BROTHER BENNO’S GETS ALL-CLEAR FROM CITY, POLICE

Restrictions added to program lead to drop in complaints

The Brother Benno’s Center, which has been feeding Oceanside’s homeless people since the 1980s, is back in the city’s good graces after new restrictions were added to the program a year ago.

Complaints have dropped significantly since the city modified the center’s conditional use permit to change the hours of operation, add new rules of conduct for guests, create a policy for clients with dogs, and improve security and video surveillance, city officials said Monday.

“Brother Benno’s has become a pretty good steward of their facility,” Oceanside police Capt. Sean Marchand said in an update on the center presented at a meeting of the city’s Planning Commission.

Brother Benno’s opened as a soup kitchen in downtown Oceanside in 1983. In 1991, it moved to its present location in an industrial building near the city airport in the San Luis Rey Valley, where it provides free clothing, showers, personal hygiene items, laundry facilities, and a range of services from transportation to education.

Reports of vandalism, littering, loitering and other problems surged in the neighborhood around the facility in 2019 and 2020. In response, the Planning Commission appointed a committee to investigate whether the city should make changes or even revoke the conditional use permit granted to the nonprofit.

In March 2021, the commission approved several changes, including requirements for an improved ID card system so the organization can better track its clients. Brother Benno’s also agreed to stop providing its mailing address for homeless people who repeatedly decline to use the services available to them.

About 100 homeless people use Brother Benno’s as their mailing address to get checks and other important materials they receive by mail.

The commission also initially considered a one-year limit on the mailing address for all clients. That condition was scaled back in response to widespread opposition. Also, a proposal that the center be required to share its clients’ data with the Police Department was dropped.

“We struggled mightily with some of the issues that were before us,” said commission Chairman Tom Rosales, who served on the committee. “It sounds like this is working pretty well, and we hope it will stay that way.”

A large part of the problem in recent years was “a small group that had sort of embedded themselves in the neighborhood,” said Ben Meyer, operations manager for Brother Benno’s.

“We let them know that could not go on,” Meyer said, and the troublemakers have left. “We are there to provide a safe environment for our neighbors and our guests.”

Brother Benno’s provides between 150 and 300 meals to the poor and homeless daily. The center helps more people in the summer and at the end of each month when their money runs out from Social Security, retirement checks and other sources.