Council hires interim city manager, receives update on winter shelter

On January 10, the Fort Bragg city council approved an employment offer to Dave Spaur as the Interim City Manager. This position’s starting date is January 3, and has an hourly wage of $76.30.

During the meeting, police captain Thomas O’Neal gave the City an report on the winter weather shelter. This is the police department’s first year managing the winter weather shelter, as no other organization was able to this year.

In November, the Board of Supervisors allotted $40,000 for the winter weather shelter program for the 202½022 season. The program provides overflow service to the Hospitality House. The winter shelter opens when the weather becomes dangerous to sleep outside, generally below 40 degrees or when raining.

Occupants are housed in the Motel 6. There is no alcohol, drugs, or guests. If individuals show up moderately intoxicated, they aren’t turned away, but no alcohol is allowed inside the rooms. Pets are permitted, and individuals can store their excess belongings at the Hospitality House if it is too much for the motel rooms.

The rooms were changed from single occupancy to double occupancy to stretch funds further and create accountability with roommates. According to O’Neal, most people in the program were happy having a roommate. Individuals can choose their roommates. Individuals can be banned from the winter shelter for violation of the program rules, but they can still stay in cots at the police department or go through the homeward bound program.

Individuals must register with the Hospitality House to be in the homeless management information system. This is a requirement with the county for funding.

This program is limited to locals only. This is due to limited

homelessness resources outside of Ukiah and to prevent individuals from traveling to Fort Bragg to obtain a hotel room. Nonlocals are provided a singlenight stay on a case-by-case basis. Non-locals are also offered homeward-bound services to travel to an area with more resources.

The shelter first opened on December 11 and has been open for 19 nights, providing 101 bed nights, 36 to women and 65 to men.

There have been 81 local and 20 non-local bed nights. The program is expected to stay on budget through the winter season at the current rate. Each room costs between $85 and 145, with fluctuations in price due to holiday pricing.