Orange County homelessness czar Doug Becht is on the hot seat as the county awaits the results of January’s Point-in-Time homeless count.
In recent months, Becht, director of the county’s Office of Care Coordination, has been:
- Warned by Newport Beach’s mayor that she would call for an audit if the official Point-in-Time results don’t match numbers from her staff.
- Pummeled with questions over remarks he reportedly made in private and public meetings that Orange County law enforcement agencies beefed up anti-camping enforcement prior to the PIT count, which, if true, could skew the results. Becht said, through a county spokesman, that he doesn’t recall making such remarks.
- Verbally slapped by county Supervisor Don Wagner for his handling of a federal Housing and Urban Development matter affecting 1,100 households.
Supervisor Katrina Foley said Becht has a pressure cooker of a job spearheading the county’s homelessness effort.
“It’s a position that, quite frankly, you can never satisfy anyone. It’s a tough position to be in,” said Foley, stressing that she believes he does excellent work.
The Point-in-Time count is mandated by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and done every two years to help determine how to allocate resources for homeless individuals.
The census has become a touchy subject as speculation spreads that Orange County’s results, to be released mid-month, will be much lower than previous PIT counts.
“The numbers in the past couple of counts have been going up and now, all of a sudden, from what I’m hearing, there’s been a significant decrease,” said Nate Robbins, Costa Mesa’s homelessness manager. “I think people are sounding some alarms. What’s going on?”
If the numbers have fallen, said Becks Heyhoe-Khalil, executive director of United to End Homelessness, the concern is why have they fallen? Were people placed in sustainable housing, she said, or just shuffled around by anti-camping enforcement?
That concern has triggered a flurry of questions for Becht, who’s been under the gun for months for an assortment of reasons.
Scolded in public
In December, Becht appeared before the county Board of Supervisors, representing the Commission to Address Homelessness. He made a last-minute request that the board send a letter to HUD and the Orange County congressional delegation, seeking an extension for housing vouchers that were about to expire.
Supervisor Wagner complained, ardently, that he didn’t receive the commission’s urgent request until the night before the board meeting. The commission had a week to contact the board, Wagner said.
“I think this is a textbook example of how not to handle this situation, Doug,” he scolded. “I find that not up to your usual standards. … This is such a mess and it didn’t need to be. … Just procedurally, I’m frustrated and feel this is no way for us to be asked to conduct business. Your own conduct here has belied the urgency that you are seeking to attach to this item.”
Becht explained the delay was caused by the commission’s attempt to have each member sign the request to the board.
“Your office and you guys are usually a whole lot better than this,” Wagner responded.
Supervisor Vicente Sarmiento, who chairs the commission, tried to pull Becht from the fire at the board meeting.
“You took some bullets there that I think were not necessary,” Sarmiento told him.
And District Attorney Todd Spitzer, another member of the commission, later said he had not witnessed such a dressing down since the day another supervisor made a county director faint.
“The way Doug was treated was abominable. It was irresponsible,” Spitzer said at a February commission meeting. “No county supervisor should ever talk to staff the way I witnessed that happen.”
The county ultimately was able to keep the voucher recipients housed.
One mayor’s warning
The pressure remained on Becht after Newport Beach Mayor Lauren Kleiman sent him an email on Jan. 28 — the day after the Point-in-Time count in her city — effectively putting him on notice.
Kleiman said city staff had accompanied the PIT teams in Newport Beach and had counted six homeless people: four in the morning and two in the evening.
“Should the reported count for Newport Beach be different than what the teams counted yesterday, I will be calling for a formal review of the procedures and methodology for the county PIT count,” she wrote.
Kleiman explained in the email that city staff heard county representatives say they might need to come back on their own, which would violate Point-in-Time rules.
“I’m sure you would agree that would not be consistent with the intention or purpose of the point in time count, which is to get an accurate count for appropriate resource allocation, using consistent assessment practices across the county,” Kleiman wrote.
She said in an interview that she was not trying to be combative, but rather wants to protect the integrity of the PIT count. The city also conducts its own census on a regular basis with the People Assisting The Homeless nonprofit group.
“How can there be a departure from what our team members observed?” Kleiman said. “I’m very protective of the work we’ve done in the city. We’ve brought our count down every year.”
She continued: “For the county team to come in our city and paint a different picture, that’s the reason for my email. … I was not trying to make any veiled or overt threats. It was to say: This is what our team members observed and that they should match.
“If they come back with a different number, I would have some questions.”
Becht responded to her email that the county is “fully committed to conducting a thorough count that is true to the methodology and provides the most accurate census of people experiencing homelessness at this time.”
Crackdown comments disputed
In recent weeks, Becht again landed in the spotlight for comments he reportedly made after the January count, during an invitation-only meeting of the Family Solutions Collaborative and the March 25 Continuum of Care meeting, which was public and livestreamed.
Multiple sources have told the Orange County Register that Becht said he heard some cities had stepped up “homeless policing activities” prior to the Point-in-Time count. One source said they heard Becht add that he was concerned the apparent crackdowns would affect the count — a concern others share.
Asked about the comment, Becht referred all questions to a county spokesman, who later said Becht was too busy to talk, but did not remember making the law enforcement remark. The spokesman, Daniel Rhodes, later said Becht would not do media interviews until after the results of the count are released.
Rhodes offered a vague statement that “county staff” had generally discussed “numerous factors that can affect the results of the Point in Time (PIT) count, including weather conditions, number of available volunteers, visibility of unhoused individuals, availability of temporary housing and permanent housing resources, and enforcement of anti-camping ordinances.”
The county’s statement has raised more questions than it answered. For instance, why would “county staff” bring up the number of available volunteers as an issue when Becht had told a Register reporter before the count that he had ample volunteers?
Also, why would weather conditions be mentioned as a factor, when the weather on the days of the count was unexceptional — cold at times, warm at others — and the count is always held in late January?
Despite the county’s admission that these factors as well as anti-camping enforcement were discussed generally during the March 25 Continuum of Care meeting, there’s no mention of it in the official minutes. Rhodes explained that the minutes are not a detailed transcript and that the session was not recorded for purposes of creating the minutes. Also not recorded was the livestream broadcast.
So there is no official record of what was said or not said.
Sources, however, are adamant that Becht spoke of increased anti-camping enforcement. On the other hand, Rhodes said Becht talked to other people who attended the meetings who don’t remember him making such a statement.
And so it all depends on the memory of those who attended as to what was said.
In any case, the Register asked Becht whether he knew of any anti-camping crackdowns prior to the PIT count. Rhodes answered that the county doesn’t keep track.
However, one top county official said they wouldn’t be surprised if suspicions of crackdowns were true.
“I believe it happened,” said the official.
Data provided to the Register by the Orange County Sheriff’s Department indicated there was no crackdown in areas patrolled by the department.