SEQUIM — Housing and social services were among the topics discussed at a Sequim City Council candidate forum earlier this month.

Similar topics were considered by William Armacost and Kathy Downer, who are running for Position 1, during the Oct. 3 League of Women Voters Forum. A story specifically about that contest was published in the Peninsula Daily News on Oct. 14.

Also speaking at that forum were Jim Black and Dan Butler, running for Position 2, and Patrick Day and Harmony Rutter, running for Position 6. Their views are published in this story.

To view the forum, see youtube.com/@leagueof
womenvotersclallam279.

All candidates are running in Tuesday’s General election.

Housing

Rutter, a Washington State University Extension office staffer, described affordable housing as a
“big emergency.”

She said she wants to continue the council’s initiatives, including how to make accessory dwelling units a better part of the solution, changing zoning, and attracting more apartments to the city.

Day, a retired security police officer, said the city is moving in the right direction, but he’d like to evaluate utility rates for new developments and using land around the city for workforce housing and apartments.

“Our land and city footprint is relatively small,” he said. “We are running out of areas to put this that are reasonable.”

Butler, a part-time church administrator and a language researcher, supports ongoing city initiatives and speaking to developers about how to incentivize developing workforce housing and expand land trust initiatives similar to Habitat for Humanity’s proposed city project.

Black, a retired software engineer, also said he supports Habitat’s project, and that the city needs to look at zoning and permitting, and work with Clallam County officials on building housing outside of city limits.

“This is a small area on the (North Olympic) Peninsula,” he said. “People don’t necessarily have to live in Sequim. They can commute to work. We can try to work out options there.”

Services

As Sequim grows, Black said it’s showing “concerning signs of change for the worse, including tent encampments, stores locking up merchandise, and people living on the streets.”

“We have to do better than Seattle, Portland and San Francisco,” he said.

Some of his preferred solutions include offering “full pathways to recovery,” and work training.

Butler feels the city should provide more funding for health and human services.

“The current crisis we have with human services is systemic to our our national policy and Sequim is not the source of the problem and the solution won’t be won’t be solved in Sequim,” he said.

He said he’s learning to be more mindful of less privileged people and learn their stories.

While working at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, Butler said he engages many people sleeping by their building and he hasn’t met anyone who made a deliberate choice to live without shelter.

“Each one has a story,” he said.

Black said what the city spends is appropriate to what’s effective.

His concern, he said, is for people addicted to drugs and/or have mental illness and getting them help, trained and back to work if possible. He said connecting them with nonprofits like Oxford House would be effective along with training more young people in trades.

Health and human service funding contracts should be explored more “hand-in-hand” with agencies, Day said.

He wants to invest more in infrastructure for children, too, so “they stay out of trouble and they have things to do and they build their minds and their experiences.”

Day considers mental health issues and drug/alcohol addiction important in dealing with homelessness. He said that as an officer, he ran a methadone clinic inside a prison and that 80 percent of those with drug and alcohol issues were self-medicating mental health problems. Once they were being treated for both addiction and mental health issues, Day said, clients had a 70 percent recovery rate.

Rutter said she feels the city should spend more on health and human service funding while working with regional organizations to help people who need support. If elected, she said she’ll make sure the city is showing up to provide services to those who need it.

“There’s so many excellent excellent organizations out there, and I really look forward to working with them,” she said.

CTE

Both Black and Butler supported the city council’s decision to pledge $250,000 to a Career and Technical Education (CTE) building at Sequim High School, despite the project being put on hold.

Black said he grew up in Milwaukee, Wis., where there were a lot of options to pursue going into a trade, and his two sons learned computer networking in high school.

Butler said providing technical training is essential as Sequim has moved away from an emphasis on agriculture to a service-based and seasonal tourist-based economy.

He wants the city to look more into high speed internet, more bike- and pedestrian-friendly streets and sidewalks, and more collaboration with sister cities.

Day said union representatives he’s spoken with nationwide say there needs to be more service-related training and schools need to add vocational training.

He said programs for woodworking, mechanics and plumbing — similar to when he was in school — are going away and those “career fields are dying for people to get in there and work.”

