(Fact-checking responses included below)
The methods used to count the homeless are very flawed by design and probably on purpose. Homeless counts are handled mostly by volunteers and that is the first flaw. These are often people with big hearts who want more “homeless” funding. The other huge flaw is that homeless counts occur during the daytime. We studied homelessness very carefully for more than eight months and discovered something interesting. A vast number of homeless individuals come into Burbank on scooters, bikes, and buses and then leave at night. Most are not Burbankers.
Many of them live at the meth and heroin RV camps at San Fernando Boulevard, Cahuenga, and Forest Lawn Drive.
Here are videos of these RV camps, all three of which are right on our border, but these are not our residents!
San Fernando (one mile long!)
The woke City Council approved $3 million to house 50 individuals (that’s $60,000 per person) in a Tiny Home Village. More annual funds will be spent to staff the location 24/7/365!
For your awareness, the Alexandria Park Tiny Home Village located at 6099 Laurel Canyon Road has not resulted in a great outcome for the neighborhood around it. CEO Ken Craft had no figures to share on the transitions he successfully completed out of the “transitional housing” program he manages because at the time we met with him, he had none. He had no cases. Zero. Apparently, at the time we asked, no one left the “transitional housing” program. Why would they? Drug addicts getting free housing! He confirmed that the facility dealt with four overdoses in just six months. We spotted beer cans littering the area and smelled pot everywhere. Shopping carts were strewn about the street in front of the property. Graffiti covers the neighborhood. Drive by and check it out for yourself. Tiny Homes are merely a way for the City to grow its largesse. More salaried “experts” are hired to cope with the growing number of “homeless” residents. These folks drive in from all over the country and they are racing to do so once they hear about the free housing paid for by taxpayers.
This Burbank housekeeper explains why Tiny Homes will fail to resolve anything. Click here to hear from her directly.
Meth abuse is the #1 cause of property crime in Burbank. Housing addicts who are free to come and go commit these crimes to pay for drugs is a crime.
Very little of the money taken from us actually goes into helping the homeless. The largest single expense for the taxpayers is pensions for the City workers. Click this link to search the City’s accounts payable transactions and see how your tax dollars are spent.
Some Burbank City workers have total gross pay of as much as $478,317.63 in a single year! Click here to learn more.
The fact-checking responses follows:
“Good afternoon,
I’ve taken a read. Only two points to bring up. These are nit-picky, but I work in a field where we get challenged on the minor details of our work product when the outcome is being disputed:
- You mention that homeless counts occur during the daytime. When I was a nightwatch patrol watch commander (2015 -2017), we were notified and provided assistance for counts which were being conducted at night. These may have started during daytime hours and carried over into the night. To be fair, I don’t know what the current practices are for the homeless service agencies. If your recent research has shown the counts are occurring during daytime hours, I wouldn’t dispute it. I’m only speaking from my experiences, which I freely admit are somewhat dated….. 5-7 years ago.
- The last line mentions city workers being compensated up to $478,317.63 in a year. The linked gross earning sheet shows former City Attorney Albano and former Police Chief LaChasse in the #1 and #2 spots. Ms. Albano was the $478,317.63 number. Both Albano’s and LaChasse’s gross pay numbers included “Leave Payouts at Time of Separation” around $150-200k. These are typically a cashing out of accrued time banks when an employee departs (as both of them did in 2021). Technically part of their pay for the year, but maybe not the most accurate reflection, as it is a cashing out of time banks accrued over the course of their entire career with the City, not compensation for work done within the year. The #3 spot in the list, Fire BC Owings, at $411,635.72, is probably a more accurate “top pay” for the year.
Regards,
Cpt. Cornils” (Burbank Police Department)
Good morning Mr. Spencer,
It is important to note that the large majority of BFD BC Owings OT earnings are reimbursable, due to his position on a State of California Incident Management Team (IMT). BC Owings’ IMT responds to the majority of the campaign wildfires throughout the western U.S. Participation on the IMT provides reimbursement for BC Owings time on the incidents, which was nearly 92% of his OT earnings for FY21/22.
[Chief] Eric [Garcia] (Burbank Fire Department)
