Paso Robles leaders to consider declaring a shelter crisis

The Paso Robles City Council will consider declaring a shelter crisis at its Feb. 16 meeting.

The council voted unanimously Tuesday night to place a shelter crisis declaration on its next meeting agenda and directed city staff to “start a dialogue” with other public agencies and organizations already providing services to homeless individuals to see what other short- and long-term actions can be taken, Assistant City Manager Meg Williamson said.

The San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday unanimously declared a shelter crisis and urged all seven cities in the county to do the same. The declaration gives public agencies some additional leeway in opening public buildings as emergency shelters.

The county did not identify any buildings, and Paso Robles leaders have not yet discussed whether to pursue that route either, but officials are concerned about the health and safety during harsh winter weather of an estimated 1,100 homeless people countywide.

Paso Robles has already begun a dialogue with the city of Atascadero, the county and local nonprofit organizations to discuss shared solutions, Williamson said. Her staff report notes: “There is a spectrum of services available within the North County for the homeless. As such, there may be a synergistic benefit to coordinate resources and determine how multiple agencies can best collaboratively serve the emergent needs of the homeless in the north county.”

This story was originally published February 3, 2016 at 4:47 PM with the headline "Paso Robles leaders to consider declaring a shelter crisis."