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SLO councilman asks CAPSLO to drop homeless services

March 21, 2014
Dan Carpenter

Dan Carpenter

By JOSH FRIEDMAN

One week after the Community Action Partnership of San Luis Obispo (CAPSLO) shuffled the alignment of its homeless services personnel, a San Luis Obispo city councilman has asked the nonprofit to consider eliminating entirely its homeless services division.

On March 13, CAPSLO CEO Biz Steinberg notified the San Luis Obispo City Council that she was restructuring the homeless services division and effectively demoting its director Dee Torres. Previously, former CAPSLO employees accused homeless services staff, in particularly Torres, of taking gift cards and other donated items and making personal use of them.

Councilman Dan Carpenter replied to Steinberg Wednesday with an email asking her to consider eliminating homeless services from CAPSLO’s makeup and letting other organizations fill the role.

“I would hope CAPSLO would reconsider its involvement and commitment in the homeless services arena,” Carpenter wrote. “I understand it’s a very small segment of the organization and relinquishing those responsibilities to other organizations who are solely committed to serving this fragile population might better serve the community.”

Carpenter formerly defended CAPSLO when allegations surfaced about impropriety by homeless services staff. Last year, he questioned the credibility of CalCoastNews after it reported that thousands of dollars disappeared from the account of a homeless man in CAPSLO’s case management system.

But, in his March 19 reply to Steinberg, Carpenter went so far as to indicate he would no longer vote to fund CAPSLO’s homeless services program.

“As an elected representative of many constituents who demand accountability, I will be representing this position as we move forward with recommendations for homeless services funding,” Carpenter wrote.

CAPSLO receives the majority of its funding from government grants and subsidies. The San Luis Obispo City Council allocates more than $200,000 annually to its homeless services program.

Carpenter also stated that he would not support spending taxpayer dollars on a new homeless services property or building unless an overhaul of the program took place.

For several years, CAPSLO has planned to create a multimillion-dollar homeless services center. Plans have stalled, though, due to lack of funding and inability of the nonprofit to secure a location.

Under the new organizational structure, Torres will manage the Maxine Lewis homeless shelter and the Prado Day Center. She will lose control over the case management program, which handles clients’ money. Instead of reporting directly to Steinberg, Torres will begin reporting to CAPSLO Deputy Director Grace McIntosh.

Torres will also receive a more than20 percent pay cut. Former Prado Day Center Manager Shawn Ison, too, will take a hefty cut in pay, according to an email Torres sent last week.

Steinberg wrote that the changes would make the homeless services division operate in a more fiscally efficient and coordinated manner.

Torres ridiculed them in an email, claiming personal agendas prompted the restructuring.

Carpenter stated the organization shuffling had more to do with image management than serving clients and the community.

“There must be more to this decision than meets the eye,” he wrote.


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Accountability


Thank God for Dan Carpenter.

Thank God for CCN.


How in the world can the remaining City Council members consciously even think about supporting Capslo’s homeless services program with $200K annually, considering the millions the nonprofit makes from Federal subsidies and without some clear evidence of progress?


They themselves must be hideous. Do they really think the public would support such misuse of taxes? On top of all this, I continue to see ads in the Tribune requesting for food donations.


These guys are ingenious; I stand firm that Famalette possesses this wit and incorporates Torres to carry out a plot to maximize the millions of Federal funding funding Capslo receives and is siphoned straight into staff pockets with the least effort. One example of this is clearly demonstrated by the use of the Conflict Resolution Form, in use ever since Capslo took over EOC.


I remain committed in following up on the OIG Federal Investigation. in support of Cliff Anderson who was reamed royally by Lisa Niesen, president of the Family Ties program. How many others are afflicted? Only lawyers know.


He was promised housing while having to relinquish $400/month of his Social Security funds for his years of participating in Capslo’s Case Management program. Then Niesen appears at his door late in the night, attempting to get him to sign some release of liability. Sick.


https://calcoastnews.com/2013/02/homeless-man-hassled-by-capslo-family-ties/


To the SLO City Council members who don’t begin siding with Mr. Carpenter, I believe you can can rest assured that your remaining days in office are numbered.


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QUOTING THE ARTICLE: “‘Its credibility to me is no good,’ said Councilman Dan Carpenter of the news site. Carpenter said he had repeatedly asked CalCoastNews reporters for factual evidence when misdeeds have been alleged of public officials or entities. None had ever been provided, he said. ‘I’ve told them again and again that if you have something, show me,’ said Carpenter on Wednesday. ‘I can’t do anything based on hearsay.‘ ”


Based on Carpenter’s February 2013 comments to the Tribune, Carpenter would not do anything based on hearsay.


So what evidence was presented to Carpenter to make him change his opinion and advocate defunding CAPSLO’s homeless services program?


Or has the apparent abandonment by Torres fiance, Adam Hill, and Biz Steinberg left Torres powerless enough that Carpenter finally has the guts to speak up?


Whatever. I’m glad he finally spoke out publicly.


