Recommendation to Approve The Road Home: A 5 Year Plan to Prevent and Respond to Homelessness in Alameda.  (Community Development 10061831)
Recommendation to approve the road home. A five year plan to prevent and respond to homelessness in Alameda. Thank you. That's item seven B. Yes. Okay. And you want to tell us who will be presenting? Yes. We have Amanda squared here. Yeah. The Shirkey and then the consultant who I believe will give the PowerPoint here for us. To man. Amanda's are better than one, right? They're both pretty amazing. Okay. Good evening, Mayor and city council members. My name is Amanda Gursky. I'm a development manager with the Community Development Department, and I've been managing the Homelessness Strategic Plan. In January, we brought on Homebase, a nationally recognized expert on homelessness, to assist us with the plan, and we kicked off work in earnest. In April, we brought a series of preliminary goals and strategies before you for review and feedback. And over the last six months, we've incorporated your feedback together with findings from our broader community engagement and assessment of existing programs in Alameda to create the plan that is before you tonight for consideration. So with that, I'd like to introduce Amanda Wagman, Director of Strategy and Evaluation at Home Base, to talk more about the plan. Thank you, Amanda, for your introduction. And good evening, Madam Mayor and city council members, just on behalf of home base. Our team has been so honored to support your community in the development of this five year strategic plan to prevent and respond to homelessness in Alameda. When we last came to the city council in April, we were in the middle of a synthesis and recommendations phase of our work and shared some early drafts of our goals and strategies. And since then we have completed the analysis of the challenges and needs in the city and developed a complete roadmap of goals, strategies and action steps that are going to support the community in preventing and responding to homelessness. We've circulated iterative drafts of the plan to a wide variety of stakeholders, including the Social Services Human Relations Board, who recommended at their September meeting that the council approve the Road Home Plan. And we also heard some important feedback from the Shrub at that meeting, which will highlight during our review of the goals and the strategies in just a moment. This feedback will also be incorporated into regular work plans, which will guide implementation of the strategic plan. This slide outlines the table of contents. The plan starts with an executive summary of key takeaways from the plan and then moves in to an introduction that sets some context on the planning process, the current homeless system and data about homelessness. The Challenges and needs section synthesizes that information by identifying gaps in the system, and our roadmap lays out those goals and strategies to address the gaps. And then we conclude with a number of appendices, including an implementation plan that gives some more detail, a glossary of key terms, a snapshot of available programs and housing, and a crosswalk of the plan's strategies that shows how it aligns to the actions in the county's strategic plan. Update. The data shows us that homelessness is on the rise in the city and across the Bay Area, with a 13% increase in unsheltered homelessness from 2017 to 2019. I'll just note we don't have 2021 point in time count data due to due to the pandemic. But the county does plan to do a count this January, so we'll have updated information next year. While homelessness is on an upward trend, what this also tells us is that with coordination and implementation of the strategies in the plan , the scale of homelessness in the city is small enough that we can have an impact and much more data is included in the data finding section of this plan. But we won't have time to get into it tonight. The seven items that are listed here represent the main challenges and related needs that emerge throughout the planning process. And these became evident from research and data and community engagement in which we identified needs related to increasing affordable housing, providing flexible resources, low barrier shelter, enhancing supportive services, expanding data collection, leveraging funding and improving communication, coordination and transparency. And these challenges and needs have helped shape and inform the goals that you'll see in the roadmap. The three overarching goals. Is to see for just a minute, we lost. You. But, you know, I'm so sorry to hear that you're back. Great. The three overarching goals represent the roadmap to the city to prevent and respond to homelessness. And we highlight securing housing as the first goal, as it's proven to be the best way to end homelessness. Goals two and three are critical for having a robust front door that is coordinated and sustainable, and we look at each goal more specifically next, unpacking the strategies that support them and the challenges and needs that the goals are meant to address. In in the plan itself, you'll find some additional detail under each strategy that has specific action steps that support implementation and metrics to help quantify progress over time. So goal one is to secure a housing a future for all our mutants. And this goal includes three strategies that are meant to address challenges and needs related to affordable housing and coordination. First, for strategy 1.1 regarding assessing and using land for housing implementation involves identifying the private and public land that is available for acquisition, rehabilitation and new construction of permanent housing. With Strategy 1.2. The aim is to look at existing city policies and consider changes to streamlined, affordable housing development and strategy. 1.3 will involve partnering with neighboring cities and the county to secure sites for short and long term housing and to align with housing first practices. Goal two is to increase access to homeless emergency response services, which relates to the need for flexible resources, low barrier shelter and coordination. Strategy 2.1 emphasizes the targeting of funding to help prevent and resolve a housing crisis before someone is it is evicted or needs shelter. Strategy 2.2 promotes an evidence based low barrier approach to temporary housing solutions. And I'll note here that the Shrub provided feedback on the importance of providing temporary housing during winter months, especially here. And Strategy 2.3 involves expanding outreach and supportive services to unsheltered households. And this includes clarifying roles and methods for engaging with the unhoused community and promote promoting things like diverse street outreach teams. And Goal three is finally to mobilize the citywide response to homelessness. And this goal addresses a number of challenges and needs, including supportive services, data collection, funding and communication with strategy 3.1, we found that the community is eager to learn more about what's being done to address homelessness and how they can get involved in local initiatives. Strategy 3.2 focuses on a number of related efforts, including ensuring participation and coordinated entry and data collection, centering racial equity and the voices of people with lived experience in homeless services, design and strengthening coordination among providers. And many of our stakeholders, including the Shrub, really noted here the need for better data about subpopulations, including folks like families with children and particularly young children. This will allow for better targeting of specialized services and strengthened partnerships