in, a clear-out of the miniature cities that have popped up in the riverbed since last year's flooding pushed them out, visible from Highway 101 in all their tarped, trashy glory!

click to enlarge

By last estimates, between 110 to 150 people are living in the waterway, which is technically in SLO County, and if it gets cleared out, those houseless folks need shelter beds to go to and services to receive. While Santa Barbara County's 4th District Supervisor Bob Nelson indicated that his county is committed to providing housing for most of them, SLO County's 4th District Supervisor Jimmy Paulding committed to not much.

I mean, they could just wait with their fingers crossed for another giant flood to flush everyone out. Problem solved, amirite?

SLO County appears to me to be on the struggle bus, chugging along with not a lot of temporary or transitional housing for homeless people and hundreds-of-people-long waitlists for what little it does have. It sounds like a lot of what SLO County can commit to exists in future land—as in, it hinges on projects that are currently in the works but not yet realized.

All we really need to do is look to the Un-Safe Parking Site snafu that's yet to be solved to see how good SLO County is at tackling long-term projects aimed at providing shelter, housing, and services to its homeless population. Give them a parking site near the jail for three years, shrug your shoulders at all the publicly bungled operations, give remaining residents $1,000 and a pat on the back for playing, and shut ,er down!

As for the Santa Maria Riverbed, is that really SLO County's problem? It is in SLO County, but, SLO County Deputy Director of Social Services Linda Belch said, only 10 percent of the folks who call the riverbed home identify as SLO County residents. And even that 10 percent could overwhelm SLO County's already stretched services.

You know what they say about identification—if they say they're Santa Barbara County residents even though they're living on SLO County land, they must be Santa Barbara County's issue, amirite?

If Santa Barbara County can provide beds, Nelson said, SLO County should provide the enforcement to keep people from returning to the riverbed. Seems super reasonable to me. SLO County will provide that enforcement, Paulding said, but long-term, it will hinge on a long-planned Sheriff's Office substation in Nipomo. But, but, but—it's hard to patrol the riverbed near Santa Maria from a substation in Oceano.

Maybe there's hope, though, with the $1.2 million the SLO County Board of Supervisors allocated to begin the design process for a Nipomo substation last summer. Time will tell.

Plus, Paulding added that this whole riverbed cleanup thing is going to be complicated. There's SLO County, Santa Barbara County, and Caltrans in the mix, jurisdiction-wise, plus private properties. How will they ever manage?

I think some Zoom meetings might be in order. You know, to open up those lines of communication.

The sense of urgency between SLO County and Santa Barbara County over the issue isn't exactly equal. Santa Barbara County already has $3 million dedicated to the project and Nelson sounds like he's ready to move full-steam ahead, while Paulding isn't.

"If we use $3 million to clear it, and then the county goes, 'OK, thanks,' and doesn't do anything after that, then it's all going to be for naught," Nelson said. "I mean, the biggest waste of taxpayer dollars."

If there's one thing the government's good at, it's wasting taxpayer dollars! That parking site on Oklahoma Avenue cost roughly half a million in 2021. No word on 2022, 2023, and 2024, yet. But it feels safe to call it a waste. So, at least SLO County's consistent.

Even though SLO County supported the grant that will eventually get used to pay for the riverbed cleanup effort, it seems like that's about all the commitment it wants to give right now.

I think the real issue is that Santa Maria residents live within eyesight of the riverbed, services in Santa Barbara County (including the grocery store) are closer to the homeless residents in the riverbed, and so Santa Maria is adversely impacted by the encampments. SLO County isn't—unless a resident heads south along Highway 101 to cross the county line. Then you can see the encampments that seem to multiply daily.

Why would SLO County commit to spending taxpayer dollars on something that isn't a political problem, even if it is a jurisdictional one? Even if the counties share responsibility in the situation, even if both are struggling to provide shelter beds and wraparound services to their homeless populations—although one is arguably in a better position (hats off to you, Santa Barbara County), neither is doing fantastic.

If one county is feeling the political pressure and therefore more willing to take steps to address it, why wouldn't SLO County just pass the buck? Δ

The Shredder believes political pressure is the only thing that politicians hear. Send some to [email protected].