Commission on Persons with Disabilities - Regular Meeting

Bear with me here.

Two. Okay. That's alright.

That's right. Ding ding. Ding ding. Start.

You're not doing that right. Alright.

Okay. We're live.

Oh, we are? We're live? Oh, then welcome to the 04/23/2026 social service human sorry. Social service human relations board meeting. This meeting is being recorded. If the chat function has been turned off I'm sorry. The chat function has been turned off. If members of the public would like to comment on an item, there are multiple options to do so. If attending via Zoom, digitally raise your hand, and secretary Meneon will announce when it is your turn. You will then have the option to unmute yourself and proceed with your public comment.

Email your public comment to secretary Manahayan at g m a n n a h a y n on@AlamedaCA.gov before or during the meeting with your name, the agenda item number you're referencing, and your comments. Comments submitted during the meeting before the conclusion of the public comment section will be read into the record. Her email address is also on the meeting's agenda. If you're calling in by phone, please email miss Meneon as we cannot see you raise your hand. You can also dial 9 to raise your hand, and we will call on you.

To provide a public comment in person, please complete a public comment slip with your name and the agenda item number you will be speaking on. I believe they're over there. You will be called up when it is your turn. Public comments will be limited to three minutes. The public has two opportunities for public comment.

First, under agenda item two, public comments. Comments from the attendance may address matters not on the agenda, but must deal with matters subject to the jurisdiction of the Social Service Human Relations Board. Second, under each agenda item, there will be an opportunity for public comment on that specific item. Each item follows a format similar to city council meetings. First, after presentation, we will ask if there are any clarifying questions from SHRUB members for staff.

Then we will ask if there are any public comments on this agenda item. And finally, after public comment, we will open the item up for board discussion and and a vote if recommended. And I'm adding a little text tonight that's provided by housing human services division. I'd like to remind everyone that this is a business meeting, not a theater, not a sporting event. We are conducting business of the city of Alameda, so therefore I ask that there not be applause, boos, cheers, jeers, and we actually don't do the wave.

Even that's really tempting with the way we're all up here right here. We just listen respectfully when when others are speaking. Public speaking can be very stressful, and sometimes we have someone who is speaking for the first time. We never want someone to feel so intimidated that they don't want to share their views. We want, excuse me, to create a safe space for people to share views.

And I also like to remind people that sometimes there are young people in the audience or they may be watching from home. So I'd like us all to get a good civic example. If anyone I don't see anyone with signs, but if someone does wanna hold signs, it is your First Amendment right unless you're sitting in that last row of the chambers. You're gonna block people's views if if you do have a sign now. California penal code section four zero three states, it is a criminal offense for any person to, without authority of law, willfully disturb or break up any assembly or meeting that is not unlawful in its character other than an assembly or meeting referred to in penal code section three zero two or elections code one eight three four zero.

First violations will receive a warning, and continued violations will require additional actions which could include police intervention. And as a reminder, we have an exit right here. And is that door actually an exit too, or is that just a oh, it's a fire escape. So okay. We're not using that one? There's our exit right there.

Okay. An emergency. Yes. Alright.

So we can now call thank you for sitting through all that. We can now call the meeting to order at 07:07PM. We will be doing roll call. Chantelle Carter?

Present.

Bernie Wolf? Here. Gerald Bryant? Here. Michelle Buckholz?

Here.

Samantha Green?

Here.

Scott Means, also here from Housing and Human Services. We have Simone Falls, division manager. Program manager. Andrea Fairley, management analyst, and Yasmin Obadi Obadhay. Okay. I'll get it on, the tenth time. Administrative specialists.

Oh, welcome welcome all.

This brings us to item number two, nonagenda public comments. The city welcomes speakers providing public comment, but please be advised this is a limited public forum. Comments from the audience may concern matters either on or not on the agenda, but must deal with matters subject to of the Social Service and Human Relations Board. Comments will be limited to three minutes. Comments concerning matters on this evening's agenda will be heard when that item is called. If speakers fail to follow these rules, they will be warned. And if they continue to disregard the rules, their opportunity to speak will end. Gracia, do we have any speakers?

Yes. We have two speakers. First speaker is Craig Browning.

Thank you. And and feel free to to adjust the mic if you need to.

Yes. The name is Craig Browning. I'm a vehicle dweller, so I'm concerned about both Donald Trump and Gavin Newsom have, you know, doing their pogroms against homeless people and also made life difficult for vehicle dwellers. So I'm trying to find ways of improving resources along that front. And myself, I do have people I mooch talk with from time to time.

And I like to find some way of doing some kind of a like a like a parking space that has, like, you know, disabled is kind of part time self employed person, they'll have, like, a location where that can be accomplished. I did share with Gerald Bryant a couple of YouTube videos to kind of explain the situation more eloquently than I can. So, yeah, I mean, the person who looks at wonder wants to watch those videos at some point. But, basically, you know, I I do have my own electricity. You know, I know where to get in contact with, you know, like, you know, restroom facilities and the gym membership and all that sort of thing.

But it'd be nice to kind of get out of the legal gray areas and not have to be paranoid about, you know, anything any, you know, authority figures or anything like that. Right. You know, that that's that's where where where my guess would be nice to have some clear defined same spaces. It'd be nice to find something semi permanent where I could park in a secure area where there were some usable resources. I'm aware of the Village Of Love, but, unfortunately, sometimes bullying stuff. I know of a woman who was also a vehicle dweller that part of the Village Of Love got sexually harassed. So it's like Mhmm. Be nice to be able to find a better situation than that. You know? So that's that's that's where I'm at right right now.

And I was hoping to kind of bring, you know, more light on that. I'm trying to find a way of using the last minute here that's intelligent. It was just, you know, as I say, I do have friends I can mooch back with. I do have a my mechanic will have I've written permission to be on his property, like, when the business is closed or after hours. You know?

So if somebody was object to me being on and there's also a guy in a motor home on that same property full time. So, you know, I mean, it'd be nice to be able to, you know, get some clarification and some reason. I've been trying to contact other people that are there's the NVRC, which is the National Vehicle Residency Coalition. You know, I'm trying to see if they can set up local chapters. You know.

And there's also some organization I've been trying to get in touch with called Where Do We Go in Berkeley? I've never heard anything back from them. Also, especially the law school at UC Berkeley is doing some kind of a of a homeless or vehicle dwellers legal they're studying at at least. I don't know the whole ramification of what they're doing. Anyway, that's basically it.

What was your name again, sir?

Craig Browning. And then I say there's I gave Gerald two videos. One's on vehicle dwellers. One's on how some homeless people converted a shopping mall, and I thought for the navy a naval base, you there's abandoned building or vacant lot there rather than a data center.

Thank you, sir. Thank you for your comments.

Thank you, Craig.

Our next speaker is Corinne Kirschbaum.

