Speaker 0: It's item three on the city council as the city and its recommendation to authorize the city manager to execute a memorandum of understanding between dignity moves five key schools and program successor agency to the Community Mission and the City of Alameda to participate in the State of California Homekey program to develop the bottle parcel located at 23/55 Street. Alameda, California. Adoption of a resolution. Adoption of related resolutions.
Speaker 1: Thank you. And we have community from Community Development Director Lisa maxwell, and we have Economic Development Department Manager Lois Butler. And we have Steve Goode.
Speaker 2: Who.
Speaker 1: Needs to remind me his affiliation. Good evening.
Speaker 2: We have a whole host.
Speaker 1: Hi. So, Ms.. Maxwell, why don't we lead with you?
Speaker 4: Certainly.
Speaker 2: You met a mayor.
Speaker 4: And city council members. I'm Lisa maxwell and the community development director for the city of Alameda. And I am here tonight to seek approval for a staff to submit an application to the state for homekey funds. And we have Mr. Goode here. He will speak with us a little bit later. He is the executive director of Five Keys, and we have Basil, the fund here as well. So he will speak on this later. Is the executive director basically, since I'll tell you more about that in a presentation. All right. Next slide, please. There. Go. Next slide. All right.
Speaker 2: Staff put out an.
Speaker 4: RFP request from Harold recently seeking organizations to partner with the city on a homeless housing project that could be submitted for homekey grant funds that are now available in the second tranche. We received five responses and staff is here tonight to recommend partnering with Dignity Moves as our construction partner and five keys as a service provider partner . As I mentioned.
Speaker 2: The.
Speaker 4: Many moves of five keys will tell you a bit about each other, organizations and themes in my presentation.
Speaker 2: The project we are proposing.
Speaker 4: To develop.
Speaker 2: With Homekey funds is a.
Speaker 4: Transitional.
Speaker 2: Supportive housing.
Speaker 4: Project to be located on the bottle parcel, which is a date adjacent to the College of Appleby on Fifth Street. The project will be constructed using modular units due to the compressed construction timeline required by Homekey. This will be a low barrier housing project, meaning that the requirements to qualify for a unit will be minimal. The rules must be adhered to in order to reside in the project.
Speaker 2: To be clear, transitional supportive.
Speaker 4: Housing is just the same as interim or interim supportive housing, but it differs from.
Speaker 3: Emergency or emergency.
Speaker 4: Housing in that in emergency housing.
Speaker 2: Stays by.
Speaker 4: Residents are typically only six months, give or take, then transitional supportive housing stays, on the other hand, could be for up to two years. And permanent housing is another option, is another alternative. But it is a long term housing solution.
Speaker 2: Next slide, please.
Speaker 4: Next slide, please. Thank you.
Speaker 2: The home key timeline.
Speaker 4: Is, as I mentioned, a rather compressed one. We are supposed to be from grant or to occupancy in 8 to 9 months. We hope to submit our application for these homekey funds by by December 1st. At the latest, we will immediately begin our community outreach. Our ward notification will likely occur approximately mid-January, and construction.
Speaker 2: Is anticipated to be.
Speaker 4: Completed by September of 2022. We're then.
Speaker 2: Going to.
Speaker 4: Have occupancy occur by the end of October of 2022. Next slide, please. And one more, please. Thank you. This this this slide shows a map of the site. As you can see, it's outlined in red with the bottle parcels located at the bottom parcel. It gets its name from the unique shape and size of the parcel. And as you can see, it will have to be a little creative for the project on this, but we have some great ideas. Next slide. This indicates the site, the general site, the one that we've currently come up with for this project. It'll include 46 units that could accommodate up to 60 occupants with couples in some rooms. There will be parking onsite. There will be some common spaces, both indoor and outdoor. There will be a pet area. So administrative offices and storage for the residents. Next slide. The design that we have come up with was influenced by information gathering while preparing the road home, the recently adopted homeless strategic plan. The slide that you have in front of you shows survey results gathered during that process.
Speaker 2: And next slide.
Speaker 4: We also gathered information from our own site. This is for other housing projects in the Bay Area. And through that research, we compiled what we thought were really important elements of this project. Private rooms with bathrooms, for instance, pets are permitted. The project in the pet area is provided. Partners can share rooms and residents can bring and store personal belongings. Our primary goal was a very dignified opportunity for transitional housing for our homeless population.
Speaker 2: Next slide.
Speaker 4: This shows you an example of what a room may look like. This isn't exactly what it will be, but it gives you a sense. Next slide. This shows a project rendering of approximately what we anticipate this two story project to look like. Next slide. If this Homekey application is successful, you just want to note that the new development department mediated additional the manager level staff member, particularly of both an emergency housing program and his conditional housing program or lodge. One staff member would would probably support grant for compliance related administration and technical tasks, while the other staff member could be more of a hands on outreach focused person who could be a role material part of the continuum of care team. But to be clear, we're not asking for you to authorize this additional staff member tonight. We're just mentioning this as a future possibility.
Speaker 2: Next slide.
Speaker 4: This summarizes our recommendations with respect to moving forward with a homekey application.
Speaker 2: We're asking tonight that city council approve.
Speaker 4: The MCU between the city and the successor agency who owns the battle, parcel and Dignity moves in five PS or partners. We hope that you will adopt two resolutions authorizing the city and the successor agency to apply for Homekey funds. I wanted to note that the author authorizing resolution say that the cities are requesting a maximum of 25 million in Homekey funds. Please note that this number is actually double what we estimate to be needed for the project. However, the state advises in the Homekey instructions that the grant request should be doubled to avoid needing to return to City Council and request authorization for additional funds in the future. A timeline related to this project just really wouldn't allow for that additional returning to the City Council. So our final request is to adopt a resolution to appropriate approximately $4.6 million in ARPA American Rescue Plan Act funds and a reserve approximately 1.2 million general funds for operation of the project for five years.
Speaker 2: Well, according to home Q&A.