with organizations and programs that serve them like Headstart and more broadly. Under this strategy, the Shrub also noted their role in the implementation of the plan, including providing input on how to prioritize action steps and timelines. And the Shrub also noted the importance of prioritizing additional staff to implement this plan as a part of the homeless response system infrastructure. And with strategy 3.3, we know that none of this is going to work unless there are supportive services while people are on the street, in shelter and in housing. And the the shrub noted in their feedback the importance of the commitment to wraparound services and case management. Finally, we wanted to highlight the call to action that we included in the plan. We just reviewed a really robust list of goals and strategies, and there's a lot of important work to be done. But as this call to action notes, the scale of the problem in Alameda makes these schools realistic, achievable and necessary, and gives the city a roadmap to preventing and ending homelessness. So with that, we welcome any questions about the road home. And thank you so much for your time this evening. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Forman, for that presentation and Ms.. Kirkby as well. And Madam Kirk, I'm assuming we have some public speakers on this item. We do. We have a couple. All right. Well, before we get to our public speakers, let's hear clarifying questions about the report from Council and Councilmember de SAC. I see your hand up. Great. Thank you. If the. Consultant or as a staff person can talk a little bit more about the what's called the Housing First approach, because my reading of the staff report and the accompanying report is that. That contrasts starkly with, I think, what's called the continuum of care model. Sophie kind of talk about that because what I saw was, for example, you referenced case management from what I saw in the report and the Housing First approach. We're talking volunteer case, voluntary case management. So whereas in the continuum of care approach, it seems as though. The housing that you receive is linked with required participation in some kind of service or or reaching out, working with a case manager 2 to 2 to go to services. But I think in the Housing First model, that that requirement, I mean, if you're is not there any longer, so we can have a discussion about that. Thank you. Good questions. Did someone want to touch on the different terminology and what it refers to? Because Councilmember Desai is correct, it can be confusing and sometimes even seems contradictory. Ms.. Warman, you were nodding your head. You want to take that? Yes, I'm happy to. Madam Mayor, so just a couple of key terms to be aware of. And thank you so much for your your comment and highlighting the Housing First approach, because it is definitely underscored in a number of the goals and strategies. Housing First is a an approach that is promoted by by the Department of Housing and Urban Development at the federal level, as well as by experts nationally and locally as a best practice approach to how we deliver housing and services to people experiencing homelessness. The idea, as you noted, is about reducing barriers to entry into programs, as well as reducing all of the restrictions and things that might force people out of those programs. So by reducing the restrictions or the programmatic requirements, it enables folks to get into housing more quickly and to be provided the case management and other supports that allow them to maintain their housing stability over time. I want to clarify what we mean by continuum of care. It's a little confusing because there are a few different definitions that are used as part of this field. The continuum of care, most broadly speaking, refers to all of the housing and services that are available to address the needs of people experiencing homelessness. It's also a term of art used by HUD to refer to the continuum of care. Or This is where you cut out momentarily. Ms.. Orman. I'm Yuki. At least for me. Did you. Stop here? Yeah, she said. Yeah. I'm sorry. Did anybody else get the message that your Internet connection is unstable? Okay, maybe we need to go back to that Smart Cities item. Miss Wurman, you were starting to say what the continuum of care means all the services, housing and services available to people. If you could just go back and pick it up from there. Yeah, absolutely. And I apologize. That word technical challenge. Not your fault. So the continuum of care refers to a number of different things. It can refer to the continuum of housing and services that's available in a community to address the needs of people experiencing homelessness. It also is a term used by HUD to refer to the decision making body at a continuum of care level, usually a county level . So you might hear about the S.O.S. Board as a part of the work that everyone home does at the county level. And it's also a funding stream. The S.O.S. program is a funding stream, the continuum of care. So it means a bunch of different things. But I it doesn't it isn't meant to be in contrast to housing first. Rather, the continuum of care is the overall approach the community is taking to address homelessness. And the housing first approach is, is how you're delivering services within that continuum. So I know it's a lot of complicated terms of art, but I just wanted to create that distinction that it's there. It's not your choosing one or the other. You can very much deliver housing first. Programing within a social setting. Thank you. He was out with an offer you see every day oc other clarifying questions council. I've got a couple cats over here. Spencer, did you have some questions? No. Okay. So when and again, thank you for all the work that went into this report. And it's just such an important topic when we talk about the numbers in around 300 people. I, I wonder, do you think that that number is even higher since we haven't been able to do a point in time count. For. What, two years now? And and we know just that people have been impacted by COVID and losing work and housing instability. So. That, you know, do we think it might even be higher? And I guess I would hasten to say probably the number doesn't matter. The point is we've got a problem and we need to start addressing it. But any thoughts about. The numbers. Yeah. The beat. There is definitely an upward trend that we're seeing across communities. So I can think I can speak generally that that's something we're seeing. I will say that there you know, there have been a lot of steps taken during the pandemic to work on eviction prevention and a lot of resources coming down from the state . So we remain optimistic that that's going to help address some of the emerging needs from the pandemic period. But we really won't know until next year's point in time. Count that kind of comparative number. There is some additional analysis done in the plan that looks at other data, like from the Homeless Management Information System or HMAS. That's the county level data system that looks at individuals with ties to the city of Alameda and those numbers are higher. I think the 2019 number was 736 people, but that might be folks that are throughout the county that have some tie back to the city of Alameda. So it's a slightly different way of looking at the population, but that gives you some additional context on what the numbers might really look like. Thank you. In addition to realizing that we haven't been able to do a point in time count for a little while now, I think just anecdotally, we have seen encampments appear in areas of the city where we certainly hadn't before the pandemic. But the. Thank