Rutter said she would support the project if it came back to the council for a pledge. She also feels it’s important for the council to help safeguard natural resources and help increase access to higher speed internet in the area, as it would lead more businesses to bring their work to Sequim.

Climate

Black said his emphasis is to address drug addiction and mental health issues.

“A small city like Sequim doesn’t have the kind of money to deal with that if that gets out of hand,” he said.

Additionally, Black said they need to make schools attractive to people who want to move here.

On the city’s Planning Commission, Butler said he’s become familiar with the city’s Comprehensive Plan and how it drives investment priorities for infrastructure and what roads, sewer and water projects are prioritized. He said the most important part initially of the 2025-2035 plan will be community stakeholder meetings.

________

Matthew Nash is a reporter with the Olympic Peninsula News Group, which is composed of Sound Publishing newspapers Peninsula Daily News, Sequim Gazette and Forks Forum. Reach him at matthew.nash@sequimgazette.com.

The post Sequim candidates Black, Butler, Day, Rutter talk about council subjects appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

Fairmont San Francisco Hotel
San Francisco, California

12:13 P.M. PDT

THE PRESIDENT:  This is a 14-hour meeting.  (Laughter.)

Look, let me begin by saying that one of the things that disturbed me — being involved in elective office for a long time — is how, over the last 30 years, the federal government has paid less and less attention to investments in science and technology. 

And we’re in a situation where we used to have a significant portion of our GDP going into research and development.  And it got down to 0.7 percent from 2 percent.  We used to lead the world.

And I don’t know how we can be the safest, most secure, and healthiest nation in the world without significant investment in — in science and technology, and I mean that.  And so, you’ve all really stepped up.

And one of the things that I also — it doesn’t directly relate today, but Arati and I talked a little bit about it earlier this morning — is that: What leaders say matter, in terms of people’s confidence in things they’re not sure about. 

And one of those areas — you saw what happened with regard to the crisis — health crisis that we had that cost us — we lost well over a million people.  And as time began to move on, you had more and more voices saying, “No, no, no.  You don’t need to get that shot.  You don’t need to be — get — you don’t need to.” 

And we have a new strain of COVID now, and we have answers for it.  But I just would urge those in public life and both political parties or no political party to be cautious about the ac- — the sometimes inflammatory things you say about this, because people’s lives are at stake. 

And the last piece was: When I was vice president, for a slightly different reason, I spent a lot of time going between rural areas and urban areas.  And one of the things that we — you’re going to talk about here is the — the healthcare workers reflecting the community.  We need not only to have more focus on rural communities and rural hospitals in order to get the kind of care and — and attention they need, but we need to have people from those communities to be the ones who are trained and engaged in that effort.  And I think that — again, Arati raised that with me this morning. 

I — I can’t tell you how certain I am that that is necessary, and I’m not a scientist.  It matters.  It matters who you go to and do you trust what they’re doing.  Do you think they know what they’re talking about?

And so, Dr. Zuber, thank you.  I’m really looking forward to this discussion.

And this group represents some of the top minds in America.  And that’s, again, not hyperbole.  That’s a fact.

I’ve often said, America is the only nation in the world  that can be defined by one word.  I spent a lot of time with Xi Jinping when I was vice president and subsequent to that.  And he once asked me, on the Tibetan Plateau, could I define America for him?  And I mean this sincerely — not a joke.  I said, “Yes.  One word: possibilities.”

We’ve always believed that anything is possible if we set our mind to it.  Possibilities.

And science and technology is allowing us to unlock the potential as a nation and meet the challenges of our time with some sense of urgency and purpose.  I can’t emphasize the word “urgency” too much. 

I’d hate like hell if three generations from now, them to look back on this period where we had the potential tools to explore and increase significantly our ability to help, and we somehow mes- — messed it up.  No, no, I mean it sincerely.  I’m sorry to talk so plainly, but I think that’s what it gets down to in many cases.

So, I’m looking forward to discussing actions that we’re taking on two priorities: AI — artificial intelligence — and expanding high-quality healthcare for every American no matter where they’re quartered, where they live, what their background is.

You know, as we just heard, AI has the potential to transform research, and I’m looking forward to learning much more today.