Speaker 4: Show committed operating funds for five years of the project in order to be eligible.
Speaker 2: Next slide. Any moves in.
Speaker 4: Five kids will now make their grief presentations, and then we're all happy to respond to whatever questions they have. Thank you very.
Speaker 3: Much.
Speaker 2: Thank you, Lisa.
Speaker 4: My name is Elizabeth Funke and I am the founder and executive chairman of Dignity Moves. I'd like to start by thanking staff for all of their hard work. This has been an amazing planning process and we're really excited to be here and be able to be part of of of offering this suggestion to the city. Jenny Mims will be serving as the nonprofit developer Dignity. Muse is focused on building transitional, supportive housing communities. We recently helped Life Moves build a project in the City of Mountain View using Homekey 1.0 funds. That project was completed start to finish in six months. We used four different manufacturing partners on that project. The one that really performed exceptionally is who we are proposing to use on this project Connect Homes based out of San Bernardino. Being that they are based on.
Speaker 2: California, we have been.
Speaker 4: Assured that they are experiencing only very nominal disruptions due to supply chain issues that are happening around the world. Dignity Mills is also working on projects in San Francisco and Santa Barbara. One note that is the beauty of modular is that we can work with very odd shaped parcels such as the bottle parcel.
Speaker 2: We have assembled a world class.
Speaker 4: Team of development partners that includes Gensler, one of the leading architectural firms in the world, Pai and Winterton, which is a union GC that we are proposing to bring on to this project. All of them have experience working with us on multiple projects in the past and current projects. So Sharon Light Dignity is executive director and I are available to answer any questions. But I'd now like to turn it over to Steve Goodes, the President and CEO of Five Keys, whose organization will be with the property manager, as well as providing the wraparound services.
Speaker 2: Steve, thank you.
Speaker 3: Thank you, Elizabeth. And good evening, everyone. I'd like to say first that this is a project that is very important to me and very near and dear to my heart as a second generation. Alameda And where my kids grew up and went to school and Central High School and as one of the co-founders of the little known gym, the Alameda Baseball Club, where we have monthly games at Washington Park. And this is super important to me. Five keys. A little bit of history. We have 19 years experience in working with disenfranchized populations. We were founded by the sheriff of San Francisco and attorney Sidney Schwartz. Our main areas of focus are in education, primarily working in the county jails and all of the Bay Area counties. We also work in many locations as part of nonprofits, as well as working in the areas of workforce development, reentry and housing. We currently operate nine housing programs for unsheltered individuals, including shelter in place, hotels, navigation centers, traditional homeless shelters, and a reentry program for women on Treasure Island.
Speaker 0: And that is time for the presentation.
Speaker 1: So Council, we can vote to give Mr. Goode a little more time to convey this important Information Council member Harry Spencer. Is that possibly the motion you're making?
Speaker 2: I'm happy to move to give him an extra. And 5 minutes.
Speaker 1: 5 minutes to do it right, Mr. Good.
Speaker 2: Five.
Speaker 1: Five keys. Five more minutes. Okay. And it's been seconded by Councilor Knox White. May we have a quick roll call vote, please.
Speaker 0: I'm sorry, Jack.
Speaker 4: Yes.
Speaker 0: Career Center. I knocked right.
Speaker 3: By.
Speaker 0: Bella. I agree.
Speaker 2: I agree.
Speaker 1: All right. Please continue, Mr. Good. Thank you.
Speaker 3: Thank you.
Speaker 1: Thank you. Also.
Speaker 3: I appreciate that. I just want to have 2 minutes. I will try not to speed talk at this point. So as I was saying, one of the things that's most important to us running a housing program is focusing on safety, security and cleanliness. One of the things that we want to bring to this project is the experience that we had working in San Francisco with the Embarcadero Navigation Center. Some of you may have heard we had national attention as the controversial of bringing a shelter to the waterfront property in San Francisco. At this center, there are several things we've done that we'd like to bring to Alameda. First, we'd like to involve the community. We'd like to start a community engagement process that not only involves sheltered individuals, that also involves residents surrounding businesses, other supportive nonprofits and city leaders. The idea is to form a health advisory committee to convene on a monthly basis to talk about what's working and what isn't, and to address the problems proactively and effectively and to hear what people are saying. We also want to, as we've done in San Francisco, is develop a 24 hour hotline where we respond to calls, texts and emails within an immediate period of time to address any nuisances that are happening as a result of our operations in the immediate surrounding areas of the housing. This is critically important, and we found this to be a major component of our success in San Francisco, whereas we're calling the city calling 911311 or other hotlines. Sometimes the responses where we can respond immediately to something in the area, whether it be garbage. Trash. Loitering, any of those things. The second thing that we like to do is what we've done in San Francisco is provide sanctuaries where in San Francisco we provide three times a day a cleaning crew, and there's a sweep of the immediate area to make sure that there's no trash, needles or any of the other things that come along with unhoused and shelter populations, that is, to keep it clean, but not only to pick up that trash, but any other trash, because our sincere goal is to be the best community partner we can be. We have 24 hour staff there. We provide our own safety, security and custodial. The reason we provide our own safety as we learn in San Francisco, nobody cares about our guests like we do. We can hire an outside security firm if, frankly, they're only there for the time that they're paid, whereas we actually train our individuals, cross-train with the same person it might be doing as working as an ambassador for the for the site, but also to gain security. The person in charge of guest services can also be doing security. This helps de-escalate issues because we genuinely care about the folks that we work with. In the San Francisco project. We had major opposition to the opening of the program two years ago at a renewal on October 26 at the Port of San Francisco hearing. Not only that, we had zero opposition to the renewal of the contract. We had members of the community that live in the high rise building right above us speak in support of the program because they said that A and according to city reports, we had a 90 reduction in homelessness. I understand the numbers are different in Alameda. There was over a 60% drop in crime in the area and the reports with the area had never looked so clean. These are the things that we want to bring up this project in Alameda. In addition to those things, we also want to provide traditional services, leveraging our existing partner. We've had an existing partnership with Firebrand Breakthrough Bakery. We already established that. We'll continue to leverage that partnership. We have an existing partnership with College of Alameda, which we also want to continue to leverage that. As I mentioned, five keys is known for its safe, welcoming and compassionate, compassionate, effectively and efficiently run run facilities. Our emphasis is truly on trauma informed care. In Guest Center, we treat people that see with us as guests, not as clients. And that is central. In fact, we had a paradigm shift in San Francisco where now the entire San Francisco community considers those unsheltered living in either shelter, navigation center or hotel as guests. And that's a product of five keys earlier where we're now we've been at the Oakdale Hotel near the airport for several years now, and that was because Alameda intentionally recruited us to come across the bay because they saw how well we ran our programs in San Francisco. And in fact, the medical programs that operate in Alameda County have said in five cases, one of their best providers, and they've asked us to partner with them to bring this model across the state. Lastly, the things that we'll be doing is Housing First is our priority, trying to get folks from interim housing into permanent housing first , focusing on trauma informed care case management, enrolling folks in essential services as cal fresh medical services, legal services, dental services, and, of course, pet care. I'm happy to answer answer any questions I can for you. And like I said, with so many commitments in Alameda, this is probably the most important project we've done as long as I've been with.
