Oversight Board for the City of Riverside as Successor Agency to the Redevelopment Agency - Regular Meeting

Good afternoon. We are gonna go ahead and get started. Looks like we are live. Thank you all for being here today. We are gonna go ahead and call the meeting to order at 03:31. This is the Cedar Riverside Housing and Homelessness Committee meeting. We are gonna start with sharing for opening public comment up. For those who wanna participate virtually, there are two options available. You can call (951) 826-8686 and follow the prompts to access your desired language. Press 9 to be placed Individuals in the queue will be prompted to unmute by pressing 6 to speak.

And via Zoom, you can use the following Zoom link, and please select the raise hand function to request to speak. An on screen message will prompt you to unmute and allow you to speak, and public comment is limited to three minutes. So we're just gonna go ahead and see. I don't have any public comment cards here for, this portion and just seeing if we have any callers online. No callers for item one. Perfect. So we're going to go ahead and close public comment and we are going to move to our discussion calendar. The first item we have is housing authority project updates and we have Michelle Davis, our housing and human services director.

Good afternoon, housing and homelessness committee members, city staff and guests. Again, my is Michelle Davis, the Housing and Human Services Director. I am filling in today for Agrippina Neubauer, who's enjoying her vacation down at the Comic Con, so wishing her a nice vacation. It's a pleasure to be with you today to provide an update on the housing authority projects. The city of Riverside has 3,547 affordable housing units that are built and an additional four seventy six units that are currently in the pipeline for development, including 169 units that are permanent supportive housing.

For folks that don't know what PSH is, it is a proven model that combines low barrier affordable housing, healthcare and supportive services to help individuals and families achieve long term housing stability. We anticipate 59 affordable housing units coming online in 2025 and another three forty three will be coming online in 2026. This report doesn't include housing projects that are receiving density bonuses through the Community and Economic Development Department, but our next report will include these units for the committee. Starting in Ward 1, the Mulberry Gardens developed by Eden Housing is located at 2524 Mulberry Street. It's between 3rd Street and Spruce.

That project is currently underway. Phase one includes 59 affordable senior housing units, and phase two is another 150 additional family units. It's expected to close financing on phase two by this September. The project was awarded approximately 27,900,000 in state affordable housing sustainable communities grant funds. The city attorney's office is currently drafting an ASIC agreement to provide aid in housing with $14,000,000 for housing development and another $1,100,000 for transit related programs, Sean over here gets to work on.

Staff will bring the HOME Investment Partnerships Program Agreement for the amount of $1,500,000 approximately to City Council for its consideration on August 19. A groundbreaking ceremony for phase one and a construction site tour of the senior project is expected to take place at the end of the summer. The slide before you shows the vacant parcel at 2550 14th Street, which is owned by Path of Life Ministries, who is proposing to build a single family home, an ADU, and a junior ADU. Path Life recently submitted plans to the Community Economic Development Department Planning Division for their design review. The housing authority owns a duplex at 2348 University Avenue that will be demolished due to structural and ADA issues.

It will be replaced with three new affordable housing units. The original contractor that was going to be awarded the recommendations for the demolition bid can no longer guarantee the pricing. So the bid has been canceled, and we're going to have to go back out to bid with that project. In Ward 1, the housing authority owns property at 2882 Mission Inn Avenue, and the successor agency owns the adjacent parcel at 27312871 University. We did receive a proposal from MJW Investments, and it was received to develop 74 housing units, which include 12 affordable units.

We are awaiting an updated project budget and timeline from the developer to complete the disposition and development agreement, which will have to move forward to the successor agency and the housing authority for their consideration. The city owns a building at 2800 Hewland Place, which is leased to the Riverside University Health System's Behavioral Health for the operation of 31 permanent supportive housing units. The building is under rehab right now and is scheduled for completion in March 2026, and we did extend the lease with the county for thirty years. The Riverside Access Center located at 2880 Hewlett Place is a city operated drop in day center that offers services and shelter access to our in house population. The facility requires major upgrades.

The estimated rehab cost is approximately $1,500,000 which is being funded through our Community Development Block Grant and Measure Z funds. The contractor agreement has been executed, and our architect is working on the floor plan designs. Olive Crest Church, located at 3431 Mount Vernon in Ward 2, is proposing a transitional housing development for families and transitional aged youth. The church is seeking $2,800,000 in donations and million dollars endowment for maintenance. A temp exemption letter was issued.

Olive Crest is requesting $285,431 in grant funds to cover permit fees. And on April 10, the Planning Commission did approve their conditional use permit for the project. The city has partnered with the Riverside Housing Development Corporation, also known as RHDC, on a motel conversion project located at 1590 University Avenue, which will convert 114 motel rooms into 90 permanent supportive housing units and 20 affordable housing units. On March of twenty fifth of this year, the City Council did approve a homeless housing assistance and prevention subrecipient agreement with RHDC for $250,000 to support predevelopment costs. Following the passage Proposition one, in March 2024, dollars 1,140,000,000.00 was made available through the HomeKey grant program.

A HomeKey grant application was submitted in May for approximately $27,000,000 for the project, and we are waiting for conditional awards to be announced by HCD. The state has issued the first seven awards, totaling $102,900,000 and is reviewing 64 applications requesting that total $1,100,000,000 In Ward 5, Habitat for Humanity owns property at 7382 And 7003 And 84 Garden Street and is proposing to build 13 single family homes in eight ADUs. On March 11, City Council did approve a resolution authorizing the submission of a $10,000,000 Cal Home grant request under the 2024 Homeownership Super NOFA. Unfortunately, we have not heard yet if we've been awarded those funds, so stay tuned. In Ward 7, Neighborhood Partnership Housing Services is developing 22 permanent supportive housing units at 11049 Bogart Avenue.

On April 16, City Council did approve a disposition and development agreement to sell the property to NPHS for $1 In March, Council did approve a Pro housing incentive program, also known as a PIP, loan of $1,400,000 and a permanent local housing allocation loan of $1,500,000 In May 2025, city council did approve a home loan agreement of 1,500,000.0 And then we are actually the application for the Homekey Funds has been submitted to the state, and we are still waiting for announcements to be released on those funds. And then a groundbreaking did take place on the property on 07/02/2025, and they had tractors out there moving dirt. So looking forward to that project coming online in the future. Through the Transformative Climate Communities grant in World II and the Eastside Climate Collaborative, there have been 1,000 trees planted. Grid has installed 36 solar systems with the goal of 100.

SAPWA has installed 14 xeriscape landscapes with the goal of 35. And we had 60 trainees graduate from the Workforce Development Construction program. So the slide before you has been updated because graduates last month. And the next cohort is going to be scheduled for August 4. The Neighbor to Neighbor grant has recently transitioned from the Human Services to our Housing Authority team.

They are overseeing the $998404.40.65 dollars grant from the Office of Planning and Research California Volunteers for the Greater Orlanza area, connecting neighbors to neighbors that incorporates a Blue Zone integration project. The city did contract with Riverside Community Health Foundation for $500,000 to hold a resident leadership academy sessions with residents. To date, RCHF has held over 30 outreach and peer leader training events with approximately 50 more in progress. The city did contract with Love Riverside for $250,000 for community impact projects. To date, Love Riverside has hosted 10 neighborhood cleanup, beautifications, and disaster preparedness events with at least five more in the pipeline.

At this time, I respectfully request that the Housing and Homelessness Committee receive the update on housing authority projects. This does conclude my presentation. I and Andrew Robles, who's our housing project coordinator, is in the audience that can answer any questions that the committee may have.

Thank you so much. Thank you, Michelle. And just seeing, I don't think we have mhmm. Yes. I think it is. Sorry. I don't know if you wanna turn up the mics. I don't have any public comment cards for this item either. Just seeing if we have any other comments online and just looking to my committee members if they have any questions on this. Yes. Council member?

Yes. Thank you. On the Quality Inn, I know they're doing some more due diligence work on cost assessments and things like that. Do we have any updates on progress on that?

The sewer report's coming in shortly, so I'll have that to you. That will have any adjustments for numbers. That will be coming out of contingency that's already been identified in the budget, as well as the elevations. Those should be coming in shortly as well that we can share out at the community meetings.

And then we're expecting to hear back on if we got the grant when?

