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Resident recounts housing veterans at city’s request, describes policing response
Summary
A Redondo Beach resident described taking in veterans at the request of the city’s housing office and said police questioned him after behavioral incidents; council members offered to follow up outside the meeting.
A Redondo Beach landlord told the City Council he had provided temporary housing to several veterans at the request of the city’s housing office and said police later questioned him after problems arose in his building.
“About 25 years ago, my mother had asked me…would I help a black gentleman who was homeless?…We had some chaos as a result of that,” the speaker said, describing earlier experience. The speaker, who identified a Redondo Beach address, said more recently he was asked by Redondo Beach housing staff to help three veterans and that he had taken them into his building.
After subsequent problems, the speaker said police “challenged me as to why I would even have them here.” He said his intention was to help and that he welcomed a council member’s offer to discuss the matter outside the meeting.
Council members indicated they would follow up. A council member asked for the speaker’s contact information, and another said they wanted to speak with him outside council to better understand his experience.
Why it matters: The comment raised questions about how the city’s housing outreach and placement efforts interact with landlords and about the city’s role in supporting housing placements for veterans. The speaker’s account was a personal recounting of interactions with city housing and police; no staff report or formal complaint was recorded during the meeting.
No formal council action was taken during the meeting; council members offered to continue the conversation offline.