Speaker 1: Thank you so much. You've got your 5 minutes used up there, but lots of good information imparted counsel. I mean, I imagine we have some public figures or do we.
Speaker 0: Do.
Speaker 1: Okay. But let's take any clarifying questions from counsel and then we'll come back for full discussion and and decision. Councilmember Harris. That's right. I saw your hand.
Speaker 2: Thank you, Mayor, and I appreciate the presentations. My question my first question goes to the population that will be served. Will it be all Alameda unhoused?
Speaker 4: I'm happy to begin that.
Speaker 1: Miss Next. Miss Maxwell, please.
Speaker 4: Thank you. And America, we will attempt to give it our limited preference, but we will be having county fair. We will be potentially taking some county funds. So we'll need to go to the continue the day.
Speaker 1: Continuum of care, correct.
Speaker 2: Thank you.
Speaker 1: Right. So you want to explain a little bit about what that means?
Speaker 2: Sure. So we will need.
Speaker 1: Actually is a coordinated entry. Sorry, I got my CS mixed up.
Speaker 4: As it I fell right into the coordinated entry system. So it's a county system where each of the individuals needs to be registered and once they do, then they're put in, they're prioritized depending on needs, whether they're medical aides, different vulnerabilities, and then they're prioritized in terms of housing. So there is a possibility that we would receive folks from outside of our city better within Alameda County that arise up in the continuum. Their priority list.
Speaker 3: Is. Sir, if I may.
Speaker 1: Yes. Mr.. Good Yes, you may.
Speaker 3: I was on a conversation today with Carrie Abbott, who is the Alameda County director of services, and simply asked this question of her, which she responded that we absolutely can prioritize. Alameda and those living in the city of Alameda would be the first priority if this was permanent supportive housing. That would not be possible because this is interim housing. They absolutely will, which has been the standing practice in Alameda to prioritize those in the immediate city. If there are not enough eligible participants to be in this program, and only then would they look outside of Alameda. And that was directly from Carrie Abbott this afternoon.
Speaker 1: Thank you for pointing that out. I was going to ask, Miss Maxwell attends these working group meetings, homelessness working group meetings with me with the Alameda County Mayor's Conference. And I there are some work as well, not even work arounds. It's different kinds of housings but yeah. Councilmember Spencer continue this.
Speaker 2: Thank you. So yeah we have unhoused around our city multiple encampments. Would there be outreach to make sure that all of those people that are unsheltered would be would they all be eligible to be on this continuum of care.
Speaker 1: And would there be outreach to make.
Speaker 2: Sure that they are on it?
Speaker 4: Absolutely. We would definitely be reaching out to our community and has community members and off and trying to help them move into this housing opportunity. You know, assuming like I said, it's a low barrier. So there's a minimal qualifications with the exception of maybe being a registered sex offender. But otherwise, yes, we would really try to get those folks off the streets and into this housing option.
Speaker 1: Anything Mr. Good wants to add to that.
Speaker 3: Only I'd say that I absolutely agree. We work with the continuum of care system. We work as a coordinated entry system. And we would do everything we possibly could to fulfill our obligation to sit in and address those encampments and sheltered individuals, including working with the other nonprofits and city agencies that are working with this population.
Speaker 2: So based on your experience, what have you seen? Because is it a certain percentage that agrees to be on this list to be housed or.
Speaker 3: Yeah. So there's, you know, there's an earlier slide it talk about why people don't want to be in a shelter and we helped in the same situation existed in San Francisco and honestly we help debunk the reasons why people wanted to be in a shelter. If you provide a place, it's clean or it's welcoming where people are treated as guests, not as numbers. And safety is paramount. You can actually see what's going to happen. It's going to fuel the streets. This is also unique in that people get what they want. They get their own individual space as opposed to living in a dorm. So this is an incredible win, especially with the opportunity for funding. Right now, we see a great opportunity. We could see a significant difference immediately working with the county and getting folks into from off the streets to shelter to interim housing.
Speaker 2: So I appreciate you just brought up funding because if I'm reading this correctly, there's not sufficient funds that we would have to encourage our general funds for money at least in year five. But then, if I'm understanding it correctly, it's a 15 to 20 year contract. And the language used within the staff report was that the city would be the quote unquote backstop for those future years. Is there an estimate of what the backstop amount would be per year for the city?
Speaker 1: I think I think that's for you, Ms.. Maxwell. And also, if there are any other sources besides general fund we might be looking at in future years, please. Thank you.
Speaker 4: Madam Mayor. Councilmember Spencer. Yes, we currently do not have those funds identified after year five. That is a requirement to submit the application. And once that application is in, it would be important for us to begin pursuing other grant opportunities and other funding sources that I can't tell you today that we have those identified. I hope that there will be featured funding opportunities available that we can take advantage of, and we'll be diligent in our efforts to pursue those.