I don't know. Right now they're reviewing them, so they already awarded seven. So we're in the pipeline with the other 64 applications. So once we get the notification, we haven't got a recall regarding any questions. So I

don't know

if that's a good sign, a bad sign, we'll see.

Okay, alright thank you.

You're welcome.

Okay, no other questions from the committee on that? Thank you so much Michelle, I appreciate that. We'll go on to our next item which is, and just see if we had any hands raised or any other callers in the queue for this item. And I saw we had some one person asking to let access into the meeting. Did everyone get in? Yes. Okay. Wonderful. Thank you. Thank you, Nancy. Great, we'll go to the next item number three, which is St. Michael's Apartments update. This is a fifteen minute presentation. Michelle, you're back up.

I will try to make this quick. I know you don't like more than ten minutes. Good afternoon, Housing and Homeless Committee members again. I'm Michelle Davis with the Housing and Human Services. It's a pleasure to be in front of you today to provide an update on the St. Michael's apartments. The community is located at 474 Jackson Street, located between Sage Avenue and Kingsbury Place. It's designed to address both both the housing and service needs in our community. The property does include fifty one and two bedroom apartments, a property manager's office, private case management offices, and rooms for individuals and groups services. 24 of the 50 units are designated as permanent supportive housing, specifically tailored to support individuals and families who have experienced chronic homelessness or are at risk of homelessness.

PSH residents have access to wraparound services designed to promote long term housing stability and wellness. The community was developed by Community Development Partners, also known as CPD, a mission driven organization committed to creating quality affordable housing. The property was built on land leased from St. Michael's Episcopal Church. CPD received their certificate of occupancy on 06/23/2023.

Mercy House serves as a primary supportive services provider, helping residents maintain housing stability and pursue personal goals. Additionally, Riverside University Health System's behavioral health provides specialized services to tenants under the California's No Place Like Home program, also known as NPLHA. The project was funded through seven different funding sources totaling $17,900,000 including 2,000,000 from the city's housing authority and 4,300,000.0 approximately from the county's No Place Like Home grant. The No Place Like Home grant program funds the development of permanent supportive housing for individuals who are homeless or chronically homeless with a focus on those needing mental health services. The city's housing authority did record a fifty five year affordability covenant on the property, ensuring that 25 of the units remain affordable to low income households.

So for a one person household, they can't make more than $62,650 annually. And 24 units for extremely low income households, for a one person household cannot make more than $23,500 annually. At the request of Ward 5 City Council member Mill, staff has prepared this presentation in response to residents' concerns about increased homelessness and the presence of individuals residing in vehicles near the St. Michael's apartments, especially in front of the St. Michael's Episcopal Church.

On 05/14/2025, Lieutenant Chinchilla of the Riverside Police Department, along with Andrew Rebels and myself from the Housing and Human Services met with Danny Carmano, the property manager from FPI Management, to address these concerns. Danny did report incidents involving unauthorized individuals that were entering the premises and engaging in illegal activity in the trash enclosure areas. The newly appointed property manager is actively enforcing lease provisions and is working closely with case managers and tenants to resolve ongoing issues. Lieutenant Ginchilla provided his contact information and is coordinating a resident safety meeting. I want to thank the police department for helping us with the analysis of calls for service.

The Riverside Police Department pulled data between 08/02/2023 to 05/31/2025 that showed there were 159 calls averaging seven per month in the area bounded by Jackson Street, Sage Avenue, Scott Street, and Hawthorne Avenue. During the same period, three fifty three calls averaging 16 per month originate from 4070 and 4074 Jackson Street. These range from nine eleven hang ups to safety related incidents. Of the 67 reported completed by officers' reports, 47 of the reports were tied to 47 And 47 Ford Jackson Street, representing 70% of the reports. And 20 reports were associated with the surrounding area, which does represent 20% of the reports that officers had submitted.

Many incidents involved sleeping, individuals sleeping in vehicles, and using nearby addresses as reference points, suggesting that not all reported activities is directly connected to the St. Michael's apartments. It should be noted that the available data does not include detailed information regarding the nature of each call. RPD also did review the same data for the previous year from 06/01/2022 to 07/01/2023, that showed a total of 141 calls incidents in that area, and there were 91 incidents for forty seven and forty seven for Jackson, which represented 64% of the calls, and 50 calls that were for incidents in the surrounding area, which represents 36% of the calls. A total of 12 reports were completed by officers, five reports for Forty seven and forty seven for Jackson, which represents 42% of the reports submitted, and seven reports for the surrounding locations, which was at 58%.

Code enforcement also reviewed their records for the same time frame and found no open cases. Past complaints in 2023 included overgrown vegetation, overflowing trash in the dumpster area, and a single complaint alleging oil in a tenant's shower water. In coordination with St. Michael's Episcopal Church, Lieutenant Chinchella did obtain a sign no trespassing or loitering the violator subject to arrest authorization form. This document does enable RPD to enforce the California Penal Code six zero two and address unlawfully activity on the church property.

A similar form was already in place for the St. Michael's apartments, authorizing RPD to take appropriate enforcement action as needed. However, we were recently notified by RPD that per CPC six zero two, the no trespassing form must be now be notarized. So RPD is actively working with property owners to obtain these signed forms. On 08/01/2024, City's Housing Authority staff conducted the first monitoring visit at St.

Michael's Apartments. 10 units were inspected and lease files were reviewed. There were no physical deficiencies that were identified during the inspections. However, of the lease files, five tenants did have discrepancies, including four missing income recertifications, five missing bank statements, and three missing certified tax returns. The current property owner is working to submit the required documents to correct these issues.

A follow-up monitoring site was conducted on July 9, and 10 units were inspected. Four units had concerned issues that included poor housekeeping, a missing doorknob, and damaged bedroom blinds. Additionally, the lease files found missing bank statements again and tax returns for employed residents. The property manager also reported one PSH unit was in the process of being evicted. The Riverside Police Department and the Housing and Human Services staff are currently collaborating with Mercy House to schedule a resident safety meeting at the St.

Michael's apartment. In addition, a second meeting is being planned with the apartment residents, St. Michael's Episcopal Church, and the neighboring community members to explore forming a neighborhood watch group to improve communication and safety in the area. At this time, I respectfully request that the Housing and Homeless Committee receive and file the update on the St. Michael's Apartments. I also have key partners available to answer any questions that are on I have Charles Chapman in the audience for Mercy House. He is the Riverside County Regional Director in the chambers. And then Shola Gewen, CPD's Director of Asset Management Services Programs Coordinator. And Rose Merryman, she's the St. Michael's Asset Manager. And then I also have Sergeant Escobar in the way back to answer any questions that are RPD related.

Thank you so much, Michelle. Let me see real quick if we have any public comment. I know we had some written. It looks like we have about four comments that came in that were provided to, the committee up here that were printed from online. I do not see any public comment cards from the audience and just seeing if does any member in the audience wanna make a public comment? Sorry. Saw a hand move, so I wasn't sure. Okay. Seeing if there's anyone online. I'm not seeing any. Just double checking. One hand raised online. We'll go ahead and take the caller. Please go ahead if we can unneed them. Go ahead.

Is the caller unmuted? Caller, go ahead. We have you unmuted. You can speak in to speak. Looks like we're getting notes that the caller is not speaking.

Just not sure if they're Spanish speaking. Is there anyone online? Just wanna make sure we can take this caller before we close public comment, or we could try to see if we can cure them on the back end and go into committee comments and come back. If IT can help us with seeing if they could hear the caller or get connection with them, that'd be great. And we can move into some comments from committee or questions, and then we can still come back to that that caller if they have their hand raised.

Ma'am, did you have a public comment? Did you you have to come down to give a public comment regarding this item? Regarding this item? Item? Yes. Okay. Yes. Please, you can come on down then. This is a perfect time. We'll have you fill out a public comment card if as soon as you're done just for the record, but you have three minutes. Go ahead. And, actually, if I take, maybe we can figure out this piece with the caller while we have take your comment. You have three minutes.

Hi. My name is Rosa Vazquez. I live on Stott Street. My backyard is a vacant lot that's neighboring the apartment complex. Fought very long and hard to stop the project when it was presented to us. We were lied to. What was presented to us is not what we currently have. They promised it would bring up our property value, and it was gonna enhance the community. Totally not the case. We have dealt with homelessness around our neighborhood, trash around our neighborhood, cars parked.