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QUOTING MIKEB: “My guess it that this latest “shuffle” comes on the heels of an audit by the U.S. Dept of Housing and Urban Development and/or the IRS. Who knows, maybe we will even see some type of indictment?”


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I agree. Something has made Torres’ usual vociferous supporters now silently letting her twist in the wind after bad publicity.


Here it is, March 21, a week after CCN published an article about Torres’ deomtion, and STILL there is none of the customary chest-pounding baboonery from Adam Hill which usually attends any instance where Torres’ fanny is singed by reports of her horrible antics in conjunction with her ex-role as head of homeless services for CAPSLO.


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All I can picture is an image of the USS Torres and a lot of scurrying across the deck by some of SLO’s upstanding (cough cough) public figures. I guess one question is when does Mr. Hill begin his scurrying? or maybe he has already.


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Mr. Carpenter at least has.


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I think the demoting of Torres was to ensure that Biz Steinberg and Adam Hill would be the first ones in line for the USS Torres’ lifeboats.


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Don’t kid yourself, the ranting has begun. I’m sure it will be very public soon.


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QUOTING THE ARTICLE: “Carpenter stated the organization shuffling had more to do with image management than serving clients and the community. ‘There must be more to this decision than meets the eye,’ he wrote.”


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Thanks to Dan Carpenter for speaking truth to power.


What will it take for the SLO County Board of Supervisors to stop funding the disaster of a homeless services program that CAPSLO has created?


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Yes Dan you are probably 100% correct in saying, “There must be more to this decision than meets the eye.”


But where did you stand last year on Feb 6, 2013 when the Trib published the article pasted below?


Did you ever make an effort to view the declarations from former CAPSLO employees which were filed during the court case wherein Dee Torres brought suit againt me?


My guess it that this latest “shuffle” comes on the heels of an audit by the U.S. Dept of Housing and Urban Development and/or the IRS. Who knows, maybe we will even see some type of indictment?


Its always interesting to see public figures distance themselves from the line of dominoes once the first domino starts to teeter.


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Here is the Trib article dated Feb 6, 2013:


SLO council rejects allegations that CAPSLO stole from homeless


The San Luis Obispo City Council has affirmed its support for Community Action Partnership of San Luis Obispo County and publicly dismissed a local news website’s allegations that the nonprofit was pilfering money from homeless clients.


The council Tuesday night gave $125,988 to CAPSLO in federal grant money to operate the Maxine Lewis Memorial Shelter and to help pay for the design and construction of the proposed homeless services center on South Higuera Street.


Several council members also defended CAPSLO, which administers homeless services throughout the county, after several public speakers said the city should not give the nonprofit money because a story published by CalCoastNews alleges the group embezzled money from some homeless clients.


“Its credibility to me is no good,” said Councilman Dan Carpenter of the news site.

Carpenter said he had repeatedly asked CalCoastNews reporters for factual evidence when misdeeds have been alleged of public officials or entities. None had ever been provided, he said.


“I’ve told them again and again that if you have something, show me,” said Carpenter on Wednesday. “I can’t do anything based on hearsay.”


Karen Velie, who co-founded the site with Dan Blackburn, said Wednesday that they stood behind the accuracy of the story about CAPSLO, which was published Monday.

Velie told The Tribune that Carpenter said he would not look into allegations about the mishandling of finances by CAPSLO until proof was provided by law enforcement.


However, on Wednesday, Carpenter said he would have considered any evidence — provided by Velie, homeless clients, staff or anyone else — but had not been given such.

Councilman John Ashbaugh, an advocate of the new homeless services center, read aloud during the Tuesday council meeting a letter from Biz Steinberg, chief executive officer of CAPSLO, that was emailed to the council prior to its meeting.


“We categorically deny the misleading statements made about CAPSLO’s homeless operations and challenge anyone to provide any factual information to the contrary,” wrote Steinberg. “These disparaging attacks on Ms. Torres and CAPSLO are not new, and we believe they are perpetrated with the sole intent of trying to focus funding support away from CAPSLO to other less qualified and unmonitored groups.”


Dee Torres, the homeless services coordinator for CAPSLO, told the council that allegations in the story were “absolutely false.”


The city has a long history of giving money to the nonprofit for homeless services and recently made addressing homelessness a top priority for the coming two years.


The city has given CAPSLO $125,000 in federal grant money over the last three years toward the design and construction of the controversial homeless services center.

The location of new center has sparked a political battle, with the effort to build it at a standstill.


The money allocated to CAPSLO for the homeless services center, although specified for the location on South Higuera Street, can be used for a project design at an alternate location.


Read more here: http://www.sanluisobispo.com/2013/02/06/2384358/capslo-steal-money-homeless.html#storylink=cpy


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In February 2013, a little over one year ago, no official action had been taken against Torres for any of the unethical acts of Dee Torres.


A lot has changed since then, and Torres being demoted and stripped of much of her power has caused her usual outspoken (and, in Adam Hill’s case, obnoxious) defenses of Torres.