And, by the way, I’m not joking.  My latest two trips around the world — and not figuratively; literally around the world — to meet with other world leaders, ev- — well, I wouldn’t say “everyone.”  I can think of — I can’t think of anybody who didn’t, but I’m sure I will — there was some world leader who didn’t ask me. 

They wanted to talk about our leadership on artificial intelligence and what the meetings — what we — I’ve conducted already around tables similar to this with the 10, 12 major, major initiators within AI — and the vast differences that exist among them in terms of what potential it has, what dangers there are. 

And so, you know, I’ve been keen — I have a keen interest in AI and convened key experts on how to harness the power of artificial intelligence for good while protecting people from the profound risk it also presents — we can’t kid ourselves — the profound risk if we don’t do it well. 

And the United States is committed to that goal.  And we’re going to work with world leaders to achieve it, including British Prime Minister Su- — Sunak and others that I’ve been — they want to do more together with us.  

And I want to thank — thanks to our administrations, 15 American technology companies have already begun to implement voluntary commitments to help ensure that AI technology is safe, secure, and trustworthy before it’s released to the public.  That includes extensive independent safety testing.  That includes watermarking and identifying images that have been generated by AI. 

And — and to state the obvious: AI — AI extends beyond health and security issues.  I applaud the tentative resolution from the writers strike, for example, here — not here — in California, in Los Angeles, including insurances on how the use of AI will occur. 

This fall, I’m going to take executive action, and my administration is going to continue to work with bipartisan legislation so America leads the way toward responsible AI innovation. 

We’re also taking action to ensure our loved ones have access to high-quality healthcare, starting with the PCAST release — report you released on strengthening patient safety.  I made very brief reference to it at the beginning, but it is really, really critical. 

And today, I’m announcing major investments in patient safety from ARPA-H to develop antibiotics and to fight deadly drug-resistant bacteria and save lives.  Think of that.  We’re talking about the potential for antibiotics to be used to deal with ca- — anyway, it just — 

When I start reading your reports, I think to myself, “My, Lord, what an incredible era we’re about to go through.”  But it has to be done well. 

And so, finding and implementing solutions to reduce medical errors and other problems for patients’ experiences when hospitalized is going to improve health outcomes and protect our loved ones as well. 

And Joe Kiani knows a lot about that — been working with it a long, long time. 

My administration is committed to ensuring every American receives high-quality care they deserve in every community — urban, rural, suburban, Tribal — I — and — and it varies as to who — think about your — I — I say to the public who may be listening: Think about whether or not — who you go to and how much you trust that doc is going to impact on whether you follow the instructions.  No, I — I mean it.  It is a very basic human nature element.  And that’s why having people from, quote, “the neighborhood” makes a big difference, I think. 

And — and so, it’s going to reduce medical errors and other problems patient fac- — face when they’re hospitalized.  And I believe it’s going to improve outcomes and protect the people we love. 

My administration is committed to ensuring every American receives high-quality care they deserve in every community, as I said.  And ultimately, it’s all about dignity — it’s all about dignity. 

The actions we take together are going to help protect people’s health.  They’re going to promote innovation.  And we’re going to win the economic competition of the 21st century, in my humble opinion. 

And I’ll just say: If we have a government shutdown, a lot of vital work in science and health could be impacted, from cancer research to food safety.  So, the American people need our Republican friends in the House of Representatives to do their job: fund the government. 

We’ve got a lot to discuss, so let’s get this meeting started.  I’d rather hear from you than me.  Thank you.

Q    Mr. President, do you think the government shutdown is inevitable at this point?  Over here, sir.  Do you —

THE PRESIDENT:  I don’t think anything is inevitable in politics.

Q    What — what can be done now to make — to make sure it doesn’t happen?

THE PRESIDENT:  If I knew that, I would have done it already.  (Laughter.)

12:22 P.M. PDT

The post Remarks by President Biden Earlier than Assembly with the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Know-how | San Francisco, CA appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

CNN
 — 

As a child, Robin Rue Simmons didn’t know the Evanston neighborhood she called home was an area where Black families were once forced to live.

Rue Simmons grew up just north of Chicago in Evanston’s 5th Ward, where banks refused to give mortgage loans to Black families until 1969.