Our streets look like parking lots. I've had homeless people knocking on my doors, peeking through my windows, stealing my packages, and I filed police report. They've come to my home and filed the report. Recently, I had a van that was dropped off in front of my house for five days. They it was only moved because of Street Sweeper.

When they came back to try and park there again, my husband had already moved my son's car there. Well, what happened the next day? Nails on my son's car. So my question or my comment is, how is a neighborhood watch gonna change the situation that we're having when we're already watching out for ourselves? We call each other as neighbors, and we report what's going on. So and nothing has changed. So what is a neighborhood watch gonna do for us? So can anybody answer that question?

So we can't directly respond to you when you're giving public comment. We can we're gonna take your comment, and then when we come back to committee, potentially, there could be a response from your council member or something else. But we can't do this usually during comment, but just giving you some feedback now.

Alright. Well, that that is my comment. Neighborhood Watch is not gonna solve the issue that my neighborhood is having. I moved there seventeen years ago, planning to retire there because there's a beautiful, safe community, which that's not the case at the moment. And, honestly, with the pricing of housing, who wants to buy there? And then how can we afford to move anywhere else? I didn't want that in my backyard. I was against it. And now it's there, and I'm stuck. So I just want changes.

And, I wanna know what this, neighborhood watch is going to resolve.

Thank you.

Thank you.

No. Thank you for coming down and making your comment. Can we just have you fill out this public comment card, please, so we could have it for the record? Thank you, ma'am. Anyone else want any other final public comment before we close-up? Can we try to go back to the person on oh. Yes. Yes. Sir, please come on down. Go ahead. We'll do the same thing with the kind woman we had here and have you give your comment, and then we'll have you fill up the card. I believe it's mister Anderson? Yes. Alright. Thank you for being here today. You have three minutes, sir.

Thanks. Don't know. Maybe I'm out of line. Is it too early to talk about the parking situation?

No. You could go ahead. Make please make your comment.

Okay. Well, I know this Presbyterian church leases their church to other churches. I think three more. Every time there's a funeral, god rest our souls, the street is inundated. My children can't even come visit me without parking two streets away. So see what I'm getting at? Saint Michael's, what, they have no place to park for their church. So, I don't know. I get emotional. Honestly, it pisses me off.

I've been living there since 1987. Never seen anything like this. Makes me angry. I don't wanna be the guy angry. Fought in Vietnam. Kinda done with that. That's all I got to say.

Thank you, mister Anderson. If you could just please help us really quick with filling out this card so we can make sure we have on record your public comment. Thank thank you so much. Thank you. Well, thank you. We just we do need it for the record. But thank you for coming down to make your comment. Can we I we don't have anyone else in the audience. Could we please go back to the caller online and unmute them, see if we can hopefully get through this time? And if not, we will have to close public comment and come back to committee.

Any update from IT? Caller, you are in mute. Go ahead and speak if you'd like to give a public comment. Otherwise, we are gonna have to close-up public comment and move on. You are unmuted.

Okay. Since we're not getting any response, we're gonna go ahead and close public comment then, and we are gonna come back to committee. I will start with council member Robillard.

Thank you, Clarissa. Yes. I have a couple of questions regarding the, first off, the calls for service to the area. The range is from $8.02 $20.20 '3 to 530 01/2025. Was there is the consistency pretty much the same year round or was there an increase, decrease between 2024 and 2025?

There's a slight increase because now you have residents at the apartment complex that are also calling law enforcement when people are trespassing, jumping the fence, and things like that.

And you gave some went through the stats pretty quickly, the more detailed stats. There's there there's a lot of calls from the surrounding neighborhood as well, and you said there's a comment that they could or could not be related to the house or the activities that are happening in the house. Some of the comments I've heard was that it's not necessarily residents at the apartment, but it's people they associate with. Is that true to be the case?

That's correct. And then we also have the park that's Cross Street. We have PANS that's doing a great job at the park, but it does move and force people out into the community. So we're trying to see how we can get PANS into the adjacent neighborhoods to address that as well and then also working with the church because the church doesn't have folks on the property seven days a week. That's why the no trespassing firm was really critical in getting RPD having the ability to go in and address the issues on that property as well.

Okay. On the when you guys did the the audit or when you guys did the inspection and there was some missing documents for some of the the contracts. After they they go back and find get those documents? And are those residents still income qualified, or are they over their income to qualify?

We've since received for for last year. Just today, I received the missing documentation. I haven't had a chance to review that yet, but I will in the next couple of days.

Okay. Because I I know it's very pertinent on affordable housing that we make sure that these individuals are income qualified because sometimes they used to be or not anymore. I know LA just went through a big lots of the residents are not income qualified anymore. So we do need to make sure that we are staying on top of this. And you said there's some been some changes by the the manager as far as improving things? What sort of things have been done?

So you have a property manager that now is more aggressive on lease violations. Used to be you get three or four, now it's one or two. And then they did have one incident where they tried to evict a tenant and the judge would not allow them to evict the tenant, so they had to go back and revisit the lease again to see what other violations are occurring and have to go through that additional process. So sometimes it's of no fault of their own, sometimes it is a judicial system that's creating some of those issues.

And this management company, this is the only facility that they manage or are the other facilities that they manage in our city?

They're on the line, know they can give some information. Do I have somebody on CPD? Or do you want to, Charles? I can have Charles from Mercy House. Give an update.

Yes, they do manage other properties. The other property is similar to St. Michael's. I believe that they're on the line. Somebody from CDP and FBI should available.

So is it the company policy that was different or is it the individual manage manager that

was I

think it was both. You had a property manager that was pushing upward Okay. Requesting that those policies change.

Gotcha. Okay. Okay, that is it for me, thank you.

Vice Chair?

Thank you, Chair. First, let me just state that a little disappointing to hear that we're now beginning to have more crackdown on lease violations because these folks that here and all their neighbors were promised from the get go that they're gonna have a management team in place that was gonna have, you know, no shenanigans over there. They were gonna be cracking down and here we find out that, you know, well they were a little lax. Well I mean, we promised this community, I guess it was probably five years ago when the project came to fruition, Oh, don't worry. We're gonna have have a great team in place to make sure nothing goes goes awry.

And I I would have thought, you know, given the the heat index around this project that we would have made sure that that happened. It's pretty disappointing to hear that we had, you know, folks that were overseeing the project that were a little lax. I'm glad to hear that they're starting to, but it should have started when when the project, came to fruition in the from from day one because that's what the community was promised. They were promised, don't worry. We're gonna have a management team in place.

There'll be no shenanigans here. And to hear that that we're now coming into what we've made the initial promise is a little disappointing. Let me go back to I I have a whole lot here, but we'll just start with the neighborhood watch piece. I can assure you that these neighbors talk to each other. This is one of the most organized group of folks I and and caring. They care about each other. They all know each other. So I'm kinda with them. I I mean, they already kinda have a neighborhood watch in place, and it just seems like, us offering to oh, we'll do a neighborhood watch or Saint Michael's saying, let's work with the community. It's just kind of a Band Aid on a problem.

These folks are already doing this. They already look out for each other. They're already making those phone calls. Because trust me, they they call me regularly about these issues. I hear about this at least couple times a week. And there and not just from one person. There's a lot of times you'll go to an a a neighborhood and there's just the one person that that constantly is calling about this or that. I hear from a multitude of people in in this community. It's not just one loud voice that is just mad that their their life is different than it was yesterday. I hear from a lot of different neighbors, and they're they are frustrated beyond beyond get out.

Again, one of the things, we'll just deal with the with the, lease violation. Was there any indication that there was subletting of of some of these units, taking place?

Not that I'm aware of. No.

So Yeah. There was there was none. So what are what can we get more specific into what violations we're finding? Because it I mean, it looks like 50% of all the we only audit 10 of the units. I mean, I think we should audit every every single unit every year to make sure that everybody 50% of the units that we that we we audited, there was a a violation of some sort. That's pretty concerning. So I I think that that would be an indication that maybe we should look deeper into everything. If we're finding that there's 50% of violations in the 10, I mean, that's I think we should look deeper. I think I think these neighbors deserve, deserve that. I think they deserve us to be going in and making sure that there's nothing awry.

That's what they were promised. People sat up on this diocese and promised them, oh, don't worry. There's this is gonna be your property values are gonna go up. This is gonna be the best thing that ever happened to you, and yet I hear from them every multiple times a week that it's not. So why are we not auditing every unit? I mean, when we're finding 50% of the units we do audit have an issue.

