< 8 Newsgrams intended to use it for a middle school—but instead opted to expand its education facilities on the St.Vincent’s property near Marinwood.WildCare’s proposal for purchase is one of several Marin Montessori is reportedly considering. Still,Wilson hopes the center’s bid wins out. “We’re still negotiating on price,”says Wilson.“The ball’s in Montessori’s court.” At WildCare’s Feb. 4 gala at the Mill Valley Community Center, the animal-rescue center raised over $350,000, but officials expect they’ll need more than $13 million to relocate from their current 4,000-square-foot location to a larger expanse—wherever that may be. Still, the canalinfluenced landscape of Santa Venetia—and its proximity to the San Rafael Bay, would be a natural fit for a wildlife rescue center. Around the turn of the 20th century, Santa Venetia was intended as a development modeled after Venice, Italy. In 1914, real-estate developer Mabry McMahan proposed that the marshland area be partially filled with dredging from the San Rafael Bay and flanked with canals and gondolas (some of the area’s Italian street names like Vendola Drive and Galleria Way reflect this history) along with a glamorous, upscale resort planned for Santa Margarita Island. But it was an ambitious idea that was put aside once the effects of the Great Depression and a pair of world wars caused a need for more affordable and accessible housing. Much of the subsequent residential development occurred in the 1960s along North San Pedro Road, now the area’s main thoroughfare—but the neighborhood’s access to the bay, China Camp State Park and abundant wildlife remains. “We’ve seen deer and wild turkeys and hawks out here,”says Wilson,“and when the wildflowers were out it was spectacular.There’s enough land that our wild patients could recuperate in a large enclosure—it’s just right.” In the meantime,WildCare continues at 76 Albert Park, offering critter rehab and nature education—at 10am on June 18,WildCare is hosting a Deer Park Insect Safari, where nature educator Juan-Carlos Solis will lead a search for butterflies, dragonflies and grasshoppers. Meet at Deer Park in Fairfax, or check out www.wildcarebayarea.org.
Redistricting committee creates‘coastal’ 6th District Marin and Del Norte counties may be 375 miles apart in distance, but they’re now 6th District brethren, as the official“first draft”map of the state’s congressional redistricting soiree was released this week. As had been hinted at previously by the 14-member California Citizens Redistricting Committee charged with revising the district lines, the 6th District that formerly comprised Marin and most of Sonoma counties is now being considered as a“coastal-oriented”district that stretches from Sausalito up to the Oregon border. Congresswoman Lynn Woolsey, our 6th District House rep, describes the new boundaries as “baffling.” “In manufacturing a new coastal district under this draft map, the Redistricting Commission has dismissed its mandate and violated its own guidelines,”Woolsey said in a statement.“The whole point is to keep communities of interest together. According to the Commission itself, districts are supposed to‘be drawn to encourage geographical compactness such that nearby areas of population are not bypassed for more distant populations.’” Redistricting takes place following each 10-year census, as required by federal law. Previously, district maps were drawn by legislators, but following the passage of Prop. 11 in November of 2008, the latest lines are being jiggered by a bipartisan citizens committee. Under the knife are state Assembly districts, state Senate districts, state Board of Equalization districts and congressional districts—which have drawn the closest scrutiny in Marin, as the 6th District House of Reps seat is likely to be up for grabs in 2012, if Congresswoman Woolsey decides not to seek another term, as expected.The committee’s guidelines were to draw together towns and counties with other“communities of interest”—defined in the California Constitution as areas that share common social and economic interests—such as urban, suburban, rural, industrial or agricultural—and, where possible, to maintain distinct geographical boundaries. Woolsey further described the move as a“solution in search of a problem.” “It’s baffling to me that, to round out our district, you would look to Del Norte County rather than our neighbors here in Sonoma County with whom we share so much,”she said, referring to Sonoma and Marin’s common water and transportation infrastructure, similar agricultural profile and integrated health and education systems.“The residents of Del Norte County are good people. But they deserve to be placed in a district with like communities, and so do we.” Woolsey said the North Coast may even need two members of Congress to advocate for its “ecologically important”interests.“The oil companies must be licking their chops,”she said. Early ideas flowing from the committee—to which no Marinites had been appointed— included splitting West Marin off into a long and narrow“coastal district,”pairing Marin with San Francisco and wrapping all of Marin into a northerly coastal district—which is the plan that seems to have won out. So far.This is a“first draft”and there’s time for input.The districts will not be finalized until Aug.15. Foam site to become home site in Corte Madera That steam-emitting foam-cup manufacturing building in Corte Madera—familiar to travelers along Highway 101 for decades—has been purchased by a San Francisco real estate investment firm that plans to build a $68-million housing and retail development on the site. 10 PACIFIC SUN JUNE 17 - JUNE 23, 2011
< 8 Putting the ‘home’ in homeless