This

board is supposed to be the voice of the unhoused. But from what I have seen, this board is not a voice for the unhoused. It is a wall against them. You cut me off. You skip over me so I cannot speak. You omit my public comments from the record. You publicly insult and discredit me in live meetings. You have said I obviously have mental issues. You have said I have a grudge and think money is being stolen. I don't think it.

I know it, and so does Maryland, and so does all the city council. The only people that don't are you. You have said at the at the last meeting, two you said I had a grudge and stolen money. At the last meeting, two men physically use their bodies to barricade me and hold me back from entering a public meeting room. You are not officials.

Think about that. A board that claims to care about human relations, a board that claims to care about homelessness, a board that claims to care about dignity. You don't even know what the word means. Scott means. And yet this is how you treat a person who comes before you and tells you the truth, and you don't even bother to look yourselves.

You don't even bother to read the contracts. You don't even bother to read the reports. You don't even bother to look at anything, but you know. You don't know shit. What is even more disturbing is that this disrespect is backed by ignorance.

You are a board that speaks on homelessness, yet many of you, all of you, have not read the contracts, have not read the reports, have not read the road home, the city's own five year plan to end homelessness, which totally contradicts itself from the new plan that they have. Simone, she left. She should be hearing this. You do not seem to know what measurable goals are even are. Samantha said something about measurable goals how many times, And all you did was talk over her.

You don't even know what they are, let alone people taking data and and and analyzing it. There's none for all these years. Why don't you look before you treat somebody the way you have? You don't seem to know what oversight is. You don't even seem to know what these nonprofits are actually supposed to be doing. Gerald at the last meeting or at one of the meetings with that guy who's speaking out of his ass, oh, he's so great. He's so great. You don't even know what that nonprofit can do. You're sitting there saying, oh, well, if somebody comes in and they're short

on my mortgage and they

Can't afford rent. Are you kidding me?

Thank you very thank you very much for your comments.

I'm sorry. Your time is over.

Thank you for your comments.

Know going on with the homeless. When you

Prove the minutes from 03/26/2026. Have people had an opportunity to review the minutes, and do we have any motion to approve of them?

I motion to approve.

Okay. We have a motion. And is that a second? I'll take a second. There you go. We'll take that. Then you know what? Since we're all in the room, we don't need to do roll call vote. We could just all those in favor? Aye. Aye. Is there any opposed? Any I I'm not sure if, technically, anyone's recused if they weren't here. I think we were all here, though, last. Yep. It's good. We're all good. Alright. Unanimously approved. Sorry. We started doing that when you walked out, but we approved the minutes.

You We're gonna we're gonna

keep rolling along here. Alright. We're on to item number four. Four a is fiscal year 02/2627 CDBG subrecipient award recommendation. The city prepares an annual action plan that identifies specific goals, proposed uses of CDBG funds, community engagement opportunities, and other strategies. Andrea Fairley, management analyst from the housing and human service division, will be presenting on proposals activities for fiscal years 2026 through '27 that are intended to address the city's current priority needs as aligned with the five year strategic plan. Take it away.

Alright. So good evening, president Means, vice president, Samantha Green, and honorable social service human relations board members. My name is Andre Fairley, and I have been a management analyst here with the city of Alameda for two and a half years now. Some of you guys are familiar with me. Others may not be so much, but I will be presenting today on the funding recommendations for CDBG's fiscal year 2627 projects and programs. Alright.

Yeah. Yeah.

So as some of you are aware and as alluded to in the staff report, the city of Alameda is an entitlement jurisdiction of community development block grant funds, which come directly from the US Department of Housing and Urban Development, also known as HUD. Community development block grant funds, which I'll refer to as CDBG, are specifically utilized for programs, activities, and other projects that benefit very low, low, and moderate income individuals and households as well as other projects that prevent or eliminate blight. HUD recently announced that the city will be receiving $1,080,816 in entitlement funding. For this current year, the city has received $1,096,362, which is approximately a $15,400 reduction in funding. Funding will be allocated to four main priority areas, including nonhousing public services, nonhousing public improvements, economic development, residential rehabilitation, and general administration.

I encourage everyone to refer to the annual action plan in exhibit one, not on the screen, but there is an annual action plan that has close to a 100 pages in exhibit one to get an in-depth look at the upcoming fiscal year's projects, programs, current year accomplishments, and the overall planning process going forward. As seen in exhibit two, which is up on the screen above, the draft summary of activities details the various projects and programs that HHS anticipates funding for fiscal year twenty six twenty seven. Column one has an activity description, which goes into detail about each category, the four that I previously mentioned. Column two covers the national objective and eligibility, which ties into HUD's requirements for this specific category of funding. Column three lists the goal type, which is the number of people served for each organization or at least the goal that they hope to accomplish by the end of the fiscal year.

And the fourth and fifth columns have prior year funding sources, which is actually this current year, fiscal year 2526. And then the last column has fiscal year 2627 is which we'll be posing to city council on May 5. Only 15% of our entitlement funding plus any program income we receive from fiscal year twenty five twenty six can go towards non housing public services or what you guys know as social services. 20% of our CDBG funding is allowed for general administration, and Eden INR will be funded from this category. Housing and human services will be going to city council on May 5 to seek approval to fund next year's proposed programs and projects.

In addition, staff will ask council for authorization to adopt the CDBG slash home fiscal year 2627 annual action plan and to allow the city manager to execute related documents, agreements, and modify funding levels for prospective projects as needed. Currently, we are in the midst of the thirty day public comment phase where all residents, organizations, community members, etcetera, who are interested in providing feedback are welcome to participate. The public comment period will conclude on May 3, which is exactly two days before the city council meeting. If city council approves the funding recommendations and the annual action plan, staff will proceed to notify the organizations that will be receiving funding for fiscal year twenty six twenty seven, and awards will officially become available when the grantee funding agreement is fully executed between the city and HUD. HHS staff will make sure to keep everyone on the board updated on any new developments and as progress is made.

Thank you guys for hearing my presentation. And if you have any questions, concerns, or comments, feel free to let me know.

Thanks, Andre.

Yeah. Thank you. So do we have any just clarifying questions?

Sure.

I got a couple. Yeah. So last October, we decided to prorate the CDBG public services funding based on the federal funds. How deep are those cuts for the existing safety net providers in the fiscal year 2627 for our action plan? Have we gotten the idea how deep those cuts are yet?

Yeah. That's an excellent question. I did state that there will be around a $15,000 reduction

in

funding going into the upcoming fiscal year, which is about a 1.4% decrease in funding. Unfortunately, our public service providers will be impacted by the cut, but we've tried our best to calculate it accordingly. And there will be about a $388 reduction for some of the programs that we administer through our our nonprofits, as you can see on the screen up there. So, Alameda Family Services will be receiving around $20,400 if we were to get approval from council on May 5, which is around $388 less than previous year. Okay.