In Evanston, Black people were restricted to a certain portion of the 5th Ward and excluded from other parts of the city.

The area “was disinvested in, stripped of a neighborhood school and access to health care,” Rue Simmons told CNN.

“There were specific anti-black zoning laws and housing practices that are responsible for our racial segregation – not only our physical segregation, but our wealth gaps and home ownership gaps and all other racial gaps that we have here in Evanston,” she said.

Those discriminatory housing policies led Rue Simmons, a former alderwoman, to push for reparations. Under Rue Simmons’ leadership, Evanston became the first city in the United States to pass a reparations resolution in 2019 for Black residents who qualified.

“It is a $25,000 direct benefit to build wealth through home equity,” Rue Simmons said. “Black Residents that lived in Evanston during the period of harm, which was 1919 – 1969, or their direct descendants are eligible.”

In March 2021, officials voted to release the first batch of funds in that program, and the first recipients were awarded grants in 2022.

Initially, the grants of up to $25,000 were restricted to mortgage assistance, renovations or a down payment on a home. Earlier this month, the Reparations Committee unanimously recommended the inclusion of a fourth option for beneficiaries receiving payment through the housing program: a direct cash payment to beneficiaries.

On Monday night, Evanston’s city council approved a cash option to its Housing Restorative Program. The meeting lasted three hours and it took the council three seconds to approve the cash option. Now, the program includes direct cash benefits for those who qualify.

There was no discussion because it was listed on the consent agenda. Council member Devon Reid told CNN by phone after the vote, “the items on the consent agenda are non-controversial items.”

At the end of the meeting, Reid appeared via Zoom with his camera off and spoke about the change.

“I just want to highlight how special Evanston is. Tonight, we passed what I believe is a historic amendment to our reparations program. It was just on the consent agenda and there’s no fuss, no folks coming out, you know protesting. No dissent amongst the council,” Reid said.

He added this will allow Evanston to move forward swiftly.

“This will allow us to get funding to our ancestors in a much more expedient fashion. We will be able to get that money out to folks and be able to provide some repair to our Black community and to the harmed community who has suffered from uh housing discrimination,” Reid said.

So far, the city has only spent $326,836 of the $10 million promised.

Tasheik Kerr, an assistant to the city manager, told CNN 124 people are still on a waiting list to receive money. Six who were eligible died before receiving payment.

Overall, Kerr said 650 residents have applied. The city is still sorting through applications and at least six people who qualified have died while waiting for their grant.

“We have stalled because of complications,” Rue Simmons said. “It has taken longer than we expected. And some of those challenges have been really underestimating, operationally, the work.”

From Asheville, North Carolina, to Detroit, Michigan, cities across the country are trying to repair harms caused by institutional racism. In San Francisco, a reparations committee is seeking payments proposed of $5 million to every eligible Black resident. A final report that includes board feedback is due in June, according to the San Francisco African American Reparations Advisory Committee.

The complications Evanston has seen with funding and distributing funds will come up across the US, Rue Simmons said. “We’ve had challenges, but we have found solutions,” she said. Those struggles were highlighted in the 2023 documentary “The Big Payback,” by Erika Alexander and Whitney Dow.

Funding for a repair of this magnitude is a tough hurdle to clear, Rue Simmons said. While she and her team worked on reparations in Evanston, the state of Illinois approved recreational marijuana, which went into effect in 2020 – and that provided the initial funding for Evanston’s reparations initiative.

“It is one thing to identify a harm and prescribe a remedy,” Rue Simmons said. “In the case of Evanston …we have been led to understand and appreciate that home rule taxes are our most viable way to fund reparations being that they’re within our purview.”

Ramona Burton is among the 14 people who have received the $25,000 grant so far. The 74-year-old woman has lived in Evanston her entire life but was born in Chicago. Back then, the city didn’t allow “the birth of Black” babies in certain hospitals, she said.

Burton said she used the money to purchase a new roof, install eight new windows and a privacy fence, as well as repair her chimney.

“I wasn’t planning on buying a new home at my age and my home is paid off. So, I used it for renovations,” the 74-year-old told CNN. “I was so excited when I found out. We didn’t get the money in our hands. We never see the money. The city paid the contractors for the work.”