I believe Torres’ demotion (thus stripping her of her own power) and the apparent abandonment by Torres usual powerful supporters (most notably, Adam Hill and Biz Steinberg), has emboldened those who were previously reluctant.


I think the County BOS will eventually join the bandwagon, and unfund CAPSLO’s homeless services, just as soon as they can find a way to justify such a radical departure from their former unwavering support of Torres and the mess she created at homeless services.


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Great idea, Mr. Carpenter! Clearly there are other groups that can do a better job.


A dear friend of mine, a retired social worker, was the food coordinator for the People’s Kitchen for many years. She worked tirelessly to help the homeless and disadvantaged, right up to her passing just short of the age of 92.


If she had lived to see what CAPSLO has been doing she would have been horrified – and would most certainly be raising the roof over it. I think she would be very pleased with this idea to get homeless services out of the clutches of CAPSLO and into the hands of people who actually care about making things better for those who are down on their luck. A decent, caring, ethical group could work wonders with the money and other donations that CAPSLO is squandering.


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There has to be more to this Torres situation. To demote someone with a 20% decrease in pay is the result of some serious misdeed. In government this is usually a coverup so that the public doesn’t find out about the abuse of funds. In the real world the person would be dismissed and depending on what may have occurred more than likely prosecuted.

Stay with Dan so that we may really find out what has and is going on at CAPSLO.


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I think you are right. The whole demotion thing is suspicious.


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Sometimes a demotion is used by organizations to give the employee enough rope to hang themselves, or to wait for the outcome of an investigation or indictment.


It is clear that CAPSLO is trying to distance itself from Torres. Sooner or later, the reason for that will come out.


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Good for you, Dan! CAPSLO has made a mess of things and it is time to rethink completely this whole homeless services issue. Enough is enough!

The city already operates hundreds of low-income apartments through the Housing Authority; the schools give children free breakfasts and lunches; churches and the synagogue monthly rotate overnight overflow shelters for women and children to augment the Maxine Lewis shelter; Operation School Bell and other private groups provide clothing and school supplies; there is the Prado Day Center for free lunches from Peoples Kitchen, and free laundry services; the Food Bank; free or low-cost vet clinics for shots for anyone’s dogs; at what point do we say, Enough is enough? Why should the city of San Luis Obispo allocate any more money to “help” these people who have no ties to the community, have no intention of cleaning up their act, no chance of finding a job paying a living wage in one of the highest-cost-of-living areas of the country, who run up our police costs due to vandalism and general trashing of our parks and local businesses?

It’s not a crime to be poor or homeless, but it is a crime not to try to better yourself in this country. Many of these people are mentally ill and need mental health services, not endless handouts. Others are just plain lazy and like this beautiful area. I am so tired of seeing people begging at every major intersection like in some Third World country. Is this the image we want to project to visitors? Where are their families? I am sure I will be vilified as heartless and cruel and a lot of other unprintable adjectives but I believe there are many other citizens who feel as I do.


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Perhaps there should be state laws passed that forbid any county from providing that “One way bus ticket” to another county to be rid of their homeless. I have heard that Fresno and Santa Cruz have a habit of doing this, telling the people there are plenty of services in SLO. Then again you are talking mainly about the mentally ill. Which we need to be caring for. The lazy homeless are not as prevalent as the mentally ill.

But I agree, with all that has gone on, Torres job should be eliminated (easy unsu-able” way to be rid of her) pass the responsibility and the $$ to a group that will serve without cheating them out of their $$ or dignity.


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There are enough inaccuracies, exaggerations and illogical conclusions in womanwhohasbeenthere’s screed that I don’t know where to start with the corrections.


Still, her last statement, “but I believe there are many other citizens who feel as I do”, may be correct. Because of that, perhaps CAPSLO should consider abandoning its Homeless Programs. Maybe when some other organization has to deal with the same difficult problems and faces the same ignorant criticisms without the ability to respond (client privacy policies), there will be a wider understanding of the complexity and limitations society faces in helping the homeless. The desire to do something positive may just not be enough to compensate for the often unfair criticisms they get — especially when they don’t have the financial support to do THAT program right.


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While Dan is at it, he should ask if CAPSLO paid for Torres’ legal fees. Torres filed an

unwarranted lawsuit against CCN and lost the case and the judge ordered her to pay

all legal fees. This information should be public.

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I support Dan in his decision.


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Well, he kind of showed his hand with this quote:

“As an elected representative of many constituents who demand accountability”


Most responsible leaders would actually demand accountability THEMSELVES, and not just point out it’s the constituents who want it.


We have some real winners “serving” us, that’s for sure. Still, the ship is sinking, and the bodies are being thrown under the bus.


Kudos to CCN (as usual) for once again proving them wrong, taking the slings and arrows, and prevailing. Get used to it, if you haven’t already; and, thank you for the investigatory efforts – it’s been a long time since I’ve seen any news outlet even fake investigating, let alone actually do it.


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