One more question, and then I'll let somebody else. The as I looked at the draft action plan earlier, it allocated a 154,000 to public services safety net out of an expected one 0.9 one 90,000 CDP allocation. If the federal allocation comes in lower than projected, what's our contingency plan gonna be for protecting the core services like domestic violence, and homelessness prevention?

Yeah. So we we'll probably go back to the drawing board, of course, and I'll consult Simone and our assistant city manager, Amy Woldrich, and we'll try to figure out a plan to fill those services with any gap funding that is needed to continue providing the essential essential services to the community.

So we're talking about things like general fund or, measure w fund, something like that?

I think we can't name what funding we may use at this time. If there are gaps in the funding, then that's an assessment we'll have to look at and identify available funds. General fund could potentially be an option. We don't have access to measure w. That would be something that we would have to apply to the county for.

Thank you. That was my question.

My my question, do we are we getting oh, are we getting any reports on outcomes and how frequent from these service providers, or, like, what's the data sharing process?

Yeah. So every quarter, we collect data from the service providers, specifically the the nonhousing public service providers, and those numbers will be the final numbers will be shown in the annual action plan once it's released in maybe June, July. We do have to submit that annual action plan to HUD by no later than June 3, so expect to see it published sometime late June, July. We do have a draft action plan actually posted as an exhibit here, and then also, we'll we'll be taking the council on May 5.

Do we have any other questions? Can we can we ask if the audience has any is there anyone signed up to speak or any comment?

We do not have any public comment for this item.

Okay. So we can now have open discussion from board members. I I do wanna bring up one of the programs. The Boost program is basically a technical advice program for child care providers. It provides them assistance with technical assistance, technology assistance, and advice on how to improve their systems.

They pay market rate for their staff. So their staff are quite expensive, and I have serious doubts about whether or not this program will work. I won't vote no on the whole package based on this program, but I I actually do have a strong no on that specific program even though I know this is, a package. So I'm not gonna say if we have to do any kind of do we have to vote on approval on this? Or no. We have to vote on this anyway, so it doesn't matter. I just wanna voice that then. I don't think that should be funded. I I I did actually review that one. None of you did, I don't think.

But because of my conflict of interest with Alameda Family Services, I read a different group of grants. So I'm more familiar with this one. That's probably why I'm and I I just have a strong opinion about this. I I will be really looking if this is really funded and it really goes through, I'll be looking really hard at what the what the outcomes are at the end of this, if anything actually really changed, if these organizations really do have better capabilities. Because I'm not giving them technology. So they're gonna still have to use whatever they have in the in the house for their their their program. This is mainly a staff budget when I saw it. So, anyway, I just wanna go on record for that.

I had a question that was I mean, it's not really something that I guess we can go over long term, but it's the lack of flexible funding, that that prevention funding that we were talking about right there. If we're talking about something small like $75,000,

I

would think that how we're the question is simple. How are we leveraging these block grants to prevent those first time homelessnesses? I mean, that's that's really what we're talking about. And so are we gonna actually approve any of that for the CDBG grant? So, you know, I know that they're trying hard to make everything work out, but it just seems like there's a lot that's being left on the table. So that's that's my my 2¢. So

Any other comments or questions?

Or I

just had a

quick just clarifying. So we funded these for two years. Right? And so next year, it'll go through a full review process. Is that correct? Okay.

Just wanna

Yeah. And just pick piggybacking on what you said, Sam, for next year's process, when we do come back to the board for evaluations and feedback, etcetera, for the public services, I think, keeping in mind what's the most essential need for this community and how we can, like Gerald said, leverage the funds that we currently have to to really fund the organizations that will carry out the services that provide, you know, the need to to this community. I think that's very important. So something to consider going into next year.

It's permanent. Alright. Thank you, everyone. There's no other comments. And thank you for the the report and the information. Appreciate it. I'm gonna the next item for b is is actually my item. It's to discuss the UC I wanna give you an update on what's happening with the UC Berkeley public health program. So to remind you, there is a program that use you know, UC Berkeley does with the public health department, master's students, where they develop, you know, model programs that can typically, they get made, and then people put them on a shelf somewhere. But I actually met with the students and, you know, told them I really would like to develop something like this.

And, you know, it might not be as fast as they want it to. They have some stuff happening in December. But but they actually have they they came out with a statement of a statement of purpose. And, you know, I I gave them a lot of information about age, you know, age friendly Alameda, but also, you know, the model of of inclusion and equity that comes with, you know, the age friendly movement. And they decided and I also told them about the changing landscape that's happening because of programs cut.

And one of them is, you know, senior companions, grandparents. Senior companions part of it is is what we focused on, which is having people, you know, come meet with seniors and help them get out and and access, you know, shopping or community events and doing things like that. Kind of a more fleshed out volunteer program. Of course, there's the volunteer list that's you know, we have here too. And so they use all that.

So they developed a statement of purpose around trying to recreate a similar program using without the stipend. Because, you know, one advantage we have at Alameda is we don't have as many low income seniors who are willing to volunteer. So using programs like our existing paratransit program to supply some of the transit would be enough. People wouldn't be looking for that. So that was the the theory behind that.

So there's there's multiple steps. So we finished that first part of it, and they turned in the original paper. And there's so many they did so much research. And then I'm just gonna kinda just show you so you can see the graphic of it. I I know I can't share this as public information, but, you know, they they started doing flowcharts and how this would work.

One of the things that we talked about were different, you know, funding models. Like, if you had to have a volunteer coordinator and something we could apply for next year when it comes through is there's information referral. I I remember I showed this this to you earlier this year. There's information referral, positions you can actually hire and get funded completely through the county. And and they can actually coordinate some a program like this.

So it wouldn't cost the city any money at all. It could be and it could exist out of the the Massock senior center. So we're really excited about this, and it would be great if I could, at some point, Gracia, pass this amongst the rest of the board. So I don't know if if I gave you electronic copies if we if we had attached it with the next agenda or something so you could see it. I think it's fantastic work.

As I said, you know, they they have some launch in December, but that's not, you know, that's not really gonna happen. But, you know, I I do think it it could be something that could be launched in the next year or two. It's it's just, you know, with some administrative needs and maybe some flushing out of a human services department in in the city. So that's that's my update. So if anyone has any questions or comments about this program.

Scott, we also have the video that was posted with the agenda. Do you want us

to play it?

Yes. Show show the the video is really exciting. You know, also just encourage anyone who's interested in developing human services or healthy human services programs since I'm now a known factor. Like, next year, if they wanna do it again, it'd be great. I could bring one of you along. You could pitch your program. You can say, remember me? Here's a new person. Right? We kinda have other people enjoy and, you know, join in that stuff. It's great bringing up a bunch of young people into this work. Yeah. So thank you for remembering the video. It's fairly short, I think.

