Costa Mesa City Council discuss heated issue of housing the homeless

COSTA MESA, CA (FOX 11) - Costa Mesa residents are lashing out following the announcement of a proposal to house hundreds of Orange County's homeless population in their city.

The Costa Mesa City Council held an emergency meeting tonight to get feedback from residents about the idea which is being pushed by an Orange County supervisor.

Another case of not in my backyard. Just like what we saw in other OC cities hundreds of Costa Mesa residents showed up Wednesday night with a lot of backlash to this idea.

A majority believe the homeless are a danger to the public and will drop property values. And they don't want them brought here to Costa Mesa.

It was a packed house in Costa Mesa Wednesday night where the overwhelming majority sent a clear message to the council.

The backlash is in response to a proposal by Orange County Supervisor Shawn Nelson and state Senator John Moorlach.

They want to gather the hundreds of homeless who were evicted from along the Santa Ana river last month and house them here at the Fairview Developmental Center in Costa Mesa.

This proposal comes just days after the county scrapped a plan to bring the homeless to Irvine, Huntington Beach and Laguna Niguel after angry residents protested.

Resident Philip Rafle says, 'Many of the homeless are addicts who will only bring problems.'

Jessie Cevetas says, The homeless cant expect everyone to take care of them.'

But not everyone sees the homeless as a liability some like Shirley Daniels approve of the idea to house them.

The city council drafted a resolution saying they oppose bringing the homeless here, but it wasn't voted on tonight.