Speaker 1: Okay. Anything from other council members? Oh, I'm sorry. Councilor Spencer, back to you.
Speaker 2: Yeah, thank you. But is there an estimate of the annual operating budget for this and years after five through 15 or five through 20? An annual operating budget would be the maximum amount that the city would be asked. You are forced to backstop, is my understanding. Yes.
Speaker 4: Mr. Good. Please correct me if I'm wrong, but about 1.5 a year is our current estimate, is that you confirm that?
Speaker 3: That's correct. And we've already applied for some state grant funding. We have another one in the pipeline that we've been working with Lisa and Lois on our part of our models to continue to partner with the city to identify other grant sources that honestly, it's a commitment to get people off the street. It's ultimately cheaper to pay for it now than in the long run with other services.
Speaker 1: Okay. Anything further, Councilmember Harry Spencer. Okay. Any other clarifying questions from other council members? Okay, Singh, then. Thank you for all the good information, everyone. Don't go anywhere. We're going to go to our public comments. Madam Clerk, how many do we have?
Speaker 0: We have eight speakers so they can get 2 minutes each. Great. The first speaker is actually.
Speaker 1: All right. Good evening, Speaker Boling.
Speaker 4: Hi there. Thank you, Councilor. Yeah, I just wanted to speak in support of this project. I think this is a really good project. I think Alameda needs us. It's kind of a weird site, the bottom parcel. And it's one that's hard to develop for it. And I think this is a great use of this. These Project HOMEKEY grants, they have these weird timelines to them. And I think it makes sense to look at something like modular construction and just having a program like this in Alameda. I think it's vitally important. It's also something that's necessary for Alameda if we want to help the homeless crisis. But then also we get to count these units for our Rena, who's an upcoming item for for low income and very low income. I had a chance to meet with some people at Dignity News. I think they're doing great work. I think they've done great work in the past and I'm highly, highly bullish on this project. So I just wanted to voice my support. Thank you.
Speaker 1: Thank you. Our next speaker.
Speaker 0: At Stephen Chopra.
Speaker 1: Good evening, Speaker Chopra.
Speaker 3: Hi. I'm in favor of this project as well. I live here in Alameda and have my law office on Redwood Square. So we have homeless people there. And I don't know, it's tough to see how miserable people out unhoused are and. I'd like to see this kind of thing go in so that we can move people into housing away from the business district. So I'm in favor of it.
Speaker 1: Thank you. Our next speaker.
Speaker 2: Shagaya.
Speaker 1: Good evening, speaker care.
Speaker 3: Good evening, Mayor. Members of council. Yes. I'm super psyched about this project. I've driven past that castle many times and thought.
Speaker 4: Why is this empty land here? Why? Why is there not something here we live in? Like what? One of the most.
Speaker 3: Valuable pieces of land in the country, if not the world. Like there shouldn't be this weird, vacant land when it could. Like, people could be housed there, like it could be some higher use.
Speaker 4: And now, finally, after living in Alameda for like eight years, we have figured out what we going to put on that.
Speaker 3: It's going to be 46 to 60 people who are no longer going to be homeless and want to have their.
Speaker 4: Own space and a.
Speaker 3: Roof over their heads and their own bathroom and access to services.
Speaker 4: And not have to live in someone's doorway, which is horrible for them. And also.
Speaker 3: It sounds like somewhat unpleasant for for the business owners. And I'm.
Speaker 4: Certainly I'm sympathetic to anyone's suffering, and I want.
Speaker 3: People to be out of.
Speaker 4: The outside and have their own space. And we can do it here in Alameda. Thank you.
Speaker 1: Thank you. Our next speaker.
Speaker 0: Nicholas Nagel.
Speaker 1: Good evening, Speaker Nagel.
Speaker 2: Hello.
Speaker 3: Hi. Good evening.
Speaker 4: Mayor. Members of city.
Speaker 3: Council folks weighing in this evening. Really appreciate you taking the time. Yeah. So my name is Peter Nagle. I'm on my way now on behalf of the.
Speaker 4: Housing Action Coalition.
Speaker 3: Whereas Pro Housing Nonprofit is trying to help solve our housing shortage, our housing crisis by building homes at all levels of affordability.
Speaker 4: Yeah. So I think, I think, you know, in this case.
Speaker 3: It goes without saying that.
Speaker 4: You know, home key funding.
Speaker 3: The opportunity to build projects like this is a moral imperative for those of us in the Bay Area. I recognize that we deal with so many different crises every day that it is hard to recognize them all as such sometimes. But you know the opportunity. There is no single project that can build all of the housing we need for our homeless neighbors. And so we should be moving them forward as quickly as possible. This is this is urgent, urgent stuff. I don't think that's lost on anyone here for sure. I would say that, you know, this project is is a pretty special one and it's doing a lot of things right. One using modular construction. That's delivering more housing better, cheaper. And it's utilizing, you know, strong innovation. That's a huge plus. I'd also say there is. Almost every member of this team is is a proven.
Speaker 4: Entity in the.
Speaker 3: Creation space. Dignity Moves is working on awesome projects in San Francisco.
Speaker 4: If this is a proven entity and this is this is a team I think you.
Speaker 3: Can rely on to produce the, you know, this desperately needed housing. So that's all I have to say. Just wait in support of this project. Thank you.
Speaker 1: Thank you. Our next speaker.
Speaker 0: William Smith.
Speaker 1: Good evening, Speaker Smith.