Yeah. We actually sample them. And so if we do see a property that is a concern, we can go and increase the number of units that are being monitored.

I would think 50% of the units having a a problem would be a red flag to me. I I would think that would be because it appears that, like, last year we did the audit, we only sampled 10 units and we found out 50%. This year, I think the number is dropped to hold it's gone from 50% to 40%. That's still a significant amount. I I think if one unit has has an issue, that's that's that's too many. But, again, there's a pattern here. There's a pattern. And I think that the neighbors who were promised that we were gonna be on top of this deserve us. And I think we should be auditing every single unit. And if we're finding problems there, we need to make sure they're rectified.

It's it's what we promised the community. So you're telling me that you've you've heard nothing of of of anybody letting people who aren't supposed to live there be living in the units? No.

I've heard complaints of people jumping the fence coming onto the property and that's kind of why the neighborhood watch, they wanna set that up is because some of the residents there at the apartment complex aren't, they don't know a lot of the residents in the neighborhood and so they wanna be able to participate in that group that they currently aren't part of because there isn't one in existence.

So when we're talking about calls for service, there was one one department that's kinda missing from here. I I noticed that they're we're not showing Riverside Fire Department calls to the site, and I I would be real interested what what the calls for Riverside Fire Department because this is a clean and sober living facility. So it would be interesting to know. Right? The folks that live there are they can have drugs on on-site?

Well, not it's well, it's not a sober living facility.

But I mean, these are people who again, the neighbors were promised that we were gonna make sure that we were gonna take these people off the streets and weren't make sure that their their lives are getting in order. So I would be interested to know how many drug related calls go to that site. How many of our times has our fire department had to go to that site for a drug related call? Again, the neighbors were promised that we were saving lives and it was gonna be the best thing for the community. So I'd be really interested to know how many drug related calls from Riverside Fire Department have gone to that site.

Now I have scores of comments. We have a couple emails that we got, from folks. And I'll start with the number one issue is is gonna be parking. Now when the apartment complex took over Saint Michael's, Saint Michael's Church gave up basically all their parking except for eight spots, four of which are handicapped. Their shirt their church seats probably over 200 people.

So when they have a service at their church, there are four non handicapped spots and four handicapped spots. That means the rest of and now I I realize it doesn't have anything to do with the apartments specifically, but the apartments took all the parking that the church used to have. So now the neighborhood is inundated with nothing but cars. They they you know, if there's a big big event at the church, and there are regularly because I get the phone calls saying, can't park anybody can't come to my house because the cars are are lining in the streets. And I go over there.

I I don't just take people's word for it. I go out and inspect. Nothing but cars. But what I also notice is that the parking lot for the apartments is almost empty. There's hardly anybody parking in there. So is it that they don't allow, cars that are unregistered to park on their site? Let me I mean, is there parking regulations for the apartments where they make sure they say that the people who live there have to have a registered vehicle to legally park in their parking?

They do require that, but again, we've talked to the property manager, and most of the folks park on the they're parking inside the property. And a lot of the clients there don't have vehicles.

Because when I walk that area, and again, I do this quite often, what I notice, along that street is a lot of unregistered vehicles parked along that street. Now, maybe we need to reach out to parking enforcement and have them regularly go out and deal with the unregistered vehicles that are parked there. But I I have a feeling that those unregistered vehicles are tied to that complex because before this project was built, that was not happening. Again, I know because I would go into that neighborhood regularly. So all of a sudden, the Saint Michael's apartments project gets there, all of sudden, these unregistered vehicles show up along the streets taking up parking.

And on trash days, talk about talk about a nightmare when people wanna put out their trash cans and there's a bunch of cars parked on the street. So almost everybody that I've heard from, including the the the emails we got, parking from that project is, and I I mean, I've been here long enough that I I was on the planning commission when this came, and I told them at the time that parking was gonna be the number one issue. And sure enough, here we go. I I mean, I'm looking through all these comments, and everybody to a person says, because of that project, parking is destroying our neighborhood. So maybe I reach out to the PD or parking services, but we need to have regular patrols through there because there's a lot of there's cars being dumped there.

There's people living in their cars. I I I get calls from folks, that live on the other side of the project, not the front side of the project, but on the backside. And they were going on vacation, and they were afraid to leave their house because there were people living in cars on in in front of their house. This didn't it didn't happen before this project was there. This was a nice, quiet neighborhood that and, again, I mean, maybe what are the odds?

The apartments get there, all of a sudden, I look at the the calls for service. Look at the number calls for police service since this guy they've skyrocketed since this project has got there. So and I hear it multiple times a week. People are afraid in their neighborhood. They they don't feel comfortable, going out after dark, walking their dogs, you know, taking their kids, walking over to the park because of the people that are congregating in the area. And the only thing that's changed in the last five years is that development. Nothing else has changed in that neighborhood other than this development. So, I'm just gonna go through, you know, lack of parking in the neighborhood. This was from an anonymous caller. She was so afraid.

She didn't wanna speak. She said, I don't wanna give my name because I fear retribution. So council member Mill, I am not gonna tell you who I am, but I'm gonna tell you, and she she doesn't speak English, so she spoke to my assistant. She would not give my assistant her name, and they spoke in Spanish. And she said there's a lack of parking in the neighborhood.

She said, many of the cars parked in there have no license plates. And I can verify that a lot of them don't have license plates, or if they do have license plates, they're they're long past due for their registration. She said I have people sleeping in cars. She said she said that one of the people who live in the apartments one day decided to come over to her house and take a shower using her using her hose, hosed off in her front yard, and then took her shoes for good for good measure after she was they were done showering. And then she said that, you know, many of her friends, because a lot of those people in that that neighborhood, they while they're angry that it's there, they volunteer.

They they these I mean, they actually live by Christian values where they actually walk the walk and they go out and they don't just talk about, helping those less fortunate. They do it. They live in that neighborhood. They're not happy with the project there, but they still volunteer their time. She said that many of the people that volunteer there, you know, said that it's kind of there's no enforcement of of of any kind going on. Some other folks, again, traffic, parking. The property itself is not exactly, very good looking. It's they they use the word unkemptness. If you drive past the I mean, the grass is is dead. It looks terrible.

Both the church property and the the apartment property. Again, they said the building is an eyesore, but, you know, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. So I you know, I'm not gonna comment on that. And she she says church property, again, deteriorated, dead grass, junk vehicles on the street, and there are junk vehicles all over the place on the street. Homeless now hanging hanging around, and you see them hanging out around there, a lot more often than they used to be.

And the part that makes me sad is that she said I no longer feel safe in my neighborhood. They've lived there since the eighties. Another person, these were at their front door, said, you know, the noise. Again, parking. She said, I don't I don't feel safe in the neighborhood in the neighborhood. And then, again, the fact that Saint Michael's has an empty parking lot, but my street has all the people parking in it and then a lot more trash in the area. So these and then, again, one more comment that I got was let me find it. Where is it? A lack of parking. It's just it's just they gotta figure out something in regards to parking.

Yeah. We have the Hunt Park across the street. Maybe there's an opportunity to have we set up a a crosswalk, going from the park. But when they have big events for the church, make sure the church is maybe they set up an agreement with the city that they're using it, but they should not be parking. Every I mean, they have eight parking spots, four of which are handicapped, and they have a huge funeral, and they take up the neighborhood.

Or if they have any church service because they they lease out the church for service, and they park in the neighborhood. Because they gave up the parking for this project, we have to get something done about that. I hear about it multiple times a week. We have to do something about the people sleeping in the cars over there. We have to do something about, the cars that are legally parked. And none of this was happening. Again, people say, well, you know, what's that got to with the apartments? None of this was happening before they were there. I know because I was there before the apartments got there, and I've talked to people who've lived there, like, like, mister Anderson who's lived there since 1987. Talked to a lot of folks who've lived there since the nineteen eighties, and they're they're frustrated.

They were promised something different than they got. So, again, you know where I stand. I'm I'm very frustrated. I'm very frustrated that this community of of longtime residents were disrupted, and I think they were sold a bill of goods. I really do. So that's all I have right now.

