Homelessness, public safety and policing West Hollywood’s east side were the focus of last week’s candidate forum, with elections to fill three City Council seats less than a month away.

Eight of the 11 candidates who will appear on the ballot gathered at the Gateway, near the intersection of La Brea Avenue and Santa Monica Boulevard, for the event, organized by the Eastside Neighborhood Watch Group and moderated by WeHoville.com’s Henry Scott.

The annual homeless count last month underscored the countywide issues caused by homelessness. In West Hollywood, where the homeless population has hovered around 100 over the last two years, based on county data, the issue has largely been concentrated near Plummer Park, along Santa Monica Boulevard near La Brea Avenue and other areas on the east side.

“It’s obviously a very complicated issue,” said Lauren Meister, one of three incumbents defending their seats. “We have outreach teams that go out there and let people know what the services are, but if they don’t want to accept services, they don’t have to. We can’t force it.”

She added that the county needs to use its resources, including recently passed bond measures dedicated to addressing homelessness, to bolster the efforts of cities.

Sepi Shyne, a candidate and member of the city’s Lesbian and Gay Advisory Board, said there should be kiosks to help connect the city’s homeless population with resources.

“I would like our homeless to have kiosks where they know where to go for services, and expand the amount of outreach in whatever way we can so there’s more social workers going out there to speak with homeless people because it takes a lot of time to build trust,” she said.

In Plummer Park, where concerns about homeless people loitering and spending extended periods of time in the public restrooms, Tom DeMille said he would set up a Red Cross tent.

“Let’s wash their feet,” said DeMille, a longtime community activist. “I’m Catholic, let’s wash their feet. Let’s wash their feet, let’s get them new clothes, let’s screen them, let’s vaccinate them, let’s put them on their way.”

Several candidates mentioned the high cost of living many West Hollywood residents face and the need for more affordable housing, in addition to housing for the homeless.

“Let’s build the housing that we need to house the population that already lives here,” said Brendan Hood, a West Hollywood resident since 2010. “For the more tough cases, for the people who do have mental health issues or substance abuse issues, it’s going to take a much bigger investment from all of us.”

Candidates also discussed the sheriff’s department, and whether the city should revisit the possibility of starting its own police force.

Mayor Pro Tempore John D’Amico, running for his third term, tempered the notion “that we could invent a police department that would do everything the police department we have is doing but somehow do it better for less money, without a sheriff’s station, without any of the infrastructure, with none of the support from downtown.”

Incumbent Councilwoman Lindsey Horvath mentioned the lack of continuity in the department, with the city again searching for a new captain following the promotion and departure of Sergio Aloma. The council, she added, has always been committed to providing the necessary resources.

“The issue is not resources,” Horvath said. “We ask that question as a council every time we have a public safety update. We ask it of the sheriff’s department, we ask it of the fire department, we ask it of code enforcement. It’s not that the city is not giving resources to public safety.”

James Duke Mason, another member of the Lesbian and Gay Advisory Board, said the city needs to make sure there’s geographic uniformity in the city’s response to calls from residents.

“They do a great job and they do their best, but maybe there needs to be a conversation about how we’re allocating resources, making sure that my apartment on De Longpre and Fountain doesn’t get more of a response versus homes on the east side,” he said.

Another member of the Lesbian and Gay Advisory Board, Marquita Thomas, added that better record keeping could help aid the department.

“We need to really have a conversation with the sheriff’s department about keeping a record of every person who comes into the station regardless of whether or not there’s a report. You can’t manage what you don’t measure,” Thomas said.

Candidates who did not participate in the forum were Shawn Davis Mooney, Jack Cline and Eric Jon Schmidt.

Another candidate forum is scheduled for Feb. 20 from 7-9 p.m. at Plummer Park. The deadline for West Hollywood residents to register to vote in this election is Feb. 19.