“and that’s counting only what can be verified.” It includes hospital care; police spending today and stabilize this group of services and jail detention; mental health chronically homeless in what’s called permaservices, substance abuse treatment; and a nent supportive housing. It’s fundamentally variety of other assistance expenditures. A Housing First.” well-known story in The New Yorker in 2006 The wrap-around support services include tracked a homeless man dubbed “Millionrent subsidies for the chronically homeless. dollar Murray.” Over the course of 10 years, “This is a group that is not going to work he was estimated to have received $1 million again, most likely.” As tough as it is for some in assistance—the cost of refusing to accept people to accept, a certain segment of the the responsibility to meet the needs of the population, including in Marin, is beyond chronically homeless. Break that $1 million the reach of programs aimed at rehabilitation over 10 years per person down and it comes and re-entry. Helping this group with the ba- out to spending $100,000 a year for every sic human right of housing, say Housing First chronically homeless person in Marin. proponents, is a moral imperative, especially That’s more than a Housing First program in a county as wealthy as Marin (even in a costs. A U.S. Department of Housing and tough economic climate). Urban Development study estimates that the The Housing First strategy also has hardaverage costs to place homeless persons in nosed economic benefits that could help its permanent supportive housing, like Housadvocates in their search for support. ing First, in the Houston metropolitan area According to a one-day count of the home- (comparable to the Bay Area) was less than less population taken at the beginning of the providing emergency shelter. In Seattle, the year, 4,103 people are precariously housed, 1811 Eastlake project saved taxpayers more meaning they are a whisker away from jointhan $4 million during its ing the homeless population. first year, Eyler states in Another 1,220 currently are the Ritter Center report. homeless. That includes 687 ART HOUSE GALA Seattle taxpayers paid unsheltered and 533 sheltered The gala event, a fundraiser $86,062 to cover the “averhomeless persons. for Ritter Center, takes place age cost per person while Another 229 people with Saturday, June 18, at 5:30pm, homeless.” In contrast, the disabilities have been home- at the Mill Valley Community average cost per person to less for at least one year, and Center at 180 Camino Alto. administer the 1811 pro98 have been homeless for In addition to the gourmet gram came to $13,440. more than 10 years. These two dinner, live music and an array San Francisco embraced of silent auction items, a live categories are the chronically the Housing First concept auction will feature the six art homeless. Under the traditionwhen it set a goal of creathouses designed and decoal model of sheltering people ing 3,000 housing units for rated by prominent local arttemporarily, the chronically the chronically homeless ists that have been on display homeless need 50 percent of by 2012. Communities throughout the county. For all the community resources across the country are information, visit arthousesofavailable for services. embracing the concept as a marin.org/about.html. Linn approached the moral imperative—and a Marin Economic Forum to good economic policy. Nasee if it could help quantify tionwide, 350 jurisdictions the economic costs of homelessness to the have begun using the new strategies to end business community, cities and the county. At chronic homelessness and move away from the time, economist Robert Eyler was servthe emergency shelter model. Marin is about ing as the interim CEO of the forum. He’s to begin updating its own 10-year plan to end associate professor and chair of the economhomelessness; Linn and other advocates want ics department at Sonoma State, as well as the county to further embrace the Housdirector of the Center for Regional Ecoing First model. They note that emergency nomic Analysis. (He also prepared a review shelters still serve an important function in of SMART finances for analysis.) Eyler says the continuum of care for the homeless, but Linn asked him to “provide some economic they should be an emergency service, not guidance to the issues involved with the warehouses for the homeless. homeless population.” The forum has taken Homeward Bound’s Mill Street program no position on possible actions, notes Eyler. helps many individuals find shelter and an “We have no stake in it. We just provided data entrance to a continuum of care, but it canand guidance on economic ideas. We do not not offer the Housing First type of permaadvocate for anything.” nent housing with wrap-around supportive Eyler’s investigation was based in large services the Ritter Center provides. part on anecdotal information because The key is to use all of the agencies in a no clear-cut studies exist of the economic team approach, with each program offering impacts of homeless in Marin. The results its own type of support. Linn says Ritter is paint a somber picture of the costs to the often the program of last resort for people county and its cities, costs stemming from who have fallen through the system or those direct and indirect sources. Linn offered the who have completed rehabilitation programs findings in Eyler’s report to the San Rafael and find themselves out on the street still City Council in a presentation titled “Room with no housing. to Live.” She may work further with Eyler to In trying to demonstrate the true costs of hone the study and bring it to the county for chronic homelessness, the Eyler report sugconsideration. gests that hidden costs greatly inflate the real Eyler estimates that the annual costs to asburden that comes with maintaining the sist the homeless in Marin reach $20,479,08, status quo. In addition to the direct costs to