That’s what 88-year-old Louis Weathers, another grant recipient, said he wants to remain in place. He is not in favor of the cash option the council approved Monday.

“I don’t think they should do that. They should have some stipulations that will help the city in housing. Something that will help the value of my property stay stable or go up,” he said. “Giving people cash isn’t a good idea unless you put it in a trust, and you can only get so much each year.”

Kimberly Holmes-Ross is among 124 approved residents but is still waiting to begin her project.

Her father, she said, migrated to Evanston from the South following the Korean War. Like Rue Simmons, she was raised in the 5th Ward with her parents but has since moved to the city’s 2nd Ward.

“My parents weren’t even shown houses in this ward in 1962 – everything was over in the 5th Ward. That is what they were shown and allowed to buy,” she said, standing in the neat yard of her home. “We’re looking to either build another house or add on to our garage.”

Holmes-Ross expressed some hesitation about the cash option and said there must be checks and balances.

“I hope it doesn’t stray too far from the original plan, where they could prove the harm. The harm was in housing and in redlining,” she said.

The post Evanston Metropolis Council votes in favor of increasing its reparations program to restore housing discrimination appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

Listen to the article
5 min

This audio is auto-generated. Please let us know if you have feedback.

Dive Brief:

• Integrated facilities management firm NEST and leaders across the construction, retail and skilled trades industries launched the Skilled Trades Advisory Council Aug. 23 to combat the skilled labor crisis affecting the U.S and Canada, according to a NEST news release.
• The council’s leadership, which represents a wide range of in-need trades, will leverage its “resources, knowledge and network” to elevate the trades as a high-paying, honorable and “heroic” career path, NEST said in the release.
• The council will drive awareness of the trades through educational events, construction camps, fundraising and scholarships, providing additional strategies that align with its leadership’s skill sets, NEST CEO Rob Almond said.

Dive Insight:

The application rate for young people seeking technical jobs dropped 49% in 2022 compared with 2020, according to data from online recruiting platform Handshake. The impact of fewer applicants will be magnified by the ongoing retirement wave of older technicians and facility management staff and the growing demand for mixed skill sets that include technical skills, manual training and software-based application knowledge. About 4.8 million of the 12 million individuals in the skilled trades workforce are over the age of 45, with nearly half older than 55, according to staffing firm PeopleReady.

“Finding top talent has always been difficult. It’s even more difficult now,” Randy Fink, managing director of property management at JLL, said in an interview. “The availability of seasoned staff that we’ve had, we call it the gray tsunami. Especially in our engineering and maintenance fields, but including our property and facility management fields. A lot of folks have exited the industry in the last five years, and so we have a lot of new talent.”

NEST’s Almond said the Skilled Trades Advisory Council will not only address the need for technical skills in building services that include HVAC, refrigeration, electrical and plumbing, but will also focus on increasing awareness of less obviously in-demand labor. That includes the need for janitorial services, landscaping, snow removal contractors, locksmiths and painters.

NEST delivers day-to-day tactical management of facilities, financial consulting, project management and construction for multi-state brands in North America. Almond said the company began this endeavor because of concerns from many of NEST’s suppliers, contractors and owners it works with: “They were exhausted because there just wasn’t enough labor.”

The council will start small, Almond added, naming Austin, Texas, San Francisco; and Dallas — where some of NEST’s current suppliers and customers are located — as focus areas for driving awareness. As for the future, “What does that three-year plan look like? We have no idea. We just wanted to say, ‘Let’s drive awareness first and see how far we can take this,’” he said.

JLL’s Fink said that the industry, in addition to offering higher compensation, is being pushed to focus on training to alleviate labor concerns. “I think the second part is developing talent. It’s not easy to find technically capable engineers and maintenance folks in computer-savvy administrative and management folks,” he said, adding that the teams that are able to recruit and train well are capable of being efficient, saving money and finding value.

NEST sponsored a construction camp July 6 – Aug. 11 led by the National Association of Women in Construction in Philadelphia. The camp, run by Mary Gaffney, president of the NAWIC Philadelphia Foundation and of GEM Mechanical Services, taught more than 40 young women about plumbing, electrical handyman safety, engineering and Occupational Safety and Health Administration requirements.