you for that. And then let's see I. Okay. And the at the end of this item, I will ask the city clerk if she's able to put up on the screen this website for people to to go to to apply for emergency housing assistance. Because I think most of us know that the state's housing eviction moratorium ended last Friday or last Thursday, September the 30th, but that's at the end of this. So. Any other clarifying questions or shall we go? Councilmember Harry Spencer. Thank you, Mayor. So we received a supplemental report from staff from Lois Butler and I would ask that be added to the agenda item if possible, because it has a lot of the data that I had asked for at the prior meeting. So I appreciate staff providing that. One of the things that comes up on this data is to safe parking that says we have capacity for 25 cars per day and serve 11 vehicles on an average day, approximately 21, and duplicated individuals per quarter since there's 25 car spots available per day. I'm wondering, do staff think that and that 11 are being served? The staff think that we have more than 11 in our city that could use those extra spaces or that we really don't have that. Miss Butler, did you want to address that? Yes, it's about community development. Yes, we do have more than 11 cars within the city and we are actively going. Out and letting people know that they can park at the safe parking location. In fact, we moved some folks from. Internal. Boat ramp over and also. I believe that. Some were recently moved over. So it might be higher than that because the data that I used was a little bit older than last week. Thank you. Offer you counsel over here, Spencer. Okay. All righty. Councilwoman Dayton. Still muted on one level. Thanks. So I just want to try to clarify one question. So the question, if I can clarify it, is so if we adopt the Housing First paradigm, if you will, would that mean that we would not require case management as a condition of housing, that it would be voluntary case management so a person with certain ailments wouldn't be required? Because that's what I read on page 34 of 69. So that's my question. And this woman. Thank you for your question. So the the recommendation and the plans the recommendations related to Housing First are about how to reduce barriers. So I would think think you're not wrong use paradigm or philosophy or approach. Like it's about how to how to make the the housing and programs that you have as low barrier as possible is you don't want to create scenarios where folks are cycling in and out of programs, but rather you want to create, create the space for folks to get into programs and then to be offered case management and other services that support them and maintaining that housing stability. So, no, it's it's not about having those requirements and restrictions. But at the same time, Housing First isn't saying that you just put put people into housing and let them be. It's about creating those robust supports and structures through the design of the program that helped ensure the success of program participants. So there's it's it's definitely more nuanced than just, you know, not requiring services, but it's about how to have trauma informed care and motivational interviewing and other best practice approaches that can be coupled with housing first to help get people the help that they need while not creating restrictions that might cause people to fall back out of those programs. Thank you. Okay. I'm not seeing any more. Hands up. So, Madam Clerk, why don't we go to our public speakers? How many do we have? We have six now. So, Priscilla, 3 minutes. But if anybody else raised their hand or got a two, the first one is Doug Biggs. Okay. And you'll keep an eye on that. All right. Welcome, Speaker Biggs. I see that hand of Speaker Biggs. What do you think? Yes. There you go. Good. I've I've adopted the council member. Disagree to button philosophy here, so that must be helpful. I very quickly want to. My name is Doug Biggs. I'm the executive director of Alameda Point Collaborative. I wanted to just add on very briefly about this whole Housing First policy. It is a requirement of HUD that all permanent supportive housing programs provide a housing first access to their programs in order to access HUD funding. So all permanent supportive housing programs throughout the country, including here in Alameda and Alameda Point Collaborative, our housing first projects. We like to say that case management services are voluntary for the client, but not for the employee. They do very aggressive outreach and engagement in order to get people to participate in services which they do. Regarding the plan. I want to thank staff at home base for their really inclusive, thoughtful process, that of all stakeholders, including those with lived experience of homelessness and others in implementing the strategic plan. I would hope that the Council take note of the need to serve homeless from throughout Alameda by providing services throughout Alameda, not just locating them all in one location, and also ensuring, as the one of the goals stated, that programs implemented are adequately and sustainably funded and that they have clear metrics to be able to access, access or assess success. One of the things we heard over and over again in the stakeholder meetings is people want to know what's being accomplished and how well it's working. Well, we're investing our local money. Lastly, I'd ask the Council to take note of the goal to streamline the development of housing. And I would encourage this counter to develop strategies to reduce the time and money the city and providers are forced to expend and the inevitable opposition that comes to any homeless services in the city. We don't have to look far to see that opposition to homeless services can increase the cost of projects by millions of dollars and delay their implementation by years, all while our unhoused neighbors are forced to live in unbearable conditions. Effective due diligence is good stalling tactics to deny services to homeless art. I ask the Council to include in the Strategic Plan Development Policy development of policies that limit the ability of those opposing serving homeless in Alameda from stopping or delaying the implementation of these important services. Thank you very much. Thank you. Council Speaker Biggs, our next take your place. Then. Welcome speaker mix. Hello, Madam Mayor and members of the Council. Thank you for the opportunity to speak. I'm an Alameda resident. I'm also an architect involved in the creation of multifamily housing for all income levels in projects all across the Bay Area. The goal of the program, as mentioned tonight to secure a housing future for all Adam Alameda was definitely admirable and I think the strategy to access and use available public and private land for housing also makes a lot of sense for us. But the locations of the properties that are currently being considered for this program do not portray a city wide program. Not even close. Of ten potential properties that are being considered for the program, only one is east of Webster Street. Feels kind of like redlining. I provided a written comment for the meeting record with Google Earth Link showing the locations of all known properties under consideration. I would encourage the Council and the public to take a look at the map for themselves instead of using all of almeida's land to address this problem. The map makes it very clear that Almeida's homeless population will be housed West Webster. This leaves the majority of Almeida's neighborhoods unaffected by this program while putting an extreme concentration of homeless facilities west of Webster in spite of suitable land available