Three minutes. Yeah. Oh.

Volume. Volume. Oh.

Oh, let's try again.

That should be the little triangle one down there.

On the very no. On the very bottom right. Yeah. Even lower. Yeah. Yeah. That one.

So what happens when someone spends their entire life giving?

Alright. One more time.

Alright. I just I just love her sister. Hi,

everyone. We are representing age friendly Alameda, and our names are Priya, Julia, Katie, and Ninja. So what happens when someone spends their entire life giving and now suddenly has nowhere to give their time? Mister Thompson is a retired teacher from Alameda High School who has been trying to find a meaningful way to spend time. During a visit to Mastic, they suggested volunteering in the community, so he began researching volunteer options and became quickly overwhelmed.

Like mister Thompson, many aging adults want to stay active to keep their mind sharp, maintain independence, and stay socially connected. We are all aging every day, and being able to support accessible opportunities for volunteering helps increase social inclusion and combat loneliness. While many older adults in Alameda City are motivated to stay engaged, there currently isn't a clear process to help them get access or get to volunteer opportunities beyond their local senior center.

This is why we are proposing a volunteer program designed to increase social inclusion for adults 55 and older with ripple effects we believe will benefit residents across all the age groups in the community. Our first objective is to identify two community coordinators who will serve as primary contacts for the program and help connect residents to local volunteer opportunities. They will also provide an attendee list to hosting sites to help them prepare for sessions with participants. Second, we will establish a buddy system to address transportation barriers. Coordinators will connect participants to nearby neighbors so they do not feel alone and feel supported throughout the process of getting to and from these events together.

Finally, volunteer stations will be established at local community centers like the library or museum to provide a reliable structure for all participants and collaborative partners. These locations will provide a welcoming designated space for people to feel included and connect regularly.

Our proposed program serves as the connective tissue between existing infrastructure within the city of Alameda. The MasTec senior center serves as a trusted institution connecting 4,300 members with programs in health, education, and recreation. By encouraging deeper engagement among its membership and expanding outreach to the broader community, we can create more pathways for connection and social inclusion. The Alameda Post, a community focused online newsletter, has a consolidated listing page for volunteering opportunities throughout the city. Listed organizations have a long standing presence in Alameda, allowing seniors to work with respected and familiar institutions.

Volunteering is also routinely celebrated with the city already funding an annual volunteer celebration to recognize and commemorate civic participation. Using existing infrastructure, we believe implementing a transportation buddy system, community coordinators, and volunteer stations will allow for a mutually beneficial exchange between seniors and the broader Alameda community. We ask for your support in investing in the community's strengths and ensuring these resources are accessible and inclusive for all seniors. Thank you everyone for your time.

Yeah. Yeah. I I told just I did tell them that we had the volunteer list posted in two places, but they got really excited. There was actually a private, like, paper. Yeah. You know? Yeah. I think they were thinking newspaper like the Chronicle or something, not realizing it's a little smaller press, but it's it's still good. I mean, it's still important to have those those partnerships and hit those different areas. So thank you for showing that. Do we have any other comments or any more? Oh.

Yeah. I have a comment in mind is that it seems to dovetail really well with something that just kinda happened organically. You guys came up with a list of volunteers, and it just got bigger and and started getting posted all over the place. And I think the program they're doing dovetails right well into it and probably could work in conjunction somewhere. I I think it's a wonderful idea, and the price is right. I mean, you're not trying to take from any other funding to get it done. You're actually enlisting private organizations to be able to do it. It's kind of the hallmark of what we do here at the Social Services and Human Relations Board. Right?

Yeah. Yeah. Exactly.

So good on you. Right on. Thank you.

I like creating programs that don't add to general funds.

There you go.

Anyway, thank you all. Can

I just ask one thing?

Oh, yeah.

It would this volunteer portal be open I mean, this is also hypothetical. Right? We would also open that portal to younger people as well?

Or Especially the volunteers themselves, especially. Yes. Yeah. The the people who are the the initial focus would be on the older adults in terms of the one receiving program. But what's interesting, though, the senior companions program, it's where, you know, more active seniors are helping the fragile seniors. The program participants are the helpers, not the people getting helped because it's the social interaction of people who are very active getting to do something. So in a way, the fragile seniors that are being assisted aren't the clients.

Yeah.

They're the volunteers themselves. Same idea. Yeah.

Or I just like how we could pair high school students that have community out they have to do the service hours to graduate to pair them with a senior.

Yes. I like that. That.

Yeah. Amazing.

I just got a phone call today from a senior who's like, I have hours I need to finish. Right? So we've talked about it before, seniors and seniors, and I think it's like Yeah.

It's that.

Seniors and seniors.

Oh, that's cool.

That's right. That's And,

actually, if they're 18 or over, it actually gets there's a bunch of other things that makes it easier. Ravi's no longer minors, so they can actually, you know, go places and stuff.

Yeah.

Thank you. Alright. Yeah. Thank you everyone for for listening to that. Oh, that's right. Is there any public comment?

There is no public comment for this item.

Okay. Oh, they should say other additional comments. No. Let's go let's go to four c, discussion of social service human relations board fiscal year 02/2627 scope of work. Each year, SHRUB, in collaboration with city staff, develop and present an annual work plan to the city council for its consent.

SHRUB's annual work plan is typically approved by the board at its April meeting in order to be presented to city council at its first meeting in June. Thanks to increasing staff capacity, it has become prudent to discuss and develop not only the annual work plan, but also to reevaluate the board's scope of work. The finalized scope of work will be presented to city council for approval. And, Simone, you can take it away.

Alright. Thank you. So as Scott said, the scope of work will inform your work plan for the upcoming year, and it has become apparent over the last year as Grecia and I have been more involved with the board that it would be helpful to have a more defined scope of work. And, it's unclear the last time the scope of work was evaluated. So we thought this would be a good time before we develop the new work plan to look at the scope of work, ensure everyone is clear on what their role is, and move forward in a structured fashion with clear goals and activities for the year.

So I have drafted a scope of work in partnership with Grecia. It is under review. The next steps would be for the president to look at them. So for Scott to look at them and then for us to go over them. I would ask that you go over them in your working groups. And part of that is because we are on a tight schedule, we need to go to city council and have the work plan approved so we can start actually working on it. And so we're looking at going to city council in July. With city processes, that means that we need to have the work plan approved in May. Okay. So Next meeting.

Yep. The next meeting, we would need to be able to have the work plan approved so then we can have the council report uploaded on time for the July meeting. So it's imperative that you all look at the scope of work on your own and in your subgroups and let us know your feedback so that we can have a finalized scope of work for a goal to approve it in May. And I can go over some of the suggestions that I have. So we have our group here.