Speaker 3: Good evening, Madam Mayor, and members of the Council. I've been interested in tracking housing in Alameda since the 1990s, and this is one of the highlights of this time. So it absolutely takes what's needed a housing first approach to homeless. And as Steve Goode said, with wraparound services, it will really reduce the amount of money spent on each one of the people that's moved into it. We need to do more. So this is a this is really an encouraging thing. But not only that, it also will point the way to another thing that we're going to have to deal with increasingly over the. I've been working in housing for over three decades now in Alameda, over three decades. And within three decades, we're going to have to deal with a lot of problems from sea level rise. And it doesn't make it may not make sense to invest in permanent housing that'll be flooded at some point. So modular housing, which can get a return on investment in 20 or 25 years or move it somewhere else will be a really good investment. So this is the first chance to stick our toe in that little, but that little bit of our future too. So all round, very innovative project and my congratulations to every one of the staff and everybody working on it. And I and I haven't heard anybody speak against it yet. That's a really new for me in housing. I just cannot believe that.
Speaker 1: Thank you. Speaker Smith. Our next speaker.
Speaker 0: Gary Williams.
Speaker 1: Good evening, Speaker Williams. I'm glad you're back.
Speaker 3: Thank you. Thank you. I want to say thank you to Seattle. And first of all, it's a struggle being homeless there and. Saddens me to say. That people don't have to take the time out to understand that we are one Alameda now east alameda or West Alameda. We are what Allan needed and. I speak for all the people when I meet him as an islander. We thank the mayor and the staff of the city and people like the Village Love and all the nonprofits do to help reach their hand out to help us and. With the best police force the in the state of California, we will survive. And I know. I know I need to be on that list. I've been on staff a year and nine months sleeping over, telling at East Asian. And I haven't actually voted for a dollar. But you never know. I was homeless. I take good care of myself. I live by it. I work at all day. And I met the mayor, the vice mayor. He told me he's not sleeping in a hotel room about two months ago. He seen me cleaning. And just lost contact. Everybody's busy here by chance, they say. But I love everybody from the city. I love L.A. more. And. I just love my snow. Just plain. I love the high school of the St Joe's the Polish. But there's one aluminum in my heart and I am deeply affected by the homeless. And the no one is really supporting me as much as the boys love it. A couple of people just see City Hall and I'm thankful and grateful for that because I'm still to die of nights and promises are being broken. It's like they're picking who lives and who dies. My brother's sickle cell anemia animal came from my brother's sickle cell anemia. Younger brother will take my blood, my plasma. I want to take one aluminum for life. I love everybody.
Speaker 1: Mr. Williams, before you go, are you registered with the Village of Love?
Speaker 3: Yes, ma'am.
Speaker 1: Okay. That's good to know. All right. Thank you, sir.
Speaker 3: Yes, ma'am. God bless.
Speaker 1: You. Take care. Our next speaker.
Speaker 0: Karim.
Speaker 3: And.
Speaker 1: Okay. Okay. Is this.
Speaker 2: Really okay? He was on fire.
Speaker 1: Okay.
Speaker 2: Good evening again.
Speaker 1: Good evening. Speaker Altieri.
Speaker 3: Good evening, City Council. Thank you for your time tonight. I just wanted Josh, let's hear from the housing authority, the city of Alameda and just wanted to update the council on some of the affordable housing solutions and projects that we're bringing to the city of Alameda with emergency housing vouchers. We got 57 emergency housing vouchers in May of 2021.
Speaker 1: And just just for clarification. Mr. Altieri, always lovely to see you and hear you. You are speaking on this particular bottle, parcel item of transitional housing. Okay. Yeah, I was thinking. Yeah, let's bring you back. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. Sit tight. Okay. Our next speaker.
Speaker 0: In a bag.
Speaker 1: Just and a bag just. Good evening. Welcome. Good evening.
Speaker 2: Everyone. Good evening, mayor. You in city council members and events. As you all know, up until five months ago, I was the coordinator of homelessness services for the City of Alameda, a position that I was very proud of. And I really was honored to to be a part of the city during that time. We created many programs through partnerships with community based organizations, Village of Love, Building Futures, Operation Dignity, Saint Vincent de Paul, the food bank, dine and connect. Many others that I'm forgetting. And during you know all that, I was very, very proud of the work that we did and we did some fantastic work, but they're not housing. And I often felt that my day was like Groundhog Day, both doing the same thing, you know, that it's not really resolving the issue. Housing is really the solution, and I support this project wholeheartedly and I'm so glad to hear that it's really moving in the city of Alameda. And I couldn't be more proud of being an Alameda resident and a homeowner here. So thank you for your support of this project and please keep up the good work.
Speaker 1: Thank you so much. And as well as for the wonderful foundation that you laid for us in providing homeless services.
Speaker 2: We are grateful to you.
Speaker 1: Our next speaker.
Speaker 0: Is our last speaker, Denise Anderson.
Speaker 1: Good evening, Speaker Anderson.
Speaker 2: Good evening. I also just wanted to support this this item strongly, emphatically. And the only thing I wanted to add is that, you know, there's a lot of emphasis of focusing on Alabamans, which I you know, I'm. I get prioritizing people who live here or have been here. But if we have the ability to help people from outside of Alameda, I absolutely think that we should do that. And I, I just want to I just wanted to add that, you know, that should be something that we also prioritize if we are able to. But I support this wholeheartedly.
Speaker 1: Thank you. Okay. So with that.
Speaker 0: We have one more speaker.
Speaker 1: With that, we will not go. Yeah, that's right.
Speaker 0: Hello, Katrina.
Speaker 1: Good evening, Speaker Katrina.
Speaker 2: Good evening. I wanted to call and also voiced my support wholeheartedly for this initiative. I think housing is a human right and as the cost of living continues to skyrocket in the Bay Area. Alameda absolutely needs to do something to support folks who are unhoused and give them a safe space where they can take care of themselves . And so I wholeheartedly support this, and I thank you all for putting so much time and effort into this proposal. And I'm excited to see, see, get moving. So thank you.
Speaker 1: Thank you. Any further speakers, madam? Click. Going where.
Speaker 0: They're not.
Speaker 1: Going to rise. Okay. With that, we are going to close public comment on item three of the successor agency special meeting. We are going to go back to council, so I guess Councilor Spencer.
Speaker 2: Thank you. I just had a follow up question from one of the speakers. Do these units count towards our arena goals? Can someone confirm that?