Okay. Thank you, vice chair. And I do have some questions, and I'm glad we have a couple representatives from different groups that could hopefully answer some. I will say, you know, looking at the the four comments we got that were emailed to us from some residents that live in the neighborhood. And one of the things that I find interesting, and I I will say that one thing I've observed also, and so I don't know if it's isolated to this project, come some of the churches in the East Side.

We've also seen what looked like abandoned vehicles kind of around there. I don't know if they're seen as, like, safe havens or if it's because people are going there, you know, for other types of and I know, again, those churches I'm thinking of also provide free meal services or other things. And so I do feel that there's a connection there for folks. This is also why we are exploring the safe parking pilot project. What we have noticed has been an increase of individuals that are in house sleeping in their cars and looking for safe communities and spaces to sleep.

I'm not saying that that's you know, I understand then it brings raises questions about who's in the neighborhood, is there is there a mal intent? When I think my my thought is experience of talking to people who are in house sleeping in cars is they're actually trying to find a state neighborhood they feel safe in, that they think that they won't have any issues or be, you know, bothered or someone's gonna try to break in the vehicle to hurt them. And they usually are looking for, I feel like, safe neighborhoods, probably like this neighborhood where they feel like, okay, could be here overnight. I'm in a space where if I need support or services, I know maybe the church is right there or that they offer help. So I think we have to again think about big picture and how do we find places to put those people that specifically are living in their cars and find safe places for them in the city that they can sleep overnight while they are also trying to hopefully save money to then move into one day getting a place of their own.

So I will say that one thing though in a thread I've noticed in the comments around this, and not not to say you know, I I I don't believe in coincidences also. So I'm not to say that potentially because of once this project got completed, there was an impact of now some cars coming to some of the adjacent neighborhood streets. I'm gonna ask some questions that are probably gonna be more geared towards maybe some stuff the council member will have to work potentially work on if he likes with some of the other departments. Or if it's part of this whole project, maybe we need a wraparound to think about, you know, at committee. But I'm not sure if it's have we explored parking permits for this street?

I don't know if PPZ is something that we can look to enforce. I know usually you need an x amount of households to sign off on it. I think I wanted to ask kind of coming to that, though, it seems like in one of the comments or two of the comments, we have residents flagging that there are two homes on Hawthorne that are potentially halfway home. One's a halfway home and the other one is a home potentially for women and kids. Can anyone please speak to, you know, have we made contact with these homes to see what we could do as a city to work with them to address what might be, you know, high frequent visitors or heavy use of, again, the street. Do we know kind of what's happening there? Have we made contact with those sites that appear to kind of maybe be problem properties? The

first one is the, it's almost like a sober living for women, right up the street from St. Michael's. We actually got a 03:11 call on that this last part of last week. It was for an individual that was staying there that they actually reached out to Outreach to try and connect them to resources because they were exiting out of that program. So we're trying to work with them to ensure that they're reaching out to us before upon exiting, like have a plan in place before they're gonna be exited out on the street. So that might be spilling over into that. I also wanna talk about St. Michael's Church that is providing resources when this project was gonna be stood up. There was conversations about decreasing or seizing those services there. They're still occurring there, so we've been trying to meet with Mother Mary there, but haven't been able to get ahold of her to schedule a meeting.

I know I've tried. I'm hoping that RPD might be able to get in contact with her and get a better chance of getting ahold of her so we can have those conversations because it's that, it's the parking issue and the landscaping issue. The grass is dead, There's no landscaping out So having those conversations with her to address those issues that the residents are having in that area as well. But I don't know the second one that

you When referred you say services, just for those in the general public may not know, what kind of services are they providing to members of the public right now?

We can provide shelter. We can assist individuals with their IDs. It's individual based. If we have somebody that wants to go into a treatment program, we can get them into a drug treatment program. We will link them up with behavioral health if they need mental health services. If our shelter beds are full, we'll put them in a motel until there's a bed available to transfer them into.

So that's right now where if someone goes to St. Michael's, that is what they're usually seeking, right, the services that they're currently providing, if you're a walk in, I guess. Correct.

Yeah, and we've sent outreach out there, and we get you know, folks that don't want services. And so we keep going out there and trying, but again, everything's voluntary.

So are we thinking or your thinking is potentially how do we shift where that could go to maybe another location so that we don't have the influx of folks that are coming and potentially lingering or now loitering around the community?

Yeah. But I would hope they'd be receptive to services too.

Yeah.

Yeah. Of course. Okay. And another thought, you know, or question that some that's coming up recurrently, and this one I thought was odd, though, and this came in from Nancy Melendez, who shared that towing companies are dropping off cars on Hawthorne. I saw this happening. This is her comment. I saw this happening across the street from my house at the side of my neighbor's house on Stotts. I asked the driver what address he is delivering this car to, and he would not tell me. He quickly dumped the car five feet away from the curb and left. And then she goes on to share.

But question, I think if PD can help with this, could we if we need to assess if cars are being dumped, you know, or, like, tow vehicles are illegally dropping cars that are nonoperable or have no plates that we're seeing in the community. What can we either as a council or what could be done to address that issue?

If we could be provided any type of information, whether that be a photograph, some type of name of a tow company, or maybe the license plate, stuff like that, that will help us. And immediately reporting these things is what's going help us. I understand sometimes it seems that it's not a priority call, but it still gets put on the board and still something that stat and it gets looked at. Obviously, things that continue to happen are gonna get looked at. So that's kinda one of those things where if people see something, they need to report it. That's the best thing that's gonna help at this point.

Okay. Wonderful. Thank you. Because that's something is that right now and I know there's been other things that have happened with towing companies that we've had to take action on. But is there anything I guess if I could also ask you from because you do you work at this property or in this precinct area?

Well, I I currently work for PSET. So I'm a sergeant for PSET.

Okay. Great.

Which is relate relatable to

Of course.

This area, so it's all over.

Yes. Would you mind if I ask because I saw that we got some numbers for calls for service. Since you're actively in the community, could you share have I don't know how long you've been patrolling this area with the PCET team, but any observations from yourself just that you wanna share with us about the property or even just the general neighborhood changes over time?

I'm relatively new to PSET, but I've been with the department for thirteen years. I've had experience in problem retaining policing. I will say I've heard of the frustration. We all hear the frustration, but it's that communication that's gonna allow us to try to overcome this obstacle. So with the community's help and counsel, we can get through the the problem, but it's just it's gonna take time and effort. And I know it's it seems like, well, the cops didn't do anything. I I get it. But we we just need to we need to keep pushing. And you guys gotta push us and help us in order to help you.

Right. So potentially looking at somebody maybe working with parking services about issuing tickets. If we can get, like, a PPC in place or finding out if we need to give you tools to be able to do enforcement for towing for in registered vehicles or things like that or inoperable vehicles. What don't know does it do you know a chance what is the I can't remember off the top of my head what happens for inoperable vehicles that are just sitting on the street collecting dirt for light or dust?

So what what will happen, it does need to get inspected. So if it has been sitting there, they could tell, it would get yellow tagged initially. And that's going take a process. So with that yellow tag, it's going to take about two to three days. We kind of do have to tread lightly because it is someone's property. It's not something that we can just tow. Right. So it will go through the process. But if it is towable, say it's inoperable, it's missing tires, it's missing battery, it could possibly be vandalized or anything like that, then that's something that we can escalate that and get it towed.

Yeah. Okay. Thank you so much. Appreciate that. And I did wanna ask a question to and one thing I do wanna flag and something that came up when and we're gonna it'll come down the pipeline, but it's in regards to inoperable vehicles. When You we're looking into the safe parking program and visiting San Diego, just want to share for my colleagues to know that there was interesting piece, I don't know if we do need to discuss this with the tenants, even though they don't have a car that they're saying is because I know that usually the precursor for them to be able to put a car into these spaces is it has to be registered. Right? It has to be operable, all these things. Could we potentially check to make sure that none of these cars do belong to these individuals? Because my thought is, you know, is potentially there are a couple vehicles that people just they have them again on the street.

And I'm not saying this is a situation, but maybe they have a car, but they couldn't get it registered to be on the property lot. Maybe it needs a couple $100 for it to get up and running so they can use it then for job trans you know, transportation, whatever it may be. I know that in the safe parking program we're discussing and doing research on City Of San Diego and other cities do allocate some funding to be able to support individuals who can afford that, but then that could be the money to help them get their vehicle, you know, to pay for the registration, whatever it may be, so then then it can get off the street, get into the parking lot. I think that's an area we need to check with folks is do they have a car and is it one of these cars? And, like, can they, of course, be very honest with us?