elsewhere across the island. I would encourage the Council to more equally distribute the locations for shelters and services across all of Alameda. Thank you very much. Thank you. Our next speaker. Marilyn Rothman. Good evening, Speaker Rothman. Hello. I wanted to bring up the. The idea that is that one of the first items that the Road Home Plan should focus on is the Fire Department Family Services Project to ensure its success. You know, I'd like to see some connectivity with that, and I don't know how that would work. Since we're trying to get this pilot. Program going, it would seem like it would fit in here. And should we focus on? I'm also wondering, I. Don't know who would be in charge of this, but who who would address those 100 plus people who only have large space shelter. During winter months. Who didn't have it last year because of COVID and probably won't have it this year because of COVID. And I don't know whether this is the the agency that would deal with that or it needs to be assigned to somebody or what. Anyway, thanks for letting me speak. Thank you. Our next speaker. We now got one more hand raised so the time will change down to 2 minutes for the remaining speakers. Right. And the next one is Maryland. All one. Good evening, Speaker. Alvin. You just need to unmute. Thank you. There you go. Good evening. I wanted to say that I have worked as a professional in affordable and supportive housing for over 30 years, and I support the city's recognition of the need to take action to address homelessness in Alameda. The road to home states that the city will purchase land and. Properties to serve the homeless. Population. As a resident of the West End. I have seen that to date. The properties addressing homelessness are concentrated in the West End. Going forward, I ask that a mechanism be established. Around the decision making process. For land and property purchases and that policy be formulated that defines criteria used. For choosing the location locations. Of these properties. Furthermore, I request. That these properties be distributed throughout the island and that the community involvement and transparency. Be the basis for these decisions. Thank you. Thank you. Our next speaker, Harman Reed. Good evening, Speaker Reed. Good evening and good evening, Madam Mayor and city council members. I appreciate this. Opportunity to make a brief. Comment related to the. Report. I see two major concerns that should be thoroughly addressed and reviewed. One is the fact that, according to the most recent unhoused count and survey, the number one self-reported cause. Of a person's homelessness was the loss of a job at 26%. Obtaining and retaining employment through skilled job training. Programs should be a top. Priority, in my opinion. I'd like to see a substantial increase in support for higher paid workers. We need to support programs that pay a living wage well above the minimum wage. We expect these community members to regain their independence and dignity. This information should be included in any future reports. The second concern I see in the report is related to the availability of showers. From my understanding. And from other reports that I have seen, the program available. At Christ Episcopal Church is only open on Sundays. Can this please be increased to daily showers? Also, can you please clarify if the showers at the Village of Love are available to the unhoused on a daily or weekly basis? It would be good to also focus on a data driven approach and continuing. To address these concerns. And thank you for your consideration. Thank you. Our next speaker. Mark Foley. Good evening, Speaker Boling. Hey there. Yeah, I just wanted to thank staff for this plan. I wanted to mention, with the housing on my process that we're going through, we have a great opportunity to identify sites for new housing at the same time. So I think there's some overlap there. And I think if we want to hit, are we if we want this new housing to count for our affirmative affirmatively fair furthering, fair housing goals that we have to hit in our housing element. We need to look at project sites more than just in the west of Alameda. And I think on the whole, though, this plan looks pretty good. It solicited input from all the right folks. So I want to thank staff for that. I think it's vital that we speed up production of needed homes in Alameda, including affordable housing. And I think we need to do whatever we can to remove roadblocks and stream new light or new housing, especially housing like this. And I'm just going to leave my comments at that. Thank you very much. Thank you. Our next speaker. Our last speaker is Janine Anderson. Good evening, Speaker Anderson. Good evening. I just wanted to second Doug Biggs. We really need to streamline the process for building or renovating properties for these projects. I also strongly agree with Ben. I now live on the East End and I think that for this to be an equitable undertaking, the East End needs to participate in serving our unhoused neighbors. Especially given the conversations I've been witness to about these neighbors and the frequency of interactions I have seen between our between unhoused people and our police officers once I was off. Thank you. Thank you. Okay. And you said madam. Correct? I was our last. Speaker and we just had one more person. Okay, then. Alexia Roach. Good evening, speaker approach. Good evening, everyone. Thank you. I promise I'll be brief. I just want to second what a lot of folks said, and I am grateful for all of the work that was put behind this. I think it's really important to have this sort of access, be barrier free and acknowledge the realities of what folks have been facing and are going to continue to face, especially with what's happening in the East Bay right now with the homelessness crisis. I also appreciate that the plan takes into account having people with actual lived experience being part of the planning. I think that's very important that they are part of the decisions that are going to be impacting their lives. So thank you everyone for your hard work. And I second a lot of what the prior speakers said. Thank you. And you always have 2 minutes to speak. You don't have to rush of network any further speakers. That does. Okay. So with that, I will close public comment on item seven B and yeah, let's have a discussion, a really important topic. And you know, maybe I'll ask clarification from staff just for a couple of things or staffer or consultant that were brought up. The someone was concerned that last year and possibly this year we didn't offer shelter during the winter months because of COVID. My understanding that we did, we just did it in a different manner. Can someone speak to that? I can speak to that. Miss Butler. Thank you. So last year, we reduced the number significantly of. The people that we sheltered. Because. Of COVID. We could not house the 90 that we normally house, and we only housed seven. Continuously. Did we not, though, have hotel and motel rooms for people rather than in Christ Episcopal Church? Correct. We have seven, seven hotels. The price is extremely different. Okay. All right. Thank you. Okay. Okay. Council comments. Feedback. Well, Ali. Okay, you go. Cause we're not quite. I prefer you to go. So I guess I have a quick question that that will lead into my really one singular comment. But I'll start off by saying I think it's a fabulous report and I really appreciate all the staff work that went into it. We have had we've received a number of letters about already developed site lists for action. 