Our board is designed to look at social services in the city. The way that we see the board structure is really to support and enhance the work of the division housing and homeless services that staffs the board for you all to be an advocacy group to support programs, encourage programming, and encourage funding towards that programming, and, also to inform things like the policies we're developing, the structure if we're doing new programs, what that looks like, and really have a kind of be our backbone, if that makes sense. And so some of the subgroups I'm proposing would be a little different than what we have now. One would be around policy. And so really looking at our CDBG reports, we have our con plan.

We have our five year con plan, our CAPER report, which is an annual performance report, and our annual action plan. Those are three very large reports that go to HUD. Those are reports that would be helpful for you all to review and provide feedback on, and so that would be a policy group. The poll we also have other policies that we, create for our department. So, potentially, those policies would be something that you all may be interested in reviewing and providing feedback on.

Let me open this. We also have see if it will open, a second subgroup that I am proposing instead of having individual social service groups. There would be trying to find the the name of it. There would be one general social service group. So, for example, if you all find that there's a domestic violence that you wanna focus on or senior services that you wanna focus on or youth services that you wanna focus on, that group would focus on those specific populations so that we're not just having separate groups focus on separate things and being scattered and having one person here and one person there when, you know, sometimes we end up short staffed.

And I'm looking for the third one. I can't remember it off the top of my head. Okay. Here they are. So the first one I call funding and this is draft form, so I

just want you all to

to know that. The first one is funding review and recommendations. So reviewing applications submitted for all categories. So we have more than just public service CDBG grants. So reviewing all the different CDBG grant RFPs, providing your input on those different RFPs, and advising on funding priorities and project recommendations, and promoting equitable distribution of resources based on need and eligibility.

That's one group. The second is program oversight and performance. So that would be reviewing performance reports, updates on CDBG funded programs and capital projects, conducting site visits, and, writing up your review of the site visit to provide us input on how these programs may need to improve or how they may be doing well, and identifying opportunities for program delivery and community impact. And then the last one, community engagement and public participation. Present and advocate at city council meetings, participate in public hearings, community meetings, and outreach activities, support the city's efforts to engage residents in the CDBG planning process.

And this would be the group that has more their ear to the street, so they're doing the need, potentially supporting the needs assessment, understanding what's going on in the community, and bringing that information back to the board to help inform what you would like to see the city doing. Again, just suggestions, but I do think it will be very helpful for there to be a clear outline structure of the purpose of this board that will then inform your work plan and have clear activities outlined for the year, and then we move forward from there. And so, Grecia, we'll look at these in your groups. And then, hopefully, in May, we'll have a final version and a work plan, and we can get started for the year.

Can I

Yes? Can I ask a question? I don't know if this is. Is the role it's is it more of a oversight, or is it more of a sounding board advocacy? Like, would the opinions that we deliver on the projects and then have any teeth? Or, like, I mean, I would you have to come to us to make a pro like, policy procedures?

I would say I would use the word advisory. Advisory. Okay.

Is that I don't want to have oversight of your job. I think you guys are much more qualified to do your jobs without our but is it so it's more of a, like, a sounding board role. Is that what I'm hearing in these kind of different realms of to to have additional outside lenses

in these different forums? I think that's accurate and to advise, hold us accountable too. You know? If you we're doing things that we can do better, then let us know. You know? It's to support us in our work, but also support the community at large and having the social services they need to people in the city of Alameda need to thrive.

So just one quick question. So these would be categories of groups that would be separate from the from the groups that we already have?

Or They would replace the groups.

Yes. Just a quick question around the one central group, if you don't mind just kind of reexplaining that to me. I'm taking notes. It sounds like and correct me if I'm wrong. It sounds like if there is a topic or a concern or issue that we wanna maybe focus on that we can collaborate together and say, hey. This is a domestic violence task force that we really wanna push through and partner with law enforcement and the city. These are the few initiatives that we wanna work on. That is that am I capturing that correctly? Okay.

Okay. That's act yes. That's accurate. Okay.

And I heard a lot of the CBG grant. Would a lot of this be relating auditing to the funding that we're doing, or how does that, like Say that again. I maybe because you just went fast. I didn't follow. We're I'm trying to look is a lot of this will be looking at budget. You said the second group. Can you repeat that? Or I'll wait till we'll do it. I was just trying to understand the, like, the budget oversight is what you said.

Program oversight. CDBG grant making. So it would be only specific to that grant making funding source. So right now, you all look at, like, a subsection of CDBG. You only look at our social service grants, which actually isn't typical practice across other cities. There are, like, advisory boards that review, do site visits, like, similar to what you all are, but they advise on all of the CDBG funding. So, like, capital improvements, the economic development, the workforce grants, like, all of it.

So that way they all kinda work as a system. Sorry. With the idea being that they review them to look at them more like a system.

And only with the grant funding, not the the general

Not our division budget. No.

Okay. I was like, that is Oh, okay. Just bear

with me.

It's an opportunity for you all to give more input on our day to day and more collaboration is how we're looking at it. Because I think there was an era where, like, you all would do the needs assessment, right, like, completely, almost independently and without staff. And now we're doing the you know, we just want more places where we're, like, collaborating, and there's places for you to give day to day input.

I'm just my my final I think that it sounded great. So I look forward to seeing the draft and going over these in our work group. So appreciate it.

It would it would be just one request. If we could get something before we actually meet in the work groups, least a few days in advance, we can review it before. That'd be great.

And It

does sound good, though.

And our current work that we are doing,

would

that be incorporated? Or

I guess I would want clarification on the are there certain things that you're concerned about? I mean, part of this is also to ensure that we're focusing the board is focusing on the technical issues around the work of HHS. So I don't know if there are there certain things that you are thinking about?

Just like the road home or Alameda's Gundtate and, like, even that, the poet you know, like, I don't wanna give up the poetry side.

I mean So what my what my suggestion to the board would be is that we have another group that you typically partner with, which is the youth, the YAC. Sorry. I can't remember what the acronym is.

Yeah. E y s.

And so my suggestion would be to continue to partner with them, with them on the leads for those programs. And, you know, the the young folks are good at putting those on, and I think it's a good collaboration to have you all join them in those events and have you all with your expertise being selected on this board to focus on some of the technical task that really may not always be the funner task, but they're really the the it's the privilege that we have to be able to do the behind the scenes work that have a big impact that people don't necessarily realize.

I'm a little torn myself because I feel like united against hate is probably something that needs to be spoken about a lot more. And simply saying that we can turn it over to the kids to do it is not necessarily an effective way to do it. There needs to be guidance. There needs to be focus about what they're going to do. Happy to let them make decisions because that's what kids do.

But certain programs, connecting with other partners, UC Davis, the Davis program, working with them, on their United Against Hate program, I think these are viable things that everybody needs to recognize. And in a town like this, it's definitely needed. There's a whole lot of hate going on. So I myself, I'm kind of just a little torn about the idea that, sure, you know, being the front face for something is is it's got its place, but the task force against domestic violence has its place. I think that these are things that should not be lost because of the other side.

