By Mary O’KEEFE

On Tuesday, March 28 members of the Glendale City Council and Los Angeles County Supervisor Kathryn Barger held an in-person joint meeting. The issues that were on the agenda included homelessness, County support for park space in South Glendale, Rockhaven Sanitarium and a request that a checkbox for Armenian be added under the Middle Eastern or North African (MENA) category on the census form.

The meeting focused on homelessness with Barger calling it the number one issue not just in Glendale but throughout the County. Arsine Isayan, Human Resources coordinator at Glendale’s Continuum of Care (COC) program, gave a comprehensive overview of the program. She said the program traditionally receives a little over $2 million annually, but during the pandemic there were opportunities for additional state and emergency grant funding. She thanked the County for Measure H funds but acknowledged the City is restructuring its homeless programs.

        “And we would love more support,” she said.

The recent homeless count showed the City of Glendale has 103 people who are sheltered – that is in shelters – and 122 who are unsheltered totaling 225 individuals. However these numbers, Isayan said, may not reflect an accurate count.

The homeless count in the City of Glendale occurs once a year. Volunteers go out to count, and interview when possible, unhoused individuals.

Isayan stressed the homeless count is a “one moment in time” look at the population.

        “The homeless count is not a perfect science,” Barger said. “I do believe we are undercounting.”

Glendale has expanded its outreach through the Glendale Police Dept., titled the Community Outreach Resources and Engagement Bureau (CORE) of the GPD.

        “Now we have our Glendale Police Dept. [involved and it has] proven to be very successful,” Isayan said.

CORE assists the homeless population through the Homeless Outreach Program. Officers make contact and build rapport with members of the homeless community with the goal of engaging with and connecting the clients to Glendale COC service providers for wrap-around services and housing placement.

From July 1, 2021 to present, GPD outreach screened, assessed and served 289 persons – 104 of whom identified as having severe mental illness. Thirty-nine of the 104 people, or 38% of clients, were successfully placed in housing programs, and 21 of 39 clients, or 54%, were placed in the Emergency Housing Voucher Program.

Glendale City Councilmember Elen Asatryan said that she would like to see more support for those who are escaping domestic violence and more help for those with mental health needs. She added she would like to create partnerships with the County for these different programs.

Councilmember Dan Brotman asked for the County’s help with Project Homekey, the California state program that provides motel rooms to those who are unhoused.

As part of the COC program Glendale has some state funding restrictions; however, Onnie Williams III, the principal analyst with the LA County Homeless Initiative, said that this was something that should be revisited.

City of Glendale staff and Council asked the County for more funding to help it expand its COC program, to which Barger was receptive.

“The City pays the County $10 million in taxes and the City receives $200,000 from [the County] for these programs,” said Glendale Mayor Ardy Kassakhian. He added if the City could receive just a third of that $10 million it could increase the help for the homeless and near homeless.

Rockhaven was also on the agenda and during public communication three people from the community spoke about this issue.

One of the speakers was from South Glendale. She said that Rockhaven was very important to all of Glendale’s residents.

“It’s so sad,” she said. “I have seen some recent photographs of such profound neglect.”

Local resident Donna Libra became emotional as she asked the City to do more to repair Rockhaven. Recent concerns have focused on leaking roofs on several of the buildings at the historic sanitarium. Tarps have not been placed on the roofs allowing the recent rains to do severe damage to the buildings.

        “Rockhaven is the greatest example of demolition by neglect that I have ever seen,” said activist Susan Bolan. She outlined the history of Rockhaven including Glendale’s initial proposal, made 15 years ago, to create a historic park at the location.

City manager Roubik Golanian reviewed the history of Rockhaven, highlighting that the sanitarium was operated by women and was exclusively for women. He asked for financial support for Rockhaven from the County as the City plans for a park and museum. Golanian said in four to six weeks, staff will bring to the City Council options for the future of the Rockhaven property. He also mentioned that State Senator Anthony Portantino secured $8 million for Rockhaven – but that would not be enough money.

Barger said there are some discretionary funds that may be used and that she was “very familiar” with Rockhaven and its recurring issues. She said there are possible options available for funding and asked for the City to share the Rockhaven plan with the County.

Kassakhian added that he has been open about his support for moving the Montrose Library, currently at 2465 Honolulu Ave., to the Rockhaven site and to expand Fire Station 29, which is presently next to the library’s location. He shared his concern that the fire station was not designed to house the necessary equipment that is now needed given the increased threats from wildfires.

The issue of parks in South Glendale was also on the agenda. City officials highlighted the lack of open space and parks in this area of Glendale.

Barger told the Council this was the “best time” to talk about parks since the County is in the process of conducting a countywide parks assessment.

        “If you are looking to collaborate with us,” she said, “there are opportunities.”

Another discussion was held regarding the City’s request that a checkbox for Armenian be added under the Middle Eastern or North African category on the U.S. Census. At present Armenian Americans are classified as “White” on the U.S. Census form.

According to the presentation, Armenian Americans represent a sizable and important community in the U.S. but are invisible in the collection of federal, state and local data. Armenian Americans are among the top three MENA (Middle Eastern and North African) communities in size. Armenians are a transnational group in the MENA region. The Armenian American community is made up of immigrants, refugees and English language learners. The Armenian American community overwhelmingly supports census classification.

The City requested a letter in support of the change and for the supervisor to read it into the County record. On Tuesday, the motion was read: “WE, THEREFORE, MOVE that the Board of Supervisors direct the Chief Executive Office, through the Legislative Affairs and Intergovernmental Relations Branch, to send a five-signature letter to the Office of Management and Budget expressing Los Angeles County’s support for the inclusion of an Armenian checkbox under the proposed MENA category in the 2030 Census and explain the importance of this inclusion for the Armenian American community of Los Angeles County and the United States as a whole.”