'I don’t think anybody in the Bay Area is satisfied with doing the minimum': East Bay mayors grapple with homelessness
Oakland mayor vows to clear encampments; Alameda councilmember's curious reason for voting against the budget; Oakland POA makes a donation in SD7
CITY NEWS
HAYWARD
—EXCEEDING THE MINIMUM—Last weekend, Rep. Ro Khanna told CNBC that the Bay Area, mostly areas north of his Fremont/Silicon Valley congressional district, need to do a better job of solving homelessness.
—Hayward Mayor Mark Salinas, while not directing his rebuttal specifically to Khanna’s comments, had an answer on Tuesday for the perception among many residents in the East Bay that the county and cities are not doing enough to fight homelessness.
—“The amount of money that we have spent up and down Alameda County reaches almost a half billion dollars,” Salinas said. “It’s not that we don’t care, or are soft, or happy with the minimum. We invest every possible source of revenue. Every city in the county has been investing in this.”
—Oakland has spent $83 million on homelessness, while San Francisco has spent almost $800 million,” Salinas added. “I don’t think anybody in the Bay Area is satisfied with doing the minimum.”
—Salinas serves on a homelessness task force within the Alameda County Mayors’ Conference entrusted with finding solutions for homelessness on the I-880-corridor.
—One solution has been purchasing hotels and using them as quick, short-term housing units stocked with access to social services. “We would get them all if they existed,” Salinas said.
—“We would purchase every building. Like everything else there’s a supply issue and every city up and down the corridor have been working on this and have committed time and hours for finding a solution to house our unhoused.”
MORE INSIDE:
CITY NEWS: Oakland mayor want to clear encampments by next year
Bad signs: Alameda councilmember votes against budget
San Leandro seeks to staff up short-staffed police dept.
Ranked Choice Voting opponents hit the ‘Dro
Oakland POA spends $5,000 on SD7 candidate
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