Now I don't know how else we'll be able to work it out. I don't know what the details will be, but I think it's these kinds of things that we don't wanna lose sight of because that's the actual human relations portion that we're talking about, in my opinion.

And so

I would like to clarify a couple of things. So the YAC is not a board that operates independently. It is staffed by HHS staff as well, and it also has a separate, a board by adult professionals as well. And then also for the three subgroups, I'm not suggesting eliminating these categories entirely. My suggestion is that those groups are folded into one subcommittee.

And so there's an a subcommittee that is focused on policy, looking at our reports, ensuring that those the information. I feel like you all are missing a lot of the work we're doing. For example, in our annual action plan, we it's I don't know how many pages it is, but we outline all of the plans that we have for the year and the way that we're going to spend the funding. And you all aren't putting giving your input on that. You're not looking at that ahead of the time. And so, yes, we want to be able to do things like the poetry slam and things like that.

Right.

But we also want to make sure you all are providing input and prioritizing things like providing input on these the critical decisions around how the funding is spent. And so I think it that's an important piece to really consider is if we have to choose what we prioritize as a board because, unfortunately, we our time is limited. I would suggest that we prioritize on this impact of how is this funding spended, how are these programs developed. And Alameda's United Against Hate, the domestic violence task force, those can be put into one subcommittee where they're you all are really focused on these specific categories and programs that will enhance services in Alameda around those categories.

And and and I understand the other categories. As a matter of fact, I think they're great choices, but I think the message would be lost for these types of programs if we put them into a single one program. I think that with these types of other heavy responsibilities, the other things that are, again, the human relation portion of it would be lost because of lack of time or effort on everybody's part. I don't have a problem with doing extra work, but losing something like this, I I was amazed with what Scott was talking about. I was gonna talk about something similar at the next meeting because I think that there are just there's a lot of there's a lot of need for understanding of the hate that we're living with in this day and age.

And so that's something that you all can discuss in your subgroups and then together in the main meeting, what you want that to look like, and then there will need to be a vote. And if it is the desire to continue these programs, that's something that also needs to be discussed and considered that if you want to lead programs and select and identify these programs, x, y, and z, whatever it is that you're going to do throughout the year, what it is that you all are going to commit in order to make those happen, and do you have the capacity and time to do that?

Absolutely. I think that's a good idea, opportunity for us to have those conversations in the subcommittee so we can really hash it out. I think, overall, these are some good choices. These are really good choices, but I still think we should have those conversations.

Absolutely. I have another question. So one of

the things I think we've talked about it before too that I think would be really, really helpful and could be helpful for informing the scope of work is and our discussion of the scope of work is an understanding of the calendar for, like, the year. Right? So or the year prior or the next two years so that we can think of.

HHS's calendar? Yeah.

Okay. So thinking about, like, what are those when would those policy components come to play and what months? When would the CPG be things need to be so that we could kind of have a better understanding of when things were gonna be on our docket as we prepared for other activities.

Okay. Yeah. We can provide that information. Okay. That'd be awesome.

Great.

I applaud you. It feels like a really more collaborative approach, and I I like that there's more oversight. Yeah. Or not oversight. Advisory side. I didn't mean to say oversight.

I do also want to mention that I also think that these existing groups are valuable and the events and the task force that you all do are valuable. I also really like the idea of having these new groups and potentially consolidating some of the social service aspect because there is so much to our division that you all are not getting the opportunity to participate in or have a say in. And you mentioned not minding more work. That's great, Gerald. But more work for you is more work for me and staff.

So should there be a limit to staff capacity, we're gonna have to look to the board to carry out some of those additional activities.

Yes.

Well, does Almedia use the same kind of budget sheets like the FM 300? I'm always up for looking at budget sheets. You're not referring to. Right?

Remember the estimates of.

Yeah. Pivot tables.

And is

there anything else that we should know or what to help us inform us of how to develop or think the group from your like, what is the unmet need that we should fully understand?

I don't think there's necessarily anything else to know. I think the biggest thing is to really understand what we need as far as advisory and support and understanding what's going on in the community and really looking at you all to understand what's happening in the community and for you all to also understand that this is, a very small subset of Grecia's job. And so there's limited time and capacity in order to do certain types of activities, and we do have another group that does those things.

Well, I, yeah, I look forward to that seems fascinating, some of stuff you're talking about. So I I look forward to seeing your your plan and everything and reviewing it with an open mind, and we'll see how it goes.

Yeah. Agree.

I was thinking can I just make one quest suggestion, which is is there I we can't because of Brown Act? Act. I'm just thinking it would be because we'll be divided into our work groups, which are based on the old work groups. It's kinda funny to review the new scope of work in Silos. In those weird in the old existing silos. Does that make any sense?

Yep. It makes sense that the work groups are an opportunity for you to review it and discuss it with staff and another board member, and then there would be discussion time during the May meeting. And, again, the goal is to vote, but I don't wanna say if if you don't come to a consensus, I really hope you come to a consensus, but I we can't force you to come to a consensus. If you really feel conflicted and that you need more time, then that's something that we we would have to push forward with. But that also means that you delay going to council and being able to, show council your work plan, which is a requirement in our charter, and that delays you being able to start on the new work plan.

Right. And when we did the oh, sorry.

Sorry. I'm just trying to figure out if there's a way for us to be able to receive the information from the other subgroups prior to

our meetings. Oh, like notes from the discussions?

Yeah. Could

we post that? It's part of the reason we'd be doing it in the subgroups is because it wouldn't be quorum. Right. You can't have conversations across the board and if it's not in a public setting.

But could we bring notes? Could our notes become public so that we could see them with the agenda?

But can we put

the agenda back? The oh, yes. You mean when we post it with the agenda to be discussed at a meeting? Yes. Okay. Yeah.

Would be great.

And and and just to to know what work we need to do. Remember previously, we had to be like, you will organize six events by this time. Like, we had to do pretty granular. That is also what we're developing. Right? The work plan. Yes. Yeah. With really, like, the the granular details. Okay.

Great. Was there any public comment? Yeah. Graci, do you?

Yeah. And with the item number, they're up there. And this item number is four c.

You know why she's saying this?

So we do have one public speaker that is Karen Kirschbaum. Karen. Karen Kirschbaum. My apologies.

You can think

Welcome, Karen. Ahead. Your time starts.

You know why she is saying all of this? Because you don't know anything about what you're doing. Nothing. How can you go in to be a member of a board and not know anything about it but act like you do. And then do what? Make decisions for the people that you haven't even spoke to. No. None of them. You haven't even read anything. Nothing.