“We want them in the trades. It’s just such a fulfilling job, in my view, and it’s to help them be very independent,” Gaffney told Construction Dive in an article about the camp. She now sits on STAC’s founding advisory council, highlighting the exact collaboration and programs that the council hopes to achieve.

“If we can just do this and build upon it, we can really get in front of something that needs a lot of attention. It needs it quick,” Almond added.

The post NEST, expert trades business leaders launch council to deal with labor scarcity appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

Evanston’s city council approved a cash option to its Housing Restorative Program. (Kamil Krzaczynski / AFP/Getty Images / File via CNN)

(CNN) — As a child, Robin Rue Simmons didn’t know the Evanston neighborhood she called home was an area where Black families were once forced to live.

Rue Simmons grew up just north of Chicago in Evanston’s 5th Ward, where banks refused to give mortgage loans to Black families until 1969.

In Evanston, Black people were restricted to a certain portion of the 5th Ward and excluded from other parts of the city.

The area “was disinvested in, stripped of a neighborhood school and access to health care,” Rue Simmons told CNN.

“There were specific anti-black zoning laws and housing practices that are responsible for our racial segregation — not only our physical segregation, but our wealth gaps and home ownership gaps and all other racial gaps that we have here in Evanston,” she said.

Those discriminatory housing policies led Rue Simmons, a former alderwoman, to push for reparations. Under Rue Simmons’ leadership, Evanston became the first city in the United States to pass a reparations resolution in 2019 for Black residents who qualified.

“It is a $25,000 direct benefit to build wealth through home equity,” Rue Simmons said. “Black Residents that lived in Evanston during the period of harm, which was 1919-1969, or their direct descendants are eligible.”

In March 2021, officials voted to release the first batch of funds in that program, and the first recipients were awarded grants in 2022.

Initially, the grants of up to $25,000 were restricted to mortgage assistance, renovations or a down payment on a home. Earlier this month, the Reparations Committee unanimously recommended the inclusion of a fourth option for beneficiaries receiving payment through the housing program: a direct cash payment to beneficiaries.

On Monday night, the Evanston City Council approved a cash option to its Housing Restorative Program. The meeting lasted three hours and it took the council three seconds to approve the cash option. Now, the program includes direct cash benefits for those who qualify.

There was no discussion because it was listed on the consent agenda. Council member Devon Reid told CNN by phone after the vote, “the items on the consent agenda are non-controversial items.”

At the end of the meeting, Reid appeared via Zoom with his camera off and spoke about the change.

“I just want to highlight how special Evanston is. Tonight, we passed what I believe is a historic amendment to our reparations program. It was just on the consent agenda and there’s no fuss, no folks coming out, you know protesting. No dissent amongst the council,” Reid said.

He added this will allow Evanston to move forward swiftly.

“This will allow us to get funding to our ancestors in a much more expedient fashion. We will be able to get that money out to folks and be able to provide some repair to our Black community and to the harmed community who has suffered from uh housing discrimination,” Reid said.

So far, the city has only spent $326,836 of the $10 million promised.

Tasheik Kerr, an assistant to the city manager, told CNN 124 people are still on a waiting list to receive money. Six who were eligible died before receiving payment.

Overall, Kerr said 650 residents have applied. The city is still sorting through applications and at least six people who qualified have died while waiting for their grant.

“We have stalled because of complications,” Rue Simmons said. “It has taken longer than we expected. And some of those challenges have been really underestimating, operationally, the work.”

From Asheville, North Carolina, to Detroit, Michigan, cities across the country are trying to repair harms caused by institutional racism. In San Francisco, a reparations committee is seeking payments proposed of $5 million to every eligible Black resident. A final report that includes board feedback is due in June, according to the San Francisco African American Reparations Advisory Committee.

The complications Evanston has seen with funding and distributing funds will come up across the US, Rue Simmons said. “We’ve had challenges, but we have found solutions,” she said. Those struggles were highlighted in the 2023 documentary “The Big Payback,” by Erika Alexander and Whitney Dow.