Because if there is a situation we can help them with to maybe get that vehicle registered or running, you know, I get it I get that there's a rig area in that, but, you know, what what is it gonna take if that is one of their cars to make sure it's not at least on public street or in you know, impacting the neighborhood and it can get into the property? That's just one thing I'd like just to kind of look into. Another question I did wanna ask since it was raised that this is not a sober living facility, Larissa, I know you were on and you were so generous to say you were available for questions. Can you please share with us, I saw in the report that this the tenants fall here under the NPLH program and that there are different services available to them. Can you please share with us, I don't know if you have any data available in terms of have there been any calls for service here for individuals having any type of mental health needs or has there been any, I'll be frank, any things you want to share bring to our attention, maybe even any positives, have we seen any people graduate out of this program or anything that you could provide us in terms of behavioral health from your perspective?

Thank you for that council member Cervantes. Happy to be here to speak to this. I don't have a lot of the data points available, but I can say that we do have staff on-site. So we are working closely with Mercy House and property management to wrap around for individuals that are part of Saint Michael's permanent supportive housing. And part of what our team does on-site is to support with housing stabilization plans.

And so they get with individuals or tenants to ensure that they understand the lease, the good neighbor policy, and they support them with alignment in their milestone goals. And that could be a variety of things. But, certainly, our team support with getting folks connected to clinic if that's what they need, with substance use disorder treatment if that's what they need, and they coordinate care with other agencies as well. And in addition to that, they do link them to SSI, SSDI, Medi Cal, CalFresh, transportation, legal assistance, job readiness skills, life skills, and we also have a behavioral health specialist three which is a substance use disorder counselor who provides courses or life skills once a month on-site at Saint Michael's. So anyone who is interested and would like to participate is welcome to do so.

And we have a laundry list of different activities and supports that we offer, but I think that it's worth mentioning that we have access to different partners and departments underneath the RUHS umbrella, and that really allows us to get folks connected with the services that will help them to become self sufficient and a good neighbor. And that could include on-site medication assistance through a psychiatrist and team that could be getting folks connected with our enhanced care management team, which really supports with medical education and medication. And so those are things that we're happy to be doing on-site. And I know that Mercy House is there. Charles Chapman is there, and maybe he has some data points that can support with sharing out some of the successes we've had, but that's something that I could certainly come back and and share with you, council member.

So thank you for that.

Thank you for that. I appreciate it. Is there any I guess that this is maybe a gray area because we have to be mindful of, like, people's per you know, patient privacy or safety. But is there, essentially if someone's in there and let's say on record you know or have some history of them having some type of substance abuse, you know, any type of, or you know, a need or a history, or let's say they, you know, had, you know, something they were moving through in which they have to be through some kind of drug recovery program, is there any requirements that or is there any, I guess, when we do kind of those check ins in places or even if you observe something that maybe someone is maybe not in the best place, what actions or steps do you take to encourage them to get back on track, or is there any intervention that does happen? Just out of curiosity.

Yeah. Thank you, council member, for that question. When we first meet with individuals on-site, the team will complete an intake and an initial psychosocial and mental health assessment. And during those observations and meetings, the team is able to identify along with the member what their goals are again. And if treatment is one of them, then certainly our team will get them connected.

If our team observes that potentially they would need additional supports there, then they will have meetings regularly to encourage that individual. But, of course, everyone has autonomy to make decisions for themselves, and we know, you know, by data and best practices that individuals that are part of self determination theory and have intrinsic ability and need to get into programs to better themselves, they have more success when it's a decision that they make on their own. So, again, our team is there to certainly encourage regularly, and they check-in with their members on-site weekly and biweekly.

Okay. Great. And if by chances, do we know is AA or NA provided as, like, a a open community meeting at the church or no? It is? Yes. Okay. I'm seeing a head nod. Yes. And if you could I have some questions. Yes. I don't know if you'd love to add if you'd like to add on to that.

I think that she shared quite a

bit of information there. I will say if I could add a bit.

I think the information that she shared was informative and pertinent. She covered a wide range of what we do on-site. There are NA and AA programs that are offered at the church on a regular basis that we have people from the community attending as well as residents at St. Michael's.

Would it be possible at those meetings if we could just in the event there are people visiting that might be some of the folks that are then stay you know, in their cars maybe after meetings or not? Is it possible for them to announce before and after meetings to remind folks of the to be essentially respectful of the neighborhood and that no overnight parking is allowed or things like that?

That's something that I could share with with mother Mary and the staff at St. Michael's, and I'm sure that she would have no no issues with sharing any information that we would like to request for her to share.

Okay. Yeah. I just think that could be helpful because then we don't know who's coming to seek, you know, maybe for a meeting. And, again, don't know the circumstances if it is any of those folks, but just a thought. And to build on, I'll I'll kind of have a closing comment to this is, you know, I I I recognize that there are some QualiaLife issues that I don't know if they're solely isolated to Saint Michael's.

It sounds like some of these other two homes that are on Hawthorne could be part of the the trouble. I would encourage and think that potentially, I'd love to see how we could explore using Hunt Park to be now knowing that there is less parking because of the new housing that's on-site, Can there be a solution working with the city and with the church to encourage folks that are coming for services or their events or meetings to utilize Hunt Park? And then maybe we need to really get some signage up all around different places that say, do not park on you know, we have the streets listed or do do not park in the surrounding neighborhood. You will be cited if we can get, you know, PPZ or something going. So that way, there's only x amount of households can get parking permits so that you know, we have this in different parts of war too in some neighborhoods where we've had challenges with usually, it's certain part it's parks, that have an overflow to direct neighborhoods.

And so this has been a solution. Usually, I will be honest, the follow-up to that is enforcement that we have to really work on to make sure that then enforcement's happening and people are actually being ticketed. Cars are being towed if we know that, right, they're actually not supposed to be there in that community. I think this could hopefully help to alleviate some of the stress that's been happening to the neighbors. And I do wanna thank you all for being here.

I recognize that, of course, you've had you know, there's been direct impact on you and some other folks in the community. And so I I hope sometimes this is where we can work together to, get creative, to find some solutions that hopefully can have a long term effect. So I would love to let me know how I can be supportive with the church as well to address maybe some other creative solutions to really get to the core of addressing issues impacting Ward 5. Because, again, I and I will say, I love in the future. I know we were covering quality of life issues or concerns, but I'd love to hear what have been some of the success stories, what have been some of you know, what are we seeing or hearing from people living there?

What has been the impact for them? Have we seen anyone graduate yet or someone close to graduating out of the program so we can move someone else in? I think I love to see what are the, you know, what are the goals also for for folks that are there, and are there needs that we're not providing them right now that we can help with? And that's why I wonder if the cars are potentially part of that. For some people, it may not be at all. But are there other things that we could do as well to make sure that they can be successful so that we can help them to continue to move on and then, you know, continue the healthy cycle of folks coming in to get help and aid. So thank you all for being here today. I don't know if there's any other

I I do have some

council member?

And, you know, color me skeptical that mother Mary is gonna help out, because I I mean, over the years, she had promised the folks I remember the debate many years ago. Once once Saint Michael's apartments open up, we're gonna cut back on these on all these programs we do. We're gonna not have all the feedings. All and I remember her going and telling these folks, years ago that once this opens, what I'm doing currently is going to change. Here we are.

It still hasn't changed. So color me skeptical that she's gonna follow through on what she promised years ago. You know, I I've seen this I've seen this this story over and over again, and here we are. We're still dealing with the same same thing. And she just kind of just, like, smirks and does what she wants anyway. And so if we're going to hold her again, these people were promised these things. They and I I was I'm an awful human being because I stood with them and said this this is a load of baloney. It's gonna not go that way. And sure enough, here we are years later, and they the the same the issues that we said were gonna happen are happening. And then, well, you know, we'll talk to mother Mary.

No. Talking is over. We we need to put an end to this. We we need to to to to abide by the promises that were made to these these folks, and as they've lived there for for years and years. And and, you know, when we make promises to folks, we should keep them.