1.1.8 says that we should collaborate with building planning, building transportation for identify sites for a lot of the services that are needed. Has a list been developed or are we talking about I know there was the list for the ARPA response that was put together, but I'm just curious, has 1.1.8 been completed? Would like to take that. And Isabella, go ahead. Yes. This has not been developed. Great. Thank you. That was that was my that was my assumption as well. But I know that there have been lists and maps and things like that to the point that that a number of speakers have made. I think it would be really incumbent on us if we were to approve and move this this plan forward to add to 1.1.8, something that says that we want staff to identify ways in which to ensure there is some form of equitable. I don't want to say, you know, distribution of services provided across the island to our unhoused population and resident so that we're not assuming everybody is going to go out to the very end of the Alameda point. And we know that we have some land use constraints in some parts of our island because of about because we just have vacant land on the West End thanks to the Naval Air Station leaving or whatever else. And so we could do as a part of this list, have some list of some strategies and whatnot that could be implemented in order to make available sites across the island and Bay Farm as well for these. Beyond that, I just wanted to we we came up with the concept and we gave kind of direction last July to come up with a to come up with a strategic plan for homelessness. The work kicked off in January, which was phenomenally fast, especially given everything that's been going on. And here we are in October with a really well-written, well-developed plan that I really feel, you know, sets, you know, is yet another plan that that that now shows how we can do these things really well in the city by coming to council and checking in on goals and whatnot. So you're sure, you know, the community is kind of following along and the council's given input and whatever else. And I just think this really achieved what I was hoping for it when when I had my initial discussion with staff back at the beginning of the year. And I just want to give everybody great props and thanks. I really appreciate it. Thank you. Thank you, Councilwoman. I would like to go. Next case over here, Spencer. Thank you, Mayor. So I was not on council, and this decision was made back in July. And I appreciate member Knox. Right, sharing that history. I would like to know who chose or how the members were chosen that participated in the process. There is there was a lengthy list of people that were participants. I'd like to take that. I can take that. We had a kind of a tiered or a sort of multi-level process for community outreach. It included everything from a steering committee to focus groups, individual interviews, a number. A number of those were identified by staff, the steering committee, focus group participants. But then we also wanted to have a broader opportunity for the community in general to participate. So we had a survey that had over a thousand responses, as well as two community meetings. Thank you. The community meetings were virtual, right? Yeah. I remember participating in the first. Somebody started to add something. Or was that you cast over her, Spencer? Well, I was trying to continue, but, you. Know, I was trying to call. And whoever was speaking, I just didn't. Didn't see who it was. It was you. Thank you, Mayor. So then my my next question goes to within the staff report, there are some in the correspondence that lists addresses of sites. And one of them is this four, three, four Central Surfside Apartments. And it's this is that property that the city owns. I miss Butler. You take that? I would. I think. Miss Maxwell, take that one. Miss that. That's a castle that we made a. Loan on through through our hip. Funds for security. CDBG, so that we just assisted that owner with a loan. We do not own it. That was in connection with the renovation. Okay. So what's the status of that property? Who lives there or is that connected to the city other than alone? Why is the city loaning that money? Ms.. Maxwell Just so the public will know. When I tell people who you are, oh, I guess everyone to do that when you first speak. Thank you for reminding me. I appreciate that. I'm Lisa maxwell, the community development director. Yes, we made that one to that fund. And that was just an opportunity for him to provide an improved housing stock and to offer some affordable units as well. So how many affordable units are there and how many units total? I do. Not remember how many. Affordable units they are. I believe there is approximately 50 units in the parcel, though it's not a large it's not a large apartment complex. Are there people living there right now? Yes, there are. And the units will be remodeled and people will potentially have to move that way. They will all be provided opportunities for housing during the remodel, and then they will get an improved unit following that process. Okay so that is that building them sounds like not available for unhoused that it is separate from this proposal. Yes. My understanding that was more for an affordable project for various income levels. So I think that's a little different product. Amanda, can you. Speak a little. Bit to the inclusion in this particular report of that project? And that was which. Amanda. Oh. Here she is. She knows. Thank you. So that project was not kind of on our radar when we first began this process. But we do talk about the importance of securing housing future for all our students. And we know that really any affordable housing can help to keep people housed and prevent homelessness, which is a key part of this plan. I don't know. Amanda Wurman If you would add to that. Yeah. Thanks. Thanks for the strategy. 1.1 is where we talk about assessing and using available public and private land for housing. We didn't take the step of coming up with a list, but rather recommended action steps related to doing that analysis. So we talk about collaborating with planning, building and transportation. And I'll also just highlight we have an action step around assessing housing sites, proximity to amenities, which might relate back to some of our earlier comments about just thinking about where properties might might lay in the future. Yes. Continue. Thank you, Mayor. So, okay, so we did receive correspondence with addresses, right. And we had a speaker that spoke to that. And that's what I want to get clarification. That sounds like this apartment building is private property and has people living in it right now and is not really part of. And I'm going to add that is not really part of right now where a vacant parcel or building that we could put unhoused in. That's my understanding, although it could also be used for very low or low, low income folks. So there's that opportunity accessed to assist people who may be on the verge of becoming homeless. Because as part of this program, as well as to prevent some of the homelessness from occurring. Right. Okay. So thank you. So I get that. So I just want to try to be clear to the public, though, what we're talking about, because somehow there are there are lists that are being presented and you all got the correspondence attached to the agenda. And I think it's important to be clear to the public in regards to these these lists, what is really part of this program and what's housing that already has people in it. So that's why I was asking for clarification of that. I want to move on. When I look at this report, there is quite a bit of data in regards to the Alameda unhoused population, and I think that that was very helpful to look at that. And so I appreciate that work. However, when we get down