Funding for a repair of this magnitude is a tough hurdle to clear, Rue Simmons said. While she and her team worked on reparations in Evanston, the state of Illinois approved recreational marijuana, which went into effect in 2020 — and that provided the initial funding for Evanston’s reparations initiative.

“It is one thing to identify a harm and prescribe a remedy,” Rue Simmons said. “In the case of Evanston …we have been led to understand and appreciate that home rule taxes are our most viable way to fund reparations being that they’re within our purview.”

Some recipients hesitant about cash option

Ramona Burton is among the 14 people who have received the $25,000 grant so far. The 74-year-old woman has lived in Evanston her entire life but was born in Chicago. Back then, the city didn’t allow “the birth of Black” babies in certain hospitals, she said.

Burton said she used the money to purchase a new roof, install eight new windows and a privacy fence, as well as repair her chimney.

“I wasn’t planning on buying a new home at my age and my home is paid off. So, I used it for renovations,” the 74-year-old told CNN. “I was so excited when I found out. We didn’t get the money in our hands. We never see the money. The city paid the contractors for the work.”

That’s what 88-year-old Louis Weathers, another grant recipient, said he wants to remain in place. He is not in favor of the cash option the council approved Monday.

“I don’t think they should do that. They should have some stipulations that will help the city in housing. Something that will help the value of my property stay stable or go up,” he said. “Giving people cash isn’t a good idea unless you put it in a trust, and you can only get so much each year.”

Kimberly Holmes-Ross is among 124 approved residents but is still waiting to begin her project.

Her father, she said, migrated to Evanston from the South following the Korean War. Like Rue Simmons, she was raised in the 5th Ward with her parents but has since moved to the city’s 2nd Ward.

“My parents weren’t even shown houses in this ward in 1962 — everything was over in the 5th Ward. That is what they were shown and allowed to buy,” she said, standing in the neat yard of her home. “We’re looking to either build another house or add on to our garage.”

Holmes-Ross expressed some hesitation about the cash option and said there must be checks and balances.

“I hope it doesn’t stray too far from the original plan, where they could prove the harm. The harm was in housing and in redlining,” she said.

The-CNN-Wire & © 2023 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.

The post Evanston Metropolis Council Votes to Develop Reparations Program to Embody Direct Money Funds | Chicago Information appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

A City Council committee on Monday approved a recommendation to remove Mark Adams, the bankruptcy trustee in charge of overseeing 29 derelict buildings in the Skid Row area, home to about 1,500 low-income renters.

The Council’s Budget, Finance and Innovation Committee also gave the green light to a related recommendation to approve a $10 million loan for the maintenance and repair of buildings under receivership.

Both recommendations were accepted with 3-0 votes, City Councilor Monica Rodriguez was absent from Monday’s meeting.

Ann Sewill, director-general of the Housing Department, and prosecutor Hydee Feldstein Soto explained the need for the loan, which is conditional on the appointment of a new bankruptcy trustee, Kevin Singer, who would replace Adams.

“From the perspective of my office, and myself in particular, this is a difficult question,” said Feldstein Soto. “We wouldn’t be here if we weren’t convinced of the absolute necessity of preserving the housing and services for 1,500 of our most vulnerable residents.”

The council does not have the authority to fire Adams, who was appointed by a Los Angeles Superior Court judge at the request of the city. The council would have to ask Judge Mitchell Beckloff to fire Adams and appoint a new receiver.

The buildings are wholly or partly owned by the Skid Row Housing Trust, which collapsed financially earlier this year.

Sewill released a report on Friday saying some of the buildings could suffer irreparable damage and should be demolished. Additionally, the Los Angeles Times reported that many of the tenants suffer from “dirt, clogged plumbing, pest infestations, and constant intrusion from street dwellers who use drugs, set off fire alarms, and sleep in hallways.

Adams has been criticized for allegedly failing to make progress on rehabilitating the buildings and finding loans on good terms. Last spring, a company he hired sent eviction notices to hundreds of tenants who were behind on their rent.

Adams, whose appointment did not include the power to evict tenants, said he did not approve the orders and withdrew them.

Adams told the Times he would respond to the city’s report in court, citing Beckloff’s previously stated support for him.