So how do you know what people need? How do you know what's going on in these nonprofits? Because I can guarantee you I would bet my life on it, and I know for a fact that village of love has. We're talking 10 almost $10,000,000 of state, federal, and public funds. This city council has committed fraud.

They are covering it up. Why do you think village of love isn't no is no longer there? Joey Harrison did nothing. Nothing. And if you go out and you ask any homeless person, it's called the village of hell.

Oh, don't believe the thirty year teacher Just because that thirty year educator isn't on my forehead in front of you because you put that big h on my forehead, you have treated me with the utmost disrespect. And here you are talking about being biased and hate. That's all you have shown me. That is all you have shown me. You sit up there and you lack all you want, Gerald, because you know nothing.

You act like you're smart. You act like you're asking all these great questions, but, really, they're not because you know nothing to ask. I've watched the videos of your meetings, and I have seen nothing done. The same old thing every single time. You're a board that speaks on homelessness, yet many of you have never read the contracts.

And this is why this matters. Because when people like me come to you with first hand knowledge, with facts, with lived experience, the golden ticket words. Instead of listening, you dismiss us. You believe everybody except actual unhoused. You say you wanna know what people need, but you do not ask the people living it. You do not investigate. You do not educate yourself. Do not do

Corinne, your time is up.

Thank you. Your time.

Saying what he is saying is he is in bold to say this for a No. No.

Because you don't know thing. I am the voice.

Be moving to any well, does this item have any more discussion or comments by board members when you're checking that? Excellent. So we're gonna go to four d work group reports. This item is for board discussion only. There's no staff presentation, so go directly to public comment.

Is there public comment? No? No. Right?

Seeing none.

I do do need to check, which I'm going to. We do not have public comment. I do technically can receive them online, so I that's why I check. We do not have public comment for item four d.

So there are

well, I mean, it is nice to have public comment. So this item is now open for discussion. Does anyone want to go first? Road home?

It's up to you. I can go first.

Yeah. Go ahead.

Last month, I only talked briefly about the open mic that we did, and I didn't really get a chance to talk about how wonderful it was to see the young folks come out and give their art and their music and their poetry and their spoken word. There were a lot of local people that were there. Some of them are the people that have been part of the West End for a long time, and they commented on some of the same people I did. There was young lady named, Teagan Williams who did an amazing job as part of her, spoken word. There was a young man who came in from trying to remember which school that was.

Came in from I think it was Encinell, and he talked about hate and love. And another young man came in from program and did some artwork that I thought was amazing. He was showing his family and his family's love. Again, it was a great program. I think it was worth spending the time.

We needed more participation from the adults is my only opinion. We had a few kids, but not enough adults. The other part of our united against hate program was that recently, last week, as a matter of fact, the national chapter of united against hate week had a program that I'm actually gonna try and get on for next month for us to be able to see some of it because it was a really eye opening program where they talked about the digital division and the breaking of the cycle of online hate and how wedge narratives are used to weaponize online hate and figuring out ways to keep the large corporations who use hate as a business model from doing so or at least give them understanding that the people who are on the other side, the receiving end, are not going to necessarily take it anymore. They talked about things like building gangs, not followers, groups of people that you could actually get together with and and share the right narratives as opposed to letting them give you the narratives to choose from because that's the way the algorithms are designed. Another really poignant piece they talked about was don't feed the trolls.

Don't give them the oxygen that they want. Don't give trolls oxygen. If you comment on stuff that trolls do, then you give them oxygen. And these are the type of things that I'd like to bring next month as similarly because I think that this is part of what united against hate week, the national chapter, and what united against hate Alameda united against hate are all about. We need to inform as many people about these types of things so that we can try and change some of the issues that we've been seeing.

A lot of the hate that you hear and see come from these same kind of algorithms and pushing those buttons in people's dopamine receptors. And that's the only two things I have so far. I will leave it at that. Thank you.

You know, I I got to go to something last week and it maybe think of you in the the whole garden and everything. There's a concert series that's happening right now in Alameda. It celebrates it it's celebrates bands that have the front person as a woman or nonbinary person. Nice. And they they just had one in that garden. I guess the other one's in Alameda. It's a very inclusive group. I think that that could be the type of group that that could be collaborated with in terms of the, you know, Alameda's Against Hate type events. Yeah. I like that. I think they'd be really open to it. Yeah. Yeah. Especially if you listen to lot of things they talk about. It wasn't just about the music. It was about the social inclusion.

And I'd actually been doing some work trying to work with some of the various churches to try and bring some of the local churches who were also involved. They have some, again, they're the ones that are doing the work. You know? Trinity Lutheran is the one that's got the doors open for all the homeless, and it's not like to have a lot of room. And finding other places to be able to have people to have safety are the same things that I talked about with Craig. And so it's not like these are not known topics. So, yeah, that those are the pieces that I'm

working on.

Thank you.

Yeah. Thank you. Why don't we do well, actually, Bernie, do you wanna

Oh,

excellent. Yeah.

So, so we met this past Monday, and, just as a very short report is that our task force is scheduled for May 4. And I believe we're still waiting on kind of ironing out who's going to speak and what we're doing.

I think we have that now, don't we, Jessica?

Do we have that? Because I don't

No. We've requested a f I have sent a request to Katherine Schwartz from AFS to present, and she responded but hasn't confirmed. So, hopefully, I'll confirm next week. But, typically, we do have, like, an update from APD and, like, the latest stats. Yeah. I will finalize the agenda early next week.

Perfect. Thank you. That's all I have.

Okay. Thank you. Do you have anything, Samantha, for Road Home? Or

No. Just for folks that are not participating in the strategic planning process, just to let them know that the third planning meeting was canceled due to community feedback, that it was difficult to attend. And so HHS is gonna be putting together the report and circulating it to community members for feedback rather than doing it as an in person meeting. So Scott and I will be able to review that and hopefully be able to provide more information about that, but we won't be attending the next meeting.

And the only other the team we have planned in May for city staff overdose response training.

Right.

And the hope is that the training will be first for city staff and then opened we have a partnership with the East Bay AIDS found AIDS Foundation. Yeah. I just forget the the acronym for it. They'll be leading their excellent, and then we'll hopefully have these trainings then open up to the public.

K. Nice.

Oh, and then we're working on the age the age friendly cities survey. Right?

Yes. Oh, so, yeah, thank you for your comments. Basically like, 90% of them actually were very useful. So that was so great. So thank you. And and I I appreciate that you listened to me and actually focused. So the survey, you know, has your demographic part, and then you have the main part of the survey. And and I I was really I felt squished with the regular part of the survey. You have to have a minimum of demographic stuff. Right?

