Encinitas council updates homeless action plan, directs staff to add enforcement goal and seek local data

The Encinitas City Council on Tuesday received a staff status report on the city's Homeless Action Plan (HAP) and unanimously directed staff to amend the plan to add an explicit enforcement goal, restore housing navigation capacity, run a city-only count and pursue measurable, time-bound metrics.

The action came after a staff presentation from Melinda Dacey, the city's housing services manager, and a nearly three-hour public comment period in which residents, business owners and service providers urged both more services and stronger enforcement. "On May 14, city council received an update on the homeless action plan," Dacey said during the staff report, summarizing recent council direction and budget carryovers.

The council's directive asks staff to continue HAP programs already in place, add a fourth goal focused on enforcement and the service-resistant population, develop SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, time-bound) metrics for plan goals, and return with recommended changes. The council also directed staff to re-establish a housing navigator role (either in-house or contracted), to create or operate a citywide by-name list…