Safe & Transparent Claremont is comprised of individuals who have expertise in the fields of mental health, law enforcement, affordable housing and homeless housing, public education, politics, and law.
We do not speak from a place of irrational fear, but from personal knowledge of the risks associated with the proposed target population. Chronically homeless and defined by HUD to be:
Homeless for at least one year and diagnosed with one or more of the following conditions: substance use disorder, serious mental illness, developmental disability (as defined in section 102 of the Developmental Disabilities Assistance Bill of Rights Act of 2000 (42 U.S.C. 15002)), PTSD, cognitive impairments resulting from brain injury, or chronic physical illness or disability;
We speak in support of those who work with the chronically homeless, those who have family members that would qualify to live here, those who attend and work at Joslyn Senior Center, parents of children who attend or will attend El Roble Intermediate School, those who frequent Larkin Park, and for all those who live in Claremont and believe there are inherent risks that come with this project as currently proposed.
City Council Voted on Public Driveway Giveaway
More push/pull on Larkin Place
July 15, 2022
Dear editor: In a letter to the editor in the Claremont COURIER dated July 8, Mr. Lyons would have the public believe that a city council vote against the easement requested by Jamboree Housing for the Larkin Place project was a vote against the development. The Larkin Place development is still approved under the state’s new “by right” housing laws and with Resolution 2022-02 of the Claremont Architectural Commission. The project should be able to use the same four-story building design by simply pushing the building to the far north side of the site, placing parking in the front of the building, and building a short attractive wall between the front setback and the parking area so the parked vehicles could be obscured from view. There may be other issues that have an effect on the project, but no city councilmember should be besmirched for his or her concern for the reasons of safety or use of public funds/lands for private purposes in our community.
Larry Schroeder
Former Mayor, Claremont
For the Chronically Homeless
“Housing Ends Homelessness” is inaccurate and too simplistic to cover the complexities associated with Larkin Place, which can house up to 87 “chronically homeless” people. It’s common sense to wonder how a project like this will impact the residential neighborhood when the majority of the residents will have severe mental illness and/or substance abuse issues. See https://www.latimes.com/
We feel that simply housing those with high needs without proper clinical supervision is not in anybody’s best interest and is an insult to all of us who have dealt with mental health and addiction issues either personally or in our family home.
Even if tenants are successfully evaluated as not being a “threat” at the time of evaluation, each unit can have unscreened and unvetted overnight visitors for up to three weeks per year. All of the promised “robust” mental health or addiction treatment services are strictly voluntary. There is no requirement to, or expectation to maintain sobriety – the only restriction is to not use drugs or be “high” in the facility’s common areas.
We’ve done the work, listened to Jamboree and taken the tours. The promised 24/7 supervision relies primarily on security cameras and a single property manager. If a resident is acting inappropriately or violently, the property manager places a call to the contracted mental health provider and the police. These two entities MUST BOTH BE PRESENT, sometimes taking 45 minutes to an hour- BEFORE the resident can be confronted.
We’ve listened as Jamboree’s talking points shifted from no ability to provide local homeless placement to claiming they are to going to “prioritize” locals through county referral system. To date, there is NO AGREEMENT in place with the county that guarantees or even prioritizes placement of Claremont’s current homeless population.
Those that stand to benefit most include Jamboree and their billion dollar portfolio and Pilgrim Place with their land sale. We believe the funding is better spent on clinical treatment than developer costs.
This in an expensive apartment building with the wrong tenants, in the wrong location that will burden Claremont for the NEXT 55 YEARS without recourse.
You can act!
- Reach out to your Council Members individually and Pilgrim Place CEO, Ronald Bolding, and tell them your concerns. Show up at City Council Meetings in person and speak your concerns. Spread the word and join our weekly group meeting.
- Ron’s email: rbolding@pilgrimplace.org
City Councilmembers
jleano@ci.claremont.ca.us
ereece@ci.claremont.ca.us
ccalaycay@ci.claremont.ca.us
smedina@ci.claremont.ca.us
jstark@ci.claremont.ca.us
SAFE AND TRANSPARENT CLAREMONT is a diverse collection of neighbors, residents and concerned citizens trying to promote rational conversations and provide facts which are not being disclosed by Jamboree, Pilgrim Place or the City regarding Larkin Place.
We are NOT against supportive housing but we ARE against the PSH on Harrison Ave. that is within 1 block of El Roble middle school, Larkin Park (home of Claremont AYSO) and The First Baptist Church preschool. We believe this is not the right population and not the right location considering the alternatives.
We are trying to bring transparency and education to a discussion that is dominated by the Jamboree – a $3.2B O.C. corporation that stands to profit off Larkin Place, and by local and City officials who are promoting only the perceived benefits of the project without considering the negative impacts.
We cannot stand back and “trust” Jamboree and the City to look after our interests nor can we minimize the complicated issues of mental illness, addiction, income inequality and affordable housing that this project fails to adequately address.
Contact Us
Fast Facts
- Placement of tenants prioritizes those with the longest duration and chronicity of homelessness who have experienced “a high need for crisis services.”
- Per HUD rules up to 87 can legally reside here. If Jamboree is correct and 40 tenants live there, these residents could potentially have up to 47 unvetted guests, who would be allowed to stay for up to three weeks per year in one week increments. Residing visitors are not screened in any way for criminal activity.
- Jamboree’s construction company wants $22 million dollars for 33 tiny studio and one bedroom apartments. That’s nearly $700,000 per unit. This is Not Affordable Housing. See their summary proforma for more details.
- Jamboree is proposing only one site manager, or maybe two as a couple, to “manage” all of this population and visitors. This is not clinical oversight and they love to say 24/7 supervision but of course one or even two people aren’t working 24/7 and we’ve seen high turnover of managers and management companies for those properties claimed to be “comparable” but in actuality have only a small percentage of their units as Permanent Supportive Housing.
- Claremont Does Not Have Resources For This Population
- Crime happens at these locations. Milpitas had to hire 24/7 security with 44 cameras and gated doors and windows
- From May to September 2021 this Milpitas Jamboree location had 58 calls to the police for prostitution, rape, mental health, assault w/Knife, suspicious circumstances among others according to City Council report.
- Murder at the Jamboree Milpitas supportive housing property for Special Needs population like they want for Larkin Place:https://milpitasbeat.com/new-details-emerge-in-transgender-womans-murder-at-project-homekey-site/