If I'd have been on this dais five years ago, we it would be a different story, but now I am. And I'm gonna make sure that the promises that were made to these folks are kept. It's it's shameful. Let me just ask about about drug use. What's what is the the policy for for folks that are are using drugs on like, let's say when we're gonna get me the numbers and you're gonna report to me at the next housing and homeless committee meeting with those numbers, tell me the r fire department calls the service and what those services were for.

But what is the policy when we find people that are living in these units? Again, I'm gonna go back to what the community was promised. Oh, this is gonna be a place. This isn't gonna bring a bunch of people using drugs. It's not gonna bring these are just good people who are trying to get back on their feet that live here. So what is the policy? Should we find out that there is drug use happening in these units? I personally think there should be zero tolerance. I think if people are using drugs on at this facility, there should be zero tolerance. So what what is the policy? I mean, how many strikes before you're out?

Well, the the policy as it exists right now is their drug usage is not permitted. And drug usage could lead to eviction. We look at the notices, we look at the paperwork, we follow the leases, we follow agreements that we have in place.

Can you just pick up your mic bit so that everyone can hear you? Thank you.

Okay. I'm sorry. Drug usage can lead up to eviction. We do take the steps working with the police departments, our local authorities, as well as the property management companies to be sure that those rules of no drug usage are adhered to. If a person could be actually banned from the property, we have people who are actually banned from the properties for things of noncompliance and drug use.

So that could lead up to eviction. Obviously, we want to make sure that we are working with these individuals. We're trying to make sure they get the treatment that they need, that they get the things that they need to be successful in life. The first thing we'd like to see is the drug usage to cease. And for this person or persons, should they live in the properties, to be healed and to be made whole.

For people who are not part of the property, it's just automatically, immediately banned. That's why we have trespassing paperwork and criteria that we keep on-site, that we're aware of individuals who should be there, who should not be there. And those are some of the steps that we've taken. And I know that the neighborhood watch doesn't sound like it would be as effective as we feel like it would. But I think part of it is just being able to identify the drug dealers to help make sure that they're not coming on a property, making sure they're not selling to the people in our community and our areas.

If we can put our eyes on them and if we know that Joe Blow with the Dodge van, such and such license plates, is coming into the community for simply to do some destruction, that we're able to report that. So we do have treatment. We do have banning. We do offer services to try

to address those needs with drugs. So just just so, you know, I don't I don't think the neighbors are necessarily when when it comes to the neighborhood watch, they're just not just simply waving their hands. Trust, there there has been a lack of follow through by mother Mary and the, and the folks at the church for so long that these people don't believe a word that they're told. They have been told for for five years that this was gonna happen. This was gonna happen.

And there was never any follow through. So at this point, you know, I don't think they trust they don't have they don't trust us. They don't trust the city. They're they're they think the city sold them a bill of goods. So I think that's really what it is, is that there's a lack of trust between Saint Michael's and and the community, and it's a shame. But what's a shame is because, you know, again, they were promised things. They were promised that the feeding programs that, like, were they were gonna stop, and it didn't happen. So now, oh, let's let's come together on this neighborhood watching. Well, what? So you can make more promises that that don't get, fulfilled?

And that's really I I understand where they're coming from. And it's not because they don't wanna work. In fact, I talked to so many people over there. They wish that everything they were promised had come to fruition, it would be the best. I mean, it is what it is. The project is there. But now they're saying, now that it's here, can we get what we were promised so it's not gonna affect our our lives? So I don't think that the community is just simply wanting to dismiss the a neighborhood watch program because they you know? I I think it's more just there's a lack of trust with with these folks. They've they've been burned enough.

So

that's what really what I think. And and and as far as your six zero two forms, all those forms that you have on on file are no good anymore. State law, I think it started as of July 1. All those so best thing we could do is we because they have to be notarized.

Notarized now.

Yes. So now if we can get those all updated, you guys are working to get get those done. But, again, my my thing is that the folks this this community doesn't need, they were promised that there wouldn't be drug use on the these were folks that that's not wasn't gonna bring that to our community. Mhmm. And I would like to see a harder approach taken towards people who are you know, especially if you're bringing a guest to your house and you're doing drugs with them at your apartment.

That's a real I mean, if you invite someone to your home at the apartment and and you guys are doing drugs together, I mean, that's I mean, how many it it can start you on a road to eviction? I I think if you're welcoming people off the streets to come do drugs with you in your apartment, that should lead directly to eviction.

To eviction. Yeah. And, you know, and and our leadership, a lot of them are on the line right now. We are we are diligently, seeking to rectify anything that would be considered a problem. I mean, we have a weekly meeting just with the site, but we also have a leadership meeting with the key partners in this on a monthly basis now because it is our goal to be one with the community, to be a viable, effective part of the community that we don't wanna see drug use either.

We don't wanna see cars on the street either. We don't wanna see children not feeling safe either. So we're working diligently on our half, on our, you know, on our side of the table to make sure that we can rectify some of these things and we can eliminate some of these things. And, you know, we have a we have a table who's who's working on some of these issues rather diligently, and I would like to request that they continue to hang in there with us. We are at a turning point.

It's been a couple years now that the property's been open. I mean, I'd like to one of the good things that I think that, I have on the on my sheet that I wanna share is, like, 80% of the persons who live at Saint Michael's were there from the beginning. So we retain 8080% of those folks who are there have been there. And they consents consistently fought paid their rent, followed the programming, attended the drug counselings, met with their caseworkers, worked with behavioral health, worked with their city partners, and our case managers to become a part of the community that is more helpful, I guess is the word that I want to use. I don't want to say active.

I want to use the word helpful. Each one of these individuals want to become a viable part of the community in which they live in. Part of that that we've shown here is simply because they're maintaining their residency. They don't want to be homeless. They don't wanna be on drugs. They don't want to be on alcohol or what have you. These are people who are making positive steps towards maintaining their housing. And, you know, even those folks who are there who who have been caught with drugs, we are in the process. We have evictions going on right now simply because of those those reasons. If you're fought you you're found not to be following the protocols and the rules of the of the community, it's not a tolerance.

Oh, we're gonna wait and see what happens. We take action. We take action immediately. And I and, you know, if I made it sound like we're we're not hard on it, we are. But we also recognize that we're working with the individual.

So if we can get that individual to take that step to not participate in those things in society, period, we do encourage those those things. But, you know, these are some of the things that we're just trying to do to make things, you know, happen. So I think over from the lease up in March from 2023 to now, today, to say that you have a stable community. And yes, we've had a few bad apples from the community who sought to make this wonderful thing appear to be something that is not great. And, you know, for that, you know, we have to apologize.

But, you know, you you you get the good, and you also get the bad. You have those folks who really they're saying, hey. This place is taking my customers. So they're trying to find a way to continue to do business. We're finding a way to keep them out. The people in the community are finding a way to stay sober and clean and to get their head above water and have a functioning and a happy life. And I think we should continue to trust that as a team that we wanna become one with the community. And that was part of what the neighborhood watch was about. So that we can get to know our neighbors a little better, our neighbors can get to know us a little better. We all know who's supposed to be here and who's not supposed to be here.

And if we can all get on the same team and we all start looking at the same thing and striving to have the same goals, then we can make our community stronger and healthier. And, you know, that's the goal of of of part of what we're trying to do on the on the inside.

Well, my office is always willing to bring everyone together. We live in the community together. We're all I mean, whether we whether we like it or or not, we're we're we're stuck with each other now.

Right.

You know, you don't always have you know, we're all family. We're all part of the same community. Mhmm. But, also, I mean, all I can say is that and I I don't wanna speak for them, but I will y'all are, like you it's one of those things where you you came into to their community. So and there's been a lot of not there's not been a lot of follow through on some promises.

So you have to understand why they're you know, you guys came into their world, and there weren't promises that weren't follow through with, so there's a lack of of trust. Trust. Yeah. So my office is always willing to you know, we can have a meeting at Hunt Park, but I don't think we need a neighborhood watch per se, but I I'm all about bringing everybody in the room. But I'm not just about talking about it. I'm about being about it. And and if we're gonna promise folks that we're gonna do things as long

Let's get it done.

And and I can assure you, if it were just one person calling my office routinely, because I have some neighborhoods where it's just one person that's complaining about one thing, and it's usually not as bad as they seem, I hear from a lot of people in the community. So there are a lot of, you know, people who are nervous. And it's really that's more what it is. It's more they're they're afraid. They Yeah. And so anything we can do, all of us, mister Anderson, Rosa, yourself, and I we can do to to pull it together and have that conversation. I'm all I'm all about it. I I like I said, I don't know the neighborhood watch is necessary, but I'm more than happy to to set up a meeting at Hunt Park. We got a big room there. We all go over there and and break bread together and and have conversations.