Speaker 1: A mismatch.
Speaker 4: Thank you, Madam Chair.
Speaker 2: I tried to run that down today with Mr. Thomas.
Speaker 4: Our planning director, and he is not positive that they would, but he will advocate for them to be. So apparently there is some conversation going on at the state level to make that determination. So I can't definitively answer, but we will certainly attempt for that to happen.
Speaker 1: I will add that that was the first time I heard of that, and I was pretty, pretty dialed in to things going on at the state level. I don't doubt that it might be being discussed. I doubt that would be new. But but it provides a lot of other important services and functions. So I want to thank all the staff before I go to council comments and a representative. Ms.. Funk I think I got to meet you right when we visited. I'm always dragging staff on field trips. I'll go. I think they took me on this one. But we did visit the The Mountain View site of that dignity moves stood up and and five keys operates and you know things believing not only seeing but getting to talk to residents, being invited inside to see their homes. And so anyway, I've just welcomed the council to make your comments, ask your questions. We have heard that there is a fast timeline on this to get all these funds and it's just, you know, a lot of balls up in the air. So let's let's see what we can do. And I'm thrilled that we're we're considering this tonight. I'd like to read Councilor Harry Spencer.
Speaker 2: Thank you. So I do appreciate the presentations and the work that's gone into this. I want to thank all of you. So one point that I had raised was, how are we going to pay for this? And in regards to the comments of why our meetings, my understanding is that this will use general fund moneys and that the last time I saw a five year forecast for our city, we actually start going negative pretty soon or very close to it. And I would like to ask, in regards to our staff, how do you anticipate being able to pay for the additional it sounds like at most 1.5 million and moving forward year after year at most. And I appreciate that, Mike, but obviously recently we were asked about doing a bond. And on today's agenda, we do have other checks possible going to the taxpayers again to try to bring in more money to pay all of our current expense expenditures that we're already committed to. So I would like to get more information about what is the best plan to be able to pay for this. But will the staff be asking us to cut somewhere to make money available, or is it going to be that we need to pass a tax to be able to pay for all of the things we've already committed to? Thank you.
Speaker 1: Okay. So who would like to in addition to the grant funding that I heard that we would be applying for, and in fact, that five keys will assist us in applying for? Ms.. Maxwell. Mr. LEVIN. Mr. Bowden. Who I want to hop on that one, please.
Speaker 4: We you know, we with the assistance of the city manager and assistant city manager, we could have conversations.
Speaker 3: About an.
Speaker 4: Affordable housing bond. That's something we've lightly discussed. So that's a possibility. Like I mentioned, grant funds, general fund, private funding sources these committees will be pursuing.
Speaker 1: Yes. Kelso, I'm her Spencer.
Speaker 2: So if I heard correctly, then I think we're all in agreement, then, that we actually need new moneys to be able to meet these expenditures moving forward. But we currently do not have sufficient funds within our budget. Is that correct?
Speaker 1: The city managers and Myriad I think he wants to add something. Mr..
Speaker 3: LEVITT So so in addition to what Lisa said, we also the issue that you talking about for the future, where we were showing future deficits, a lot of that has to do with increases in the pension costs. So we have been concentrating on ways to try to level out those future pension costs. And housing and homelessness are two priorities in the city council or have been priorities of the city council. And so we are looking for ways that the general fund can assist in some level with that, but would complement grant fine funding and other type of funding, such as what we're doing right now with the ARPA and with the application that we're putting in with the state.
Speaker 2: Okay. So personally, I do have concerns about the money moving forward. I don't think it's appropriate for us to continually go back to our community members and ask them for more money in regards to taxes and bonds and all of that. I think that we, at least from my perspective, it is very important for us to acknowledge that we cannot continue to pay for everything that ends up in front of us. And. And. And now this project. So for me, it's very important that it, in fact be for our meetings. I would actually request that there be updates as it comes back to us. Maybe I would think yearly where we would be able to see who is in fact being housed there because we currently we are not a big city. We all know that we're less than 100,000. We have limited funds. We do not have access to funds that some larger cities do, and we currently do. In fact, and I appreciate this, we have the expenses of trying to help our unhoused currently. So I don't think our city is in a position to house the counties or the state's unhoused as much as I would like to, because we really are already going the wrong direction and we have to pay for so many things. I am in fact willing to support this project because and I will say this I think our team that presented tonight is stellar. I really appreciated all of your comments. I trust that you're going to do our utmost to, in fact, help us get the grant funding as much as possible to help in those later years. And I think it is actually a really good location in regards to proximity to services. The college is right there, I think I hope to be able to we know that we also have unhoused college students. And I don't know if there's a way to work with the college more, but to also take advantage of the courses that are offered there so that we don't have to duplicate, you know, services that can be provided. The college offers a lot of stuff, including to our veterans. And you are I will trust that you all do our utmost to connect the dots, to make other services, to help these people take advantage of other services that are there and within our community. And we do have a very compassionate community. And but, you know, you have the the public transportation. I think that's a great location there. And I do appreciate the comments in regards to security and whatnot. But actually, when my one of my concerns that I would just be aware of is the surrounding community as students, young adults, and trying to respect the students and the colleges and all of that and helping us all work together and build those relationships to have mutual respect for each other moving forward. So I do plan to support it. I truly hope that we'll be able to deal with the grants and whatnot. I more than likely will not support any tax efforts to our citizens because sadly, I feel like many of us are being pushed out of Alameda as it is and it all adds up. But I do think this is a worthy cause. But I do want to underscore how impressive I think this team is and your presentations tonight. Thank you.
Speaker 1: Thank you. Councilmember her Spencer Vice Mayor Vella, I think I see your hand up.