And then it makes it go longer. And you really did cut out so much of that, which I really appreciated. The one thing that I just wanna clarify is nuance. One issue that I kept coming up again and again with Alameda seniors amongst and this is across a bunch of different programs and things, is there's a nuance where I don't use this service because I don't want to use the service, but I know about it. I just don't use it. Right? And I know about the service. I don't use it because I can't. That that was that one that one question section. And that especially happens at Mastic.

There are some classes that the same group of five or six people are just constantly in because they know when it opens up, and so it only leaves them half open. It's an ongoing problem there. The transportation program, the way they give out the bus passes, they constantly don't have the resource. Right? So those are great examples of that, and I'm trying to uncover that. But I know it's a it's a wonky way to ask it, so we may not get good data. We'll see. You know? The other thing I want so Shelby's gonna do final revisions, and we're hoping for a mid to late May launch because May is is older Americans month. I also have a proclamation with the mayor.

I don't know if she's gonna decide to read it or not. We will see, but I gave her a proclamation for Older Americans Month in May. And this this month is champion your health. So it's all about health care and taking personal responsibility for for making sure health care is in place. And and, actually, one thing about homelessness we're gonna touch on, the Dignity Village resident advisory board is trying to start a community garden.

They have raised beds and some other areas of ground level, but there was never that in the budget to actually have planting. So right now, I'm working with 100,000 trees, if if you're familiar with them, and actually a a co op that's in West Oakland that I I've known from from the past. I'm trying to get supplies and equipment. But if anyone also knows any resources, it's it's a really it's a worthy cause, and having them grow their own food is fantastic.

The Alameda Backyard Growers, you haven't connected with them?

Bakery Farm.

The Bakery Garden. But oh, I thought I thought the Alameda Backyard Farmers picked fruit from other

Uh-uh. They have they have all the seeds.

Yeah.

They have seed gardens. They have workshops. They have a tool library.

So you got in addition to the because I only knew about the tree picking where they go to people's yards and get Yeah. No. Fruit and bring it to food.

Backyard their their email they're really responsive on email, and they'll lead it. They're amazing. And

they'll I've met someone yesterday from there. I'll just call her. She gave me her card. I was at I was at a certain person's launch meeting for something.

Yeah.

And I met her. So, yeah, I'll call her.

Yeah. I don't mean

I think would be the the natural

Oh, good. Yeah. I don't know why I think of him.

Yep. Been doing a bunch of grants for the schools for their gardening projects, and I can help you connect with other resources. Okay.

Thank you. Yeah. I just yeah. Just to be a wonderful thing with you know, food has always been an issue in having fresh food there. And so if they could grow some of their own, it'd be fantastic, some green beans.

And then we can move right along to item five, staff communications. Do we have a we status report on the City Of Alameda's housing and human services?

Yes.

So mine are pretty short this month. Our biggest announcement and victory is that the day center reopened earlier this week. Restorative Pathways is the new provider operator of the day center. We will be hosting a resource fair there on April 27 at 11AM. As a a a little bit of a selfish plug, in addition to all the very valuable resources.

I will also be there with voting slips so people can vote on a name. So that'll be pretty cool. We have we've released a request for proposals or RFP for our residential rehabilitation program that was released April 14. Program potential program administrators have until May 14 to respond, and this would be for funding for residential rehabilitation of rental units. And we have affordability requirements and a requirement for it to be for smaller buildings. And Michelle mentioned the overdose response trainings. That's what I have for you all.

Thank you. Thank you. We can go to item six. Does anyone have any board communications nonagenda item?

I do.

Excellent. Go ahead.

I have a couple of things. First, I sat down and made a quick statement I wanted to make sure everybody got a chance to hear, and I wanna put it on public records. I really care deeply about the work that we do in this board. And lately, I felt like we've lost some of our initiative. I really do.

We've had a lot of turnovers, and and at our last meeting, we had been forced to table agenda items because of a disruption. I'm not gonna speak on the specifics tonight, but out of respect to the processes that are underway, what I'll say at this point is that the public's right to observe the board to record it and to criticize it is protected, and we uphold that without reservations. But those rights are not the same as the right to threaten or intimidate board members. That is a line that no one recognizes. The law recognizes that line.

Every minute we lose to disruptions is a minute we're not giving to these three task force that we are working on right now, the road home and age friendly, united against hate, and domestic violence. Survivors of domestic violence need us to be doing the job. People who are receiving hate need us to be doing the job. Our staff has moved eight people off the street in the last month. That's a great sign.

The over the three overdose response trainings are scheduled already. We've got those in place in May and July. The day before our last meeting, I stood at the open mic for the season of nonviolence, and that is work, and that is what the board is for. I'd like us to refocus on our 2026 and 2027 work plans and get back to doing the work. Again, we're talking about the work of the people that we're supposed to be representing.

So with that, I've finished that statement. I'll bring up one other topic that I think we should know about. So I don't know how many of you are familiar with the Crab Cove Alameda Wellness Respite Center. It's one of my favorite programs. It's now called Arnold's Place.

There's going to be a ribbon cutting on April 30. That's right. The doors are opening. The ribbon cutting will be at the Crab Cove Alameda Wellness respite program, and you can come down to 1245 McKay Avenue at 03:30 on April 30 to watch the ribbon cutting. I don't know about you guys, but I've been involved in that program for almost nine years now, eight years of us trying to get it down.

I remember when it was just paper, and now it's a building. And it's only the first half. We have a lot more work to do, and we need to be getting that done. And that's coming up this week or this next week. So please join me next week if you can for the ribbon cutting for Arnold's place. Thank you.

Thank you, Gerald. Are there any other announcements? I have one. Everyone who's lives now in media should have received one of these by now or will very soon. It's actually a survey. It's a survey about built environment. I'm using some age friendly terminology here. Built environment. You know, it's it's about, you know, flooding, repairing potholes, that sort of thing. During a WAVA meeting a couple weeks ago, the mayor mentioned that they're going to be planning to put out a a huge infrastructure infrastructure bond to voters.

So this would be an early opportunity. The that's what the signal of this is to me, is is this be an early opportunity for community members to actually comment on some of these proposed things they're going to do.

I have a question. Because I I looked at mine today, and it requires you to put a postage stamp on it. It requires you to put a postage stamp on it. So that's gonna skew the people that respond, and a lot of people don't even know where the post the stamp is

these days.

So maybe somebody could just put a box out in front of city hall and collect them. It's not a bad idea.

And are you I think

There's a QR code as well I saw to get you on there. So I know not everybody does QR codes. Of course.

You can yeah. So, I mean, I I hear what you're saying. There is one other option, though, for people who can use know how to use QR codes or have the technology for it, you can do that way. But people who may not have money for stamps may not be able to do the QR code too. So I I your your point is well taken. Very well. Yeah. But but please, if you get this survey, fill it out if you can. Any is there any other, any other communications? Nope. I'll see none. We can adjourn this meeting at 08:30PM. Thank you, everyone.

Thank you, Scott.