to the goals, I'm actually not sure how many of these goals, if any, are particular to Alameda and how many and what is actually something that would apply to any city that hires this company to do this work. Because the, for instance, goal one secure housing future for all Alabamians. My guess would be that that could be, you know, to for whatever city and state and that net goal to increase access to homeless emergency response services to meet these goals. I'd like to spend more time, actually. But what do they mean for Alameda and and our plan? I look at this report and I think it's very helpful for the background so we know who is unhoused and we can try to figure out how to help them get housing where the more specific needs are. But I think that the actual goals here I'd like to spend more time on and really figure out. But I mean, honestly, the first goal is secure housing future for all immigrants. I think we all support that. But I think as I as a council member, I need more help of what does that really look like and how it's going to apply. And so these are I think maybe this is supposed to be a just a very general plan. But if we're being asked to actually prioritize and I want it more specific and I probably want it more specific from staff, what is the ask specifically that's coming to us? Because what I don't want to do is say, you know, I am very concerned about providing housing for those that need it as well as services. And we did have speakers and spoke specifically about help with jobs and that shows up in the data. So those are things that come from the data. And then I would like a more specific response from our city of how are going to meet the specific needs of our meetings that need housing and not so broad. So I think that's important for us to know what the real ask is from staff at this point. I'm happy to agree that the data part and I think that that honestly, that's something I've been asking for for a long time. So I really appreciate that work. But then now what are we going to do with that data? And what is the real ask that I'm concerned about is supporting this the goals here that are just, I think, very, very vague. And what is the real ask the council? Do we want to purchase, for instance, the bottle parcel? Do we want the marina? And things like that I think is where we can weigh in and make decisions to move forward. And that's where it's hard for me to support this. The goals other than we're using it very, very broad and not narrowing it down to this is what we're going to be doing. So I would like help from staff in regards to what is what are we really at being asked to approve? Good questions council member Herrera Spencer. This Maxwell do you want to touch on that? Because I know you've been doing some work on a lot of things and also Ms.. Butler, I mean, all of you. But why don't you help us understand how have this all the work you've been doing and considerations council has been hearing about how it all fits? Certainly I can kick off and then if Ms.. Cutler wants to supplement my response, I know she's knee. Deep in this as well. As I am. So we have certainly. Been. Exploring very. Specific projects council under her answer, and we will be coming to you with those in the near future. You know, we have various ideas. For Explore and we're. Exploring an opportunity for scattered sites. Emergency transitional. Housing. We're exploring, as you know, the battle parcel. And we've taken another look just today at the Marina Village. And we had another potential opportunity presented to that which we're sort of in the. Early stages of. But all of these are on. Our radar, and we have to sort of vet the potential of each of these. As you know, we've got the homekey money and the application process is opened up. So we're doing our best to gear up for that, which we hope to submit sometime in the late November, January phase. We have to interview our RFP. Response providers. To select a provider and look at what can we you need a partner. To do those projects. And so folks have offered various projects that they're interested in. So we're now speaking to them to try to identify a partner with the project if they're willing to to do with the city. So all of that is moving. Rapidly forward, and. We'll be coming to you soon for further information. But I really appreciate your interest in having more detail. And as soon as we can offer you very substantial details about our particular project, we'll be there to do so. But as Marissa mentioned, there's a lot of moving parts right now and we're exploring. Lots. Of opportunities that are looking pretty interesting. Let's see if Ms.. Butler wants to add to that and then I'll get back to Councilmember Herr Spencer. Ms.. Butler. I just wanted to point out on page. Starting on page 42 of 69, there are specific. Action steps and they go with the strategies. They are generalized and that generalization full. Well, we'll be more specific. When we come to you, as Ms.. Maxwell indicated. Okay. So I appreciate that. Yes. Back to you, Councilor Spencer. Thank you. Sir. We have a housing authority and I have a concern and I've expressed this before, is the city now is creating its own housing department. No, we're certainly not intending to do that. The money that is available from this. The state hope the the. Home care money. Is available to us as a city. So we're just looking. At opportunities that are presenting themselves to us. And there's comparable counting money that's presented to cities as well. So we're certainly not intending to take the place of the housing authority. We just are having opportunities like ARPA. Right now, there's a rare opportunity to attempt to do some some really great stuff and create some affordable homeless housing . So we're just trying to capitalize on those. Okay. So I want to speak to that because the housing authority used to be part of the city. It really is still part of the city. The mayor nominated for the oversight, in my understanding, is that the housing authority was separated from the city to actually make it more efficient and help the housing authority to be able to apply for grants and streamline the process and then end up with more moneys being available for the cause, if you will. And I when I look at this report, I would like to see more working with the Housing Authority. I really think I do support the Housing Authority. I have concerns of staff at duplicating a housing department. And I and in other cities, the housing authority is within the city. So they would not I don't I don't think they'd be having a conversation like this. And I think that we need to try to reduce that barrier and increase the conversation with our housing authority to ensure that the majority so that as much money as possible is actually going to the cause and not creating more staff in this city hall as opposed to the housing authority that actually provides the same services. But I feel like it's starting to happen here, and my preference would be to really work with the housing authority and find out the best use of these. They're very limited funds. So I do have concerns about us duplicating their work and not really working with them. Thank you. Thank you. Other comments? Council members. Council Vice Mayor Vela and just a mute. I want to thank staff for their work on this. I think that that's really the objective here is to have, you know, a kind of a broad goals by which we can direct staff to to kind of follow while they explore different solutions to the problems and understanding that oftentimes with issues like housing, it's not going to be a one size fits all approach, that there's going to be much more detailed exploration and that