Speaker 2: Thanks about a mayor and thank you to staff for the presentation. And thank you for all of the all of the hard work that has gone into kind of getting all the pieces together. I think a few things, but know housing and lack of housing is really a problem and a social issue for all of us, regardless of where in the county or out of the county you live. I think that when we think about this problem and we think about the number of people who do not have housing, we are creating situations where the cost continues to escalate because we are all paying the price when people need social services and assistance on the back end. We are all paying the price when somebody needs transport or paramedic assistance because we frankly did not provide routine and basic provide for routine and basic human necessity, the first of which are the first and foremost of which is shelter. And I say this in the comfort of my own home. Many of us are calling in to this meeting. We have a place to call our own, whether we own it or we're renting it. But we have a roof over our heads. And I think when when we're thinking about all of the things that people are facing and there was a comment about making sure that we're not interfering with the College of Alameda and the students there. I teach at Mills College, and I can tell you right now that many of my students faced housing insecurity. That was one of the top issues for my students. It impacted their emotional well-being, their mental health, all all aspects of of learning. We know that having housing insecurity creates adverse impacts in so many different ways, and we end up paying the price as a society. And the price tag is extremely high. We know that we've seen the cost of waiting until things are so bad that it's an emergency situation. So I think this is a step in the right direction. I want to see more of this. I think that there will be plenty of conversation at the state level about whether or not this counts towards our housing element. But regardless of what this does, this is the right thing to do. This is something that we should find funding for. Yes, there are lots of grants out there. But I also think that we're talking about a de minimis amount of the overall city budget in order to see this project through, if that's what it comes down to. And frankly, I think this is something we can talk about compassion all we want. I want to see compassion through action. That is really where I think we can make the biggest difference. And we had a speaker earlier saying that we are one Alameda and we really are we're one Alameda, also one part of a larger county. And we depend on the network of county services collectively and collaboratively in order to see the overall social welfare of our community. So I think we need to do our part for that. I appreciate the fact that our staff and our city is able to move and act fairly quickly once we've identified a problem. And so that's what I'm really proud of tonight, is that this is before us and that we are taking action and really seeing it come to fruition and that we don't have to sit around and wait. So I'm excited to support this and support whatever we need to do to see this happen. Thank you.
Speaker 1: The famous and mute button. Thank you, Vice Mayor Vela. Councilmember DeSantis, I see your hand go up.
Speaker 4: Well, great. Well, I think we really need to seize this rare opportunity to do something bold. And I think in this 46 unit modular project, we could potentially put 46 to 60 individuals back on to a path of stability and in doing so, make a significant cut into our overall homeless population numbers of roughly 230 to 250 . In the fact that, you know, Washington, D.C. through ARPA funds is a is providing a lot of the backup money is great but you know with wise eyes wide open certainly if the city of Alameda has to step up after five after five years of this project, then I have no doubt that our city staff will be creative enough in terms of finding the money to maintain the operations of this after year five. So this is a rare opportunity that we have to seize. And I think what makes this kind of exciting is the fact that by virtue of its modular characteristics, it seems like it's something that can be implemented relatively quickly so that residents of Alameda will begin to see the fruits of this great decision when they go shopping at Alameda landing or when they're driving through that area in the West End. So I just want to lend my support to this project. I think this is going to be a great thing for the city of Alameda.
Speaker 1: Thank you. Councilmember Desai, Councilmember Knox, would you go next?
Speaker 3: Thank you. I will join my colleagues in ensuring my appreciation for all the good work that went into this and excitement to vote for this. For me, I as we are not approving a specific plan. I did want to just make sure that we give some direction to staff that while there is a potential example project of 46, that we really ask staff to work with dignity and the providers to ensure that the parking that that we maximize the housing based on the experience of dignity while providing the housing that we know we also. All right. Sorry, the parking that we also know is needed to run a successful program. I know that dignity with their experience has that experience to help us really guide that decision as to what those right numbers are. But for me, I'd like to if we can get to 48 or 49 units on this same parcel, I think that that just extends our our ability to provide this the services and and the support that that we want. My other request would simply be that even as we're starting the discussions around this MRU, that the partners that are moving forward begin engaging with them at the homes in the neighborhood. I know that there is a lot of concern and and questions that are coming up. And I think the earlier we are out there talking to them about what's going on in developing good neighbor agreements, etc., the better that we will or the more successful will be. But I look forward to supporting this. Thank you.
Speaker 1: Thank you, Councilor. And that's what I will go next. And last I guess so, you know. Shortly after, our city manager, Eric Levitt, came and now it's been going on three years, Mr. Levitt. I took him and Anabaptist. We went out on a field trip to see a navigation center at Berkeley, and it was really impressive. And then I started learning about other things that were being done in other cities and stuff. And I took a field trip to San Jose and saw some pretty impressive things. And then we visited Mountain View and we just came away saying, Wow, it is possible and it's within our it's really is within our grasp. And as has been noted, this is modular housing. It can be stood up quickly, and I'm pretty sure I'm. Ms. five. Mr.. Good You can confirm that the Mountain View Project is actually more housing units than what we're talking about. Right. And it.
Speaker 3: And.