And and if we need to do it every month, we do it every month.

Okay.

But but I'm I'm there, and I so I I I always tell my my friends in the community. I always give them my my phone number to call me directly about it, but I'm more than happy to do that. I don't know that we necessarily, like I said, don't need a neighbor to watch to do that. But if you can get your people together and get get, actually, mother Mary to show up and do what she says she's gonna do and the folks in in the community, I'm more than happy to set up that meeting whenever whenever. And I hope y'all will be willing to come out and and and join to have that conversation.

Well, for those in the community that are here now, my name is reverend Charles Chapman. You can feel free to reach out to me. I'm with Mercy House. You can call me on the main number. My extension is 2757148367188275. I'm in the community every day. And anything you need, just reach out to me. I'm willing to work with you, listen to you, do whatever needs to be done to try to make things right. But I'm an active working part of the community. And I'm not afraid to talk to you, work with you, and to do whatever needs to be done to make sure that we're successful at what we're trying to do. Appreciate that.

Thank you so much. Thank you, Reverend. And if I could just add, and I wanna say that I do appreciate, you know, all the all the comments, questions, the dialogue here today. I will just share, and I wanna extend to you as well that I'm I'm willing to work closely hand in hand. Of course, council member represents this area of the district, but as chair of housing homelessness, I I do take an extra I feel responsibility to work to make sure we could see these projects be successful, and to see how we can make sure we're setting a good model for what we could hopefully have future projects come down the pipeline.

And I just wanna share that, you know, in this dialogue about substance abuse and drug use in recovery, recovery is not a straight line. We know that it is a journey. It is what many people describe as a circle. Sometimes people have to come back to start over again. I'm happy to always be a guest speaker at AA or wherever if I can to share my personal story recovery.

And I just want folks to remember that recovery can look like everyone like me, to other folks, and that there's many individuals who are struggling. And we recognize that we want people to always make the right and the best choices, but that's not human. And it is human to falter, to error, but I do believe in always seeing the best in everybody that we can help guide them to making the right choice, to making and choosing that choice daily. But it is a daily choice, We know sometimes it's harder battle for others. Sorry I get emotional talking about it.

But I just want to say thank you for the work you guys are all doing. I want to thank the residents of the community who are here as well because I hear your frustration and I think that's where we take our duty and responsibility to find out how we can make solutions for you at the local level so that your quality of life isn't impacted while we try to help other people. So it is about helping each other. We are a community. So I thank my colleagues for making sure we can stay on the issues of this. But I hope that we can when we come back, I'd love to see again more data. But even I'd love to hear testimonies from the 80% that have been making their time payments on time. What does that meant for quality of life? And what does it mean? And what do their stories look like? So if there's any testimonies that caseworkers can get, I know I'd love to hear and learn more about that.

We'll work on that. We'll make sure that we send get something together for you.

Thank you so much. Thank you all. Well, you for the dialogue. I will say we had one more final public comment. Caller raise their hand, as we were going through this. I wanna see if we can take it really quick. Is it okay just making sure the city attorney, can we still open a public comment on this item? Yes. Okay. So we will reopen public comment just to take this comment before we wrap up. We have one more legislative update, and then I think we should be almost done for the day. Caller, go ahead. You may speak.

Thank you very much for taking the call. This is mother Mary calling. My name is doctor Mary Christ, and I am an Episcopal priest. And I have worked with this project now for, well, about eleven years. I only have three minutes, so I'm gonna try to be very, very quick Regarding services for folks in recovery, five days a week, narcotics anonymous meets at the church.

It's open to everyone, and it's predated my being at the church. So it's been there, I think, close to fifteen years, and that starts at 12:00 noon and ends at 01:30. Regarding the NA, excuse, the yard, I wrote a grant, and I got $5,000 and was able to do the side yard and would love to do grass or other kinds of landscaping in the front of the yard for the church so it would look better. I agree with you. I would like it to look better.

It does take quite a bit of money to do that. And being a church that serves homeless and other folks on the edge, We don't really have a lot of money to do that, but I am working on raising the money to improve the yard in the front of the church. The landscaping on Hawthorne Street, which we take grief for a lot of the time, is actually under the jurisdiction of the apartments. And they have had, several various ways of trying to make that landscaping look good. It was it was actually specified by the architects, and it's meant to be, you know, water friendly.

But sometimes it well, it just doesn't look that great. But we're working with the apartments on trying to rectify that. There are a lot of complications that we can't get into in three minutes that concern drug use and other violations within the apartment house, but I'd like to summarize it by saying the managers are trying to do the best they can to run a good show in those apartments. They are constrained by a number of legalities that I certainly didn't know about. You it's very hard to evict someone, and I did hear it mentioned that someone we tried actually went to court, and the judge said no.

And that person had to stay in the apartments. And this happens more frequently than you might, know. I wanted to let you know that we are very, very committed, and I really don't appreciate being patronized or

Thank you, mother Mary. I'm sorry that your time cut off there.

Appreciate it.

But just wanna say thank you for calling in, and, you know, I know that I'm available to connect in the future. I can't speak for my other colleagues, but I just you know, please know that, Michelle, did you you're available to connect with Michelle? I think she's waving her hand.

Yes. Please call me. My number is 288-2251.

Did you wanna add a

number? No.

Not. Okay. Wonderful. So thank you for that. We're gonna close public comment now. Those are the last caller that had came in, and we are gonna move on from this item. Thank you all for the discussion and look forward to it coming back again in the future. And the next item we have is our communications, our legislative update, and I believe we have Shakisha who's on who wants to share with us some items. I believe some bills going moving through Sacramento. Shakisha, you're up.

Yes. Thank you, committee and staff. Shakesha Gilliam, intergovernmental relations officer. So just briefly, the California legislature is currently on recess and will reconvene on August 18. Some housing and homeless related bills that the city has taken position on continue to move through the legislative process.

These include a b two twenty six regarding the fair plan, which will, allow bonding to occur to spread cost over time and prevent, set, and insure assessments that could spike premiums. S b three forty six, which would enact the short term rental facilitator act, to permit cities and counties to enact ordinances that would require short term rental facilitators to provide specified information on their rentals. Also, there's a s b five zero seven, which authorizes a local government in the same county as a tribe to enter into a voluntary agreement with the tribe to allow new tribal housing development projects. And then lastly, s b 27 by senator Umberg, which makes changes to the recently implemented care act, including program eligibility and how respondents are referred. Regarding the state budget, you guys may be aware some housing investments include 100,000,000 for encampment resolution grants, 300,000,000 for first time homebuyers assistance, and then 500,000,000 in low interest loans for housing in LA and Los Angeles County.

Lastly, with regards to CEQA reform, the budget includes some significant reforms to CEQA providing new exemptions to accelerate housing and infrastructure development. And that concludes my report.

Thank you so much. I appreciate that. Any questions, my colleagues? Nope. Okay. Wonderful. And looking next item is number five, homeless housing assistance and prevention round six. Michelle, any updates?

The city of Riverside is anticipated to receive approximately 10,000,000 from the state. We will be going to council on August 19 with that recommendation.

Wonderful. Thank you so much. And, next item is outreach worker update.

We have two vacancies on PSET that we're in the process of trying to fill at this time.

Great. Wonderful. Thank you. And lastly, items for future housing homes committee consideration, looking to my colleagues. Councilor Robillard? Nope. Councilor Robillard? Okay. Wonderful. Nope. And no items for me. We were still just to share safe parking should be coming back this next month. The one or just mean actually, no. I lied. September, potentially. I think actually sorry. My next months are mixing up

If it's September, is there gonna be something for August, or are you guys going dark?

I think it might be August. I apologize. Okay. I was jumping ahead.

Because that that report needs to get submitted by next Friday. Is that deadline?

Yeah. Okay. Then I'll talk we'll check-in with you then. Okay. Because, yeah, then it might need to be September because we were still gathering some data.

Okay.

Okay. Wonderful. But thank you for my colleagues. And any other free free free items, let us know. If not, we may cancel August, so we'll see if we don't have any other items to come back. Thank you.

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