they will come back to us once they've been able to see what's feasible relative to the funds that are available relative to the parcels that are available. I do. I want to echo Councilmember Knox White. Knox White's concerns about making sure that we have equitable access to housing and distribution throughout the city regardless of where things, you know, where we might have kind of conveniently located development going on. I think we need to and I think our staff is trying to to look outside of that to point and make sure. But I think that we have an opportunity with arena discussion, with the other conversations that we're having to really make a concerted effort to this. And so I want to make sure that we do that. I think the goals are spot on, and I think that the specifics in terms of where staff is going to be focusing their energy, in terms of exploring the possibilities, I think that that list as outlined, really captures a lot of the council directive that has previously been given. So I want to move support of this plan with the comments that have been made by several of us now about making sure that our plan is inclusive and really looking throughout the island. And I want to encourage all of us to really remember that this is the priority that we've set as a council. And when we are looking at projects and different things coming before us to really make sure that we keep that lens and that focus on equity, on making sure that housing for all and is our priority and making sure that we are putting housing first when when we're reviewing these different projects and plans. Thank you, Vice Mayor. And a couple of us would still like to make comments, but Councilmember Knox White, you got your hand up. Simply in a second so we can discuss. All right. Thank you for that second and we will continue to discuss. Okay. Councilor well, Councilor Bridges, like, I think you were starting to put your hand up when vice mayor validated some of the concerns that I'll go back to Councilmember Herrera Spencer and before I speak. Go ahead. Councilmember de SAG. Well, great. Well, thank you. So these are my comments. You know, as a council member, as projects, specific projects arise, I will definitely be supportive of those projects. For example, I think whether the $15 million or so in ARPA money is for purchasing the marina village in as a homeless facility in the northern waterfront, or whether the $15 million in ARPA funds is used for developing a homeless site facility on what's called the Bottle Bottle Project, a bottle parcel near Safeway at Alameda Landing. And I'll I'll definitely continue to be supportive of these specific projects, much in the way that I have been supportive of of homeless projects since 1995, when I first served on what was called the Alameda Reuse and Redevelopment Authority. But I just don't feel like I have enough information with regard to the overarching across the board policies that are being implemented, particularly. I mean, my understanding of the way that the current way that homeless this is combated and maybe and maybe Housing First is superior to the current we I don't know. But my understanding is that the current way is that for those homeless individuals who are suffering from mental health issues or addiction issues, that progress towards achieving relief from from from their issues is is a. And part of their continued housing for those individuals who need jobs. Progress towards job training. Job counseling is is a critical part of that or it's a requirement towards fault for keeping the housing and that the case manager in this in the current system is an essential role and helping the homeless individual kind of maneuver through the different types of services that that that she or he needs to access. I'm sorry, but I'm I hear what what staff is saying or what our what our consultant is saying. But I'm looking at the report and the report itself, especially on page 34 of 69, is saying, you know, these things are voluntary. And and, you know, and. The requirement of services is kind of being interpreted as a barrier. And to me, okay, I get I get that maybe it's a barrier because I mean, maybe some people don't want services under the current situation. So, so maybe if they don't want services and they don't get housed, I think that's the fundamental argument of Housing First. But I kind of still think people need to be required to get services. And and my reading of of of of the of the report of the actions and priorities and goals is, is to kind of change that. And maybe maybe Housing First is. Mate, mate, maybe maybe it is far superior to to the previous system. And obviously, you know, all you need to do is, you know, drive through many parts of if not Alameda, then then many parts of of the East Bay to see that we have a homeless crisis even within the current paradigm. I get it. I get it. But I it's hard for me not I mean, maybe I'm literal. I'm taking the literal reading of page 34 of 69. I'm reading that too literally. But, but I just to me, services has to be a requirement of of of accessing and staying and housing. And so I hear what Steph is saying or a consultant is saying, but that's not what I'm necessarily reading. So I'll, you know, I won't support this, I won't oppose this. But but as projects come come before me, I'm certainly sure that I will support the projects as I have done in the past. But in terms of the overarching policy that we have before us, I just feel that there is still a lot of outstanding questions in terms of how we can actually require people accessing services as a condition of, of, of emergency homeless housing. Thanks. Thank you, Councilor Brody, said Councilmember Herr Spencer. I think I saw your hand up. Yeah. Thank you, Mayor. I'm just going to quickly say that we also had a speaker that spoke about partnering with Army to Family Services, more in the fire department and what that's going to look like. Savvy. I think that these goals are way too broad and don't really are not particular to Alameda. I would have liked to see more specific work with Alameda and our housing authority. I will not be supporting this because I think we're also going to be duplicating the housing authority and staff. And I don't think that's appropriate. And I but I do appreciate the data. I thought that part was very good of the report. The rest of it, I don't think Alameda thinks. So all the last. I have had the honor and privilege for the last year of chairing the League of California Cities Statewide Policy Committee on Housing, Community and Economic Development. During this year, I've also been the president of the. There's conference that's a group of the 14 mayors in Alameda County, our city managers and staff. And you froze for just again. Okay. I got that. I'm getting it to a. Stable Internet connection. Okay. Anyway, Alameda County Mayors Conference. I'm part of the The Mayor's Homelessness Working Group and that's chaired by Berkeley Mayor Jesse out again. What I will tell you as far as thinking that policies are cookie cutter could apply anywhere. We have a statewide housing crisis. We have hundreds of thousands of homeless individuals in this state. California, the fifth largest economy in the world. And yet we have residents sleeping in creek beds. Railroad rights of way under freeway overpasses along our streets, you name it. What we need is solution, not more talk. I've also had the privilege of a of a hearing from cities around the state that are doing some really innovative things to start eating away and solving this crisis. And that's what it takes, one project at a time. I've also had the privilege of accompanying staff on a couple of field trips, while I think I