As I watch the driving rain and freezing wind from the warm comfort of my home, I can’t help but worry about our homeless neighbors outside who have no place to go.

According to a new HUD report, among largely suburban communities of our size nationwide, the Santa Rosa/Petaluma Continuum of Care area has among the highest numbers of homelessness, chronically homeless and unaccompanied unsheltered homeless youth in the country. Sonoma County records for 2018 show that we have 2,996 homeless individuals, of whom around 1,929 are unsheltered. Shelters can accommodate only 1,067.

The 6 percent rise in homelessness is indicative of failing policies. For example, Santa Rosa’s official homeless solution is its Homeless Encampment Assistance Pilot Program. Described as a “compassionate approach,” the program, in fact, is nothing more than brutal encampment sweeps that often leave tenters with nothing more than the clothes on their backs as all of their possessions are bulldozed into a dumpster.

Last fall, the county’s Human Rights Commission found that both the city and county are systematically violating human rights of homeless individuals and called for the immediate establishment safe havens with services for those living on the streets as well as the creation with all due haste of inexpensive countywide tiny house villages with services to provide shelter for the years required for permanent supportive housing to become available. Authorities have completely neglected these urgent needs.. Authorities have completely neglected these urgent needs.

U.N. Special Rapporteur Leilani Farha recently decried the denial of access to water, sanitation, health services and other basic necessities to Bay Area unsheltered homeless people as “a cruelty that is unsurpassed,” adding that “such punitive policies must be prohibited by law and immediately ceased.”

The newly activated, countywide Home Sonoma Leadership Council has so far failed to take any action to resolve the homeless emergency crisis that city and county officials have themselves repeatedly declared. Meanwhile, unsheltered human beings on the streets are wet, freezing, sick and dying, with no respite in sight

We treat dogs better than this! People of good conscience, do not avert your eyes. Rise up and demand justice for those who can’t demand it for themselves.

Kathleen Finigan lives in Santa Rosa.

Open Mic is a weekly feature in the ‘Bohemian.’ We welcome your contribution. To have your topical essay of 350 words considered
for publication, write op*****@******an.com.

As I take office as Sonoma County’s 34th sheriff since California became a state more than 165 years ago, I’m implementing some changes—building on our successes and addressing challenges along the way. We’re a team of more than 600 at the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office, a team that is wholly committed to the concept of service above self, with a high level of integrity, and we’re ready to grow together. So in the first few months of the New Year, we’re going to highlight some improvements.

We’re going to get back to the basics that Sheriff Rob Giordano has so effectively implemented this past year. Under tragic circumstances, he taught us all how to come together again as a community after the 2017 wildfires.

Public safety is our charge. That means delivering the highest level of law enforcement with a respect for the individual. We’ll be listening for your input, we’ll hear what you have to say, and we’ll treat all fairly. It’s a mission I set out as a candidate for this office, and one I take seriously.

We’re also going to highlight community policing. I want you to know our deputies through a robust program of outreach and regular community interaction. From social media to town halls, I want you to know them on a personal level.

Detention is critical—and we’ll focus on the causes of crime as well as the impacts. With a new behavioral management system in place, I know we can address the fact that more than 45 percent of those incarcerated have a mental-health issue that we can treat—that’s a cost savings to you the taxpayer, and a life-changing event for the person involved.

And we’ll make sure that our employees are representative of the people they serve. I want a healthy and happy team, and I’m committed to growing it.

Sonoma County is a unique and special place to live, work and play. As these years unfold, I hope I can count on you as a partner in this effort to make Sonoma an even stronger community. I’m humbled by your trust, and look forward to this incredible effort ahead of us.

Mark Essick took office as Sonoma County sheriff on Jan. 1.

Open Mic is a weekly feature in the ‘Bohemian.’ We welcome your contribution. To have your topical essay of 350 words considered for publication, write op*****@******an.com.