Second in a series

Re “Dr. Diamond Hopeful Homeless Count Will Shrink”

Until the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority produces the community by community homeless count sometime this year, Dr. Ira Diamond, Culver City’s man on the case, has his ideas.

Despite the overwhelming numbers who haunt the County’s thousands of streets night and day, the immensely dedicated podiatrist believes the population can be seriously reduced.

“There are many causes for homelessness, and those causes lead to new instances of homelessness,” he said.  “The County Board of Supervisors has put together 47 strategies in six categories to fight homelessness.”

Among the six are – Creating a Coordinated System, Finding Subsidized Housing, Providing Case Management Services, Tracking Affordable Housing, and Preventing Homelessness/Increasing Income.

Those titles surely sound densely bureaucratic. But Dr. Diamond and others contend that this may be the only kind of City Hall action that will think out the homeless crowds.

“Our City Council voted to support and partner with the L.A. Homeless Initiative,” Dr. Diamond said. “That is fantastic. The City Council is  saying they want to research strategies they are interested in pursuing.”

Culver City’s Committee on Homelessness has been meeting with representatives of the County Homeless Initiative.

“We have come up with strategies we will recommend (to the City Council),” Dr. Diamond said.

Recently-passed Measure H – providing fresh revenue streams to fight homelessness – will help fund the six strategic categories identified above.

That is a peek at the governmental machinery that Culver City’s No. 1watchdog will lighten the homeless load on both ends, human and government.