organized the first one and they came with me and then I tagged along on the second. So we have seen actual successes. We have seen what it looks like when you put people into supportive housing. It doesn't take a lot of money to put it up. There's various ways of doing it, but it comes with wraparound services. And when the people are there and when they have the job counselors, the mental health counselors, the substance abuse counselors, the counseling for their children and assistance with finding jobs and getting coaching for the interviews, magic starts to occur. But you need to give people a chance. What we don't need is to talk this to death. We need to take action. At some point, you've got to stop talking and actually take action. And I think we're really close to doing that. I completely agree with the motion the second that was made. I also would ask, and I think it was raised by in some of the comments, metrics, measurables, that's really important. We talked about that a lot in the Mayor's Conference Working Group. How do we know what's working, what needs to be tweaked? And I think and again, we are working with subject matter experts. I know from Ms.. Maxwell that staff is in the process of interviewing some really innovative, exciting service providers who have had successes in other areas where they have been, you know, provided the resources for this support for these kinds of supporting supportive housing. But let's get metrics incorporated so we know what we've accomplished, what might be changed, how far we've come. I completely agree that we and we've asked staff and I and I do believe that they're working on it, that we need to find ways to reduce these barriers brought by, I'll say, NIMBYs, who find every different way of opposing the kinds of supportive housing that addresses the kinds of needs we've been talking about. I give you the example of the wellness center. And so we do need to find a way to minimize the number of objections of roadblocks and barriers that are thrown up. And I think I know the time is now to do this. I also commend the the consultants for including people with lived experience in this conversation. It was a suggestion I made after the first meeting. I participated in that first one, and I thank you so much for bringing this report to us. I'm fully ready to support it. So we are going to take the vote. And then I do want just that minute to to make the announcement. Or, Madam Clerk, if you have a way of putting up on the screen. We did. Sarah Henry forwarded it. I was ready to go. You know what? I sometimes say this Henry is the other half of my brain, because I was getting ready to say if Miss Henry could provide that, because I was actually looking at the press release that she had done. So perfect because we're not quite. I saw your hand go up. Thank you. Just ahead of the vote, I just wanted to expand my my support for this beyond the fact that it was just good work. You know, for me, this is a strategic plan. It's not supposed to be telling us what we're doing, where it's supposed to be the guiding principle. And I appreciate this butler pointing out I counted on there are 51 specific actions in here, all of which are the actions that will be taken to lead us to the outcomes that we want. And I also just wanted. Again, not for my colleagues, but for the 39 people who are watching. Housing First is not a new thing. It's an old thing. It actually went away during the Reagan administration and other times when they wanted to start making people have to do things in order to get housing. And what they learned was that until you have housing, you cannot be ready to go through drug treatment, mental health treatment, job training, etc.. And over and over and over again, the studies that have been done around this have found that you have to have a housing first program in order to get people to take those. And so I don't I take this very enthusiastically supporting the Housing First policy that is embedded here. It is also the direction of our county that we are already following, etc.. But, you know, my comment, and I'm sure most of my colleagues comments when they were interviewed by staff on this was like, I want a plan that that actually does something that gets us to success and it starts to starts to do that work. And yeah, I believe this is the plan and I look forward to support it. Thank you. All right. Thank you, madam. Quick, may we have a roll call? Vote, please. Celebrity soccer. EPSTEIN Sorry you couldn't find her. SPENCER No. Not quite. I. I may or as he Ashcraft. Absolutely. I carry my three eyes. What? No one abstention. And we can show that they make you feel like. Yes, yes. So I just want members of the public I don't want anyone to experience housing insecurity or, God forbid, homelessness. So you can call two, one, one. You can also go online to this website w w w that ac dc housing security dot org and was there not also an 888 number are two and one. I'll do it. I don't. I don't know if anybody here knows. I don't have Sarah. I've. I've got. It. But is it. Is it. Can you actually. When will be fine. Too. And when will be fine. Okay. Anybody who's watching take a photo with your with your cell phone and just keep that handy. Yes. And just keep that handy for for your reference and go there today. You can download the information or two and one will help walk you through. You are eligible. You may be eligible. Don't second guess. But for 12 months of back rent and three months of forward rent paid for in full, it goes to your landlords. This is a program that helps landlords. It also will pay for unpaid utility bills. And Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is so serious and concerned about the fact that these funds just aren't getting out the door and getting spent fast enough that self attestation is all you need for some of the documentation about loss of income and employment history and that sort of thing. But please call two, one, one or visit AC dash housing secure dawg and do it now. Thank you, Madam Clark, for sharing that with us. Counsel We are going to take a brief break because we've been at this almost 3 hours, which violates my Zoom rule. So it's 943. Let's be back at 955. Staff consultants, thank you so much for providing presenting this wonderful, truly life saving, life changing information. And we look forward to next steps. Thanks, everybody. We'll see you at 955. Okay. Okay. I'm counting noses. Who do we have? Who do we have? Lara. Well, let me see if I can get Councilmember De Soto. I know he's in there. Hold on. Oh, yes. Okay. Okay. And. I think and I think down there we have council member knocks, weights and. All right. Okay. And we've got city manager, assistant city manager, city attorney. I think we're good to go. What do you think we are? I think. So. All right. Ready? Yes. Okay. Welcome back, everyone. We're back from our recess and we are going to go right into item seven. See, Madam Clerk, if I could ask you to introduce that item first, please. Adoption of Unqualified Urgency Ordinance Continuing the suspension during the local emergency due to COVID 19 pandemic of certain provisions of the City Sunshine Ordinance to the extent inconsistent with Assembly Bill number 361, an executive order number 1521 of the Governor of the State of California, arising from the state of emergency caused by the COVID 19 pandemic and recommendation of findings to allow city meetings to be conducted via teleconference. And I will continue on to briefly introduce this item, if that's okay with. So basically, the city has been conducting these remote meetings with under a executive order of the governor that suspended some of the provisions of the Brown Act.