Fort Bragg mayor, Hospitality Center at odds over Winter Shelter

Fort Bragg mayor Bernie Norvell and the Mendocino Coast Hospitality Center have been in a public disagreement for several weeks, the issue flaming up most recently after the mayor released a statement that questioned the Hospitality Center’s ability to maintain the annual Winter Shelter without the city’s intervention.

The disagreement seems to have started Jan. 25 when the mayor announced during a City Council meeting that the Winter Shelter had found a location for its final weeks of operation, which had been a question of some concern since at least early December, when the Winter Shelter opened for the season. The Hospitality Center is currently being hosted at Trinity Lutheran in Fort Bragg, but that contract will end on March 15.

The Hospitality Center had requested the city’s help in finding another location to fill the gap back in early December. The C.V. Starr Community Center and the city’s Town Hall gymnasium were touted as two possible solutions for a location, but each were met with some pushback. In the case of the former, several nearby neighbors were opposed to the idea; and in the latter, the city worried that an increased homeless population in the middle of downtown Fort Bragg could affect local businesses already hammered by the pandemic.

At that time however, the City of Fort Bragg agreed to assist the Center financially, when the council approved a budget amendment