Funding to address homelessness discussed at City Council meeting

Two scheduled matters were on the agenda for Tuesday’s City Council meeting, the first being discussion of information pertaining to California funding opportunities regarding homelessness. These opportunities have been based off of the reported 2017 homeless population.

“The state of California has recently approved a budget package that includes more that $700 million in funding to address homelessness programs,” Community Development Manager Jenni Byers explained.

She went on in depth about the different sources of the funding.

The program which offers the greatest amount in funding is the Homeless Emergency Aid Program (HEAP). HEAP is offering $500 million in one-time flexible grant programs that provide direct assistance to cities, counties and continuum of care agencies. Funding from this program is based on homeless populations in the areas served by those agencies.

Porterville is part of the Kings-tulare Homeless Alliance (KTHA), which is the designated continuum of care program for homeless in this area. KTHA is a long-range plan to address homeless needs.

The KTHA had a total of 853 reported homeless individuals in both counties combined. Of those individuals, 132 reside in Porterville, making up 15 percent of the homeless population in both counties. An allocation of $2.6 million from HEAP is anticipated by KTHA.

“The goal for this program is to provide immediate emergency assistance to people experiencing homelessness,” said Byers about the possible HEAP funds.

Byers made sure to emphasize that Porterville has no direct access to the funds. She also expressed that staff are actively involved with the Tulare County and KTHA, and will continue to participate in meetings regarding homelessness in the hope that Porterville will be able to receive funding from these programs.

After her explanations, Byers opened the discussion for any questions the Council might have. Council Member Ward asked if there was agreement on the population number and Byers said that for 2017 there was, however there has been an increase in homeless population in 2018.

Council Member Hamilton expressed concerns that the funds are only one-time grants.

“Any thing [money] we use for rehabilitation becomes an operation that we will forever have to continue,” stated Hamilton. “That becomes a structural budget item, so that concerns me.”

The Council did not need to vote on this scheduled matter as it was an informational item only.

Council Member Flores read the first of three proclamations for the night. Through the proclamation, September 2018 was designated Adult Literacy Awareness Month.

The second proclamation was read by Council Member Reyes. This proclamation stated that September would also be Library Card Sign-up Month.

The final proclamation of the night was read during the consent calendar portion of the meeting by Council Member Ward. This proclamation named September

Suicide Prevention Awareness Month.

Next on the agenda were council reports, and Reyes reported about the Tulare County Economic Development Corporation (TCEDC) meeting that was held on August 23. Reyes spoke about the extended workshop that took place at the TCEDC meeting and informed the Council of the expectations discussed regarding the work program and strengthening communication and trust within the TCEDC.

“I look forward to reporting some good news and continued cooperation with the EDC going forward,” Reyes stated.

After Reyes' report, oral communications were opened. Ellen Nickels was the only one to step to the podium, and she expressed her belief that the Council may confuse the people by using acronyms for items they are discussing.

“I've noticed in City Council meetings that these professional people suffer from the same disease that professional educators, medical professionals and certain other professionals do,” began Nickels. “That is usually what I call alphabet soup — using abbreviations exclusively.”

Nickels suggested that the council use the full name of what they abbreviate at least once. She also expressed concern about approval of new drive-thru windows and explained how they contribute to the pollution in the air.

“Please don't approve any more drive-thru windows at businesses,” she said, “because they pump even more pollution out into our already heavily-polluted air.”

Once oral communications was closed, the Council moved on to approving the 17 items on the consent calendar. All items were approved with a vote of 5-0.

There was one public hearing Tuesday evening regarding the Community Development Block Grant (CBDG) Consolidated Annual Performance and Evaluation Report (CAPER). Byers presented the Council Members with an overview of how the funds were used and in what areas they were applied. She also explained that some modifications to previous goals for the funds had been made and funds were used in an area north of Henderson.

“These modifications were successful as we saw five families assisted in this area compared to none last year,” Byers informed the council.

She continued to give examples of the programs and improvements that were made with the CBDG funds.

“We did some park improvements with our CDBG funds,” said Byers. “Project Homeless Connect was a portion of that.”

When the microphone was opened up to the public, there were no comments to be given. Byers also informed that no written comments from the public had been turned in either. The council approved the CAPER in a vote of 5-0.

The second and final scheduled matter for the evening had to do with Proposition 1, Proposition 3 and Proposition 6. Prop 1 concerns the Veterans and Affordable Housing Bond Act of 2018. Prop 3 is in regards to the Water Supply and Water Quality Act of 2018. Prop 6 has to do with voter approval for increases in gas and car tax. Council was asked to support Props 1 and 3 and oppose Prop 6.

Ward disagreed with supporting Prop 3 and opposing Prop 6.

“My problem with raising the gas tax is that they didn't do anything to make paving roads less expensive,” said Ward.

Council voted 4-1, with Ward as the only opposition, to support Props 1 and 3 and oppose Prop 6.

At the end of the meeting, City Manager John Lollis announced that a brief 9/11 memorial will be held by the police and fire departments on September 11 at 7 a.m. at Fallen Heros Park.

The next Porterville City Council meeting is scheduled for September 18 at City Hall, 291 N. Main Street. Open session begins at 6:30 p.m.