Downtown San Rafael has long served as the location within Marin County that provides assistance and care to those within our community who need a helping hand. However, with the expansion of these services at the Ritter Center, combined with the growing national crisis of homelessness, San Rafael now has a higher population of homeless per capita than even San Francisco or Berkeley. Many of these homeless are migrating to San Rafael from outside of Marin County.  San Rafael residents now avoid the downtown area, negatively impacting our local business owners. Students at Davidson Middle School and residents of the surrounding neighborhoods are regularly exposed to open drug dealing, drug use, theft and harassment in the areas adjacent to the Ritter Center.    

We believe the following to be true:

• San Rafael has become a regional destination for the homeless
• San Rafael bears a disproportionate burden in providing services to the homeless
• The homeless presence and impact downtown has reached a level that is intolerable. The current situation must be changed immediately
• Ritter Center has become a magnet for the homeless from outside of Marin County, and a portion of these Ritter clients are responsible for the issues noted above
• Ritter Center has been given several years to find an alternate location and has not been successful
• There are other strategies for helping the homeless that have proven successful in other communities by providing housing and treatment while reducing the presence of homeless on the streets

Therefore, we urge the San Rafael City Council to take the following actions:

• Immediately reduce the number of people served by Ritter Center until it moves to a more suitable location
• Alternately, vote to revoke the use permit of Ritter Center until a suitable alternate location is secured away from downtown San Rafael
• Maintain San Rafael’s reputation as a compassionate community by investing in initiatives that are effective in providing both housing and services for the homeless without making San Rafael a regional destination for the homeless