Speaker 1: Yeah. And because it even has like one wing was for adults, individual and couples and then separated by that nice common area. And on the other wing it was for families. They put it up in six months. So that's that's really promising and encouraging. And so yes to Councilmember Dave Suggs comment, we do have these ARPA funds, these you know, this is really great cities. I'll tell you, we worked really hard to advocate for direct funding from ARPA because normally everything goes through the state, everything goes through the county. And we just well, I won't get dramatic, but it's really exciting to have direct allocation to cities. But it was always specified that this is one time money, so you don't use it for operating budgets for ongoing expenses. So that's why there's this combination. But at the same time, we have these funds coming in from from the state, these it's cheap, right? That they are roomkey and homekey. So we're just taking advantage of all of those. And this is a wonderful opportunity to the concern with the general fund expenditures downstream. If it comes to that, maybe it does, but maybe we keep cobbling grant funding together. We're going to pay one way or the other. We pay. There's a cost to people sleeping in businesses, doorways and and helping people who, you know, have no place to go. This is a way that we can help people with dignity. And remember, it's transitional. So maybe in about a year's time, some of these folks will move on to a permanent roof over their head. And that's what all these wraparound services are going to help them do it. It is truly life changing work. And up until now, we have never had a place in Alameda where 365 days of the year, 2047, someone who was unsheltered, could could rest their head, could come in out of the rain. And it's as the vice mayor said, it's something that we all take for granted, most of us who've never had that kind of experience. So I'm really excited to be moving to help move this forward. I just this is a little item, but I think it'll be great. In Alameda, we have this wonderful nonprofit, the friends of the Alameda Animal Shelter. They recently inaugurated this wonderful it's a mobile clinic. They call it the doctor mobile, but it has veterinary care. And one of the things that they have done is they've been helping care for the pets of our homeless individuals. They go out to the day center. They go out to the different encampments. They will come to the bottle parcel. You just, you know, well, we'll connect you. And they would they would love to do that. And I do think in The Mountain View, if I recall correctly, in The Mountain View Development, you partnered with a veterinary clinic or something that like once a month comes and does pet care or someplace down the way. And let's see the only other thing. Oh, a couple of things. I just wanted to to mention that, you know, I do understand the desire to serve Alameda residents and certainly we want to go around our encampments and the day center, which is, by the way, also the Knight Center. But and get people to come there. But if there openings, we are most certainly going to reach out to the county to say fill these beds, because up until now, because we haven't had any place 24 seven, 365 days a year when we've been able to get people vouchers to go elsewhere. It has been with the help of the county and other cities, whether it's Oakland, Hayward, San Leandro have taken folks in. So we are helping and we have to we will whatever we do, we have to abide by the regulations that that govern the funding we're getting. But as Mr. Good noted, right now with these county funds and Alameda has waited a long time to do this, I do think that we're going to be starting. Out with many, if not all, Alameda residents. So with that, is there anyone here who would like to make a motion? Council member, DAX White. When we're in one, we're in.
Speaker 3: Then they only had one Amir. She said, I move my move. Approval of the staff recommendation to start work on this important project.
Speaker 1: Thank you. I swear. I see your head a second. All right.
Speaker 2: I owe it to.
Speaker 1: Our children.
Speaker 2: Here. Hello.
Speaker 1: All right. We've had a motion. We've had a motion by Councilmember Knox White, seconded by Vice Mayor Vela, discussion Councilmember Harry Spencer.
Speaker 2: So when I look at the agenda item, there's an MRU and there are two other documents. I believe that we are actually being asked to approve those documents.
Speaker 1: Good point.
Speaker 2: Someone could clarify. What they will ask is. Thank you for understanding.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Who would like to clarify, Mr. Shan or Madam Clerk, how?
Speaker 2: You know.
Speaker 0: I mean, I take the motion as approving all of the actions, including adoption of the three resolutions and approval of the two MP use. The staff recommendation.
Speaker 2: Was to improve all of those.
Speaker 0: Items.
Speaker 1: So thank you for the makers to make the motion. That was your understanding?
Speaker 3: Yes.
Speaker 1: Okay. You to vice mayor? Yes. Okay. All right.
Speaker 2: Councilmember Harry Spencer, I'd also like to confirm that we will be, in fact, prioritizing Alamitos.
Speaker 1: I believe that's what I said. And I see Mr. Goode nodding his head, prioritizing our meetings. Okay. We've had a motion the second we've had comment. We have the roll call vote place limitations.
Speaker 3: Yes.
Speaker 0: For Spencer. I mean, I.
Speaker 3: Guess.
Speaker 2: I.
Speaker 0: Is the Ashcroft I that carries my five eyes.
Speaker 1: This is really exciting, everyone. Thank you. Thank you, staff. This has been a huge lift. I know it's been hours and hours of your time, so just keep doing what you're doing. And we can't wait for that groundbreaking. Whatever comes comes next. But thank you so much for bringing it to us tonight. And we're really excited to move things forward. All right. Thank you so much. Good night, everybody. Okay. And we are going to just keep moving along expeditiously. So now let's see. Madam Clerk, I believe we now adjourn our special. We have the successor agency, Community Improvement Commission special meeting. And we will reconvene. Yes, yes. Reconvene. The regular city council meeting. May we have a roll call, please?
Speaker 0: Okay. Has been notified present.
Speaker 1: Thank you. Any agenda changes? Council. Oh. Madam Clerk, why don't you go first and then we'll call it a day.
Speaker 0: Okay. Which we staff kind of noticed. It was a little bit of a larger agenda in there. The two items at the end of the regular meeting, a7e, which is the rec fees and seven F, which is the meeting schedule, could be bumped to December 7th.
Speaker 1: Okay. You mean just because it's quarter to nine and we're starting the regular agenda? You thought that was a little.
Speaker 2: Okay.
Speaker 1: Thank you. And, Councilman, just like I say, your hand up.
Speaker 4: Yes. Thank you. In my regular effort to free up the backlog that we have on in the council referral item, I would like to move item ten a be the first regular agenda item for tonight. Just to name.
Recommendation to Authorize the City Manager to Execute a Memorandum of Understanding between DignityMoves, Five Keys Schools and Programs, Successor Agency to the Community Improvement Commission and the City of Alameda to Participate in the State of California Homekey Program to Develop the Bottle Parcel Located at 2350 5th Street, Alameda, California [City Council and SACIC];
Adoption of Resolution of The Governing Body of City of Alameda, A Municipal Corporation Authorizing Joint Application to and Participation in the Homekey Program [City Council];
Adoption of Resolution of the Governing Body of the Successor Agency to the Community Improvement Commission of the City of Alameda, A Public Body Corporate and Politic Authorizing Joint Application to and Participation in the Homekey Program [SACIC]; and
Adoption of Resolution to Increase Expenditure Appropriations in the American Rescue Plan 2021 Project (C99300) in the Capital Projects Fund (310) by $4,640,000 and to Encumber $1,200,000 in General Funds (10061833) to Operate Interim Supportive Homeless Housing at the Bottle Parcel