Feldstein Soto told the committee that she wasn’t here to rehash “whatever may have happened in other receiverships in the past,” but rather to orient herself solely on the basis of “what happened in that receivership.”

She reiterated that there was a lack of transparency at Adams, including accounting for “approximately $3.5 million worth of rent,” which her office estimates Adams has collected since he was appointed bankruptcy trustee in April.

“So the proof was only obvious last Friday. And even despite a court order requiring reporting, we still haven’t received the kind of report that one would expect from a financial trustee like a bankruptcy trustee,” Feldstein Soto said.

“…We have lost confidence in the capability of this particular receiver,” she added.

Councilor Bob Blumenfield, chair of the budget committee, acknowledged that the city’s homelessness situation is a “humanitarian crisis” and asked how a new bankruptcy administration would address the above issues differently.

Feldstein Soto responded that Singer, the managing director and CEO of Receivership Specialists, was originally identified by Sewell. He was checked by the housing office and the public prosecutor’s office.

“I’ve personally spoken to the San Francisco Attorney who has given it rave reviews, and we must do our best to do the job as diligently as we can,” Feldstein Soto said.

Sewill indicated in her report that the loan will be repaid when the properties exit receivership, either by the limited partners or by other housing from the Department of Housing and possibly other government partners.

The $10 million loan is intended to pay the Adams’ bankruptcy costs and pay off expenses for up to six months. However, there may be additional costs for repairs and other expenses not yet known to the city.

Sewill stated that the goal is to stabilize the trust properties as safe places to live until each property can be transferred to a replacement general partner or owner.

“We need to have confidence that what’s happening with these buildings — with these properties — is at the level of performance that we would expect in that situation,” Feldstein Soto said.

“And for all of these reasons, it’s very difficult to admit a mistake. But I think part of our job is to correct mistakes when they happen.”

The post LA Metropolis Council Committee OKs Advice to Appoint New Skid Row Receiver appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

Westside Seattle reached out to the District 1 candidates for Seattle City Council and those we could reach were asked to prepare one minute answers to four questions and send their responses back on video. The goal was to allow voters to quickly be able to contrast and compare the candidates on important issues. By no means is this set of comparisons a full picture of who the candidates are or an example of how they might perform in the role. They are presented here and in the video below in alphabetical order

Question One

The issue of homelessness is especially acute in Seattle. In June 2021, the City Council approved a plan to use $49 million of the $128 million from federal COVID-19 relief funds to support the city’s homeless population. In fact Seattle tripled its spending on homelessness over the past eight years, yet tents still line our freeways, and the population remains stubbornly high. 

What concrete measures will you advocate for and what if any legislation will you work to pass to reduce the number of homeless, remedy the urban blight and demonstrate humanity in the process?

Preston Anderson 

I worked with the VA healthcare system and have worked extensively in the homes programs over the course of my 12 year career as a clinical social worker housing veterans, the VA has cut veteran homelessness by over 50% over the last 10 years. They achieved this not just by funding homeless programs. But by also implementing programmatic standards that are guided by evidence based practices and are clinically appropriate for the population, the VA homeless programs are held to these standards by an outside accrediting agency, ensuring that our work is done efficiently and effectively, and ultimately introducing an element of accountability. This ensures that people do not continue to cycle in and out of homelessness. I currently manage transitional housing programs for homeless veterans. This represents just one piece of the suite of housing options available for our homeless. It’s important that we build out transitional housing programs quickly and throughout the region to supplement our efforts at building out permanent supportive housing, reducing veteran homelessness and homelessness in general is a priority of mine on the Council. 

Maren Costa 

Our leadership has known for 10 plus years that Seattle is one of the fastest growing cities in the country. But our housing policy has looked like it’s from the 1970s. We may have tripled spending on homelessness over the past eight years, but much of that money was used for sweeps, which are consistently proven to be ineffective. In 2022, the city spent $5.8 million on permanent housing, but $15 million on sweeps. Those numbers should at the very least, be reversed. It’s observed that we continue these failed policies year after year and continue to criminalize homelessness instead of bringing people inside, which has been most evidenced effective and practical solution, the unsheltered population isn’t stubbornly high. Rather, the failings of our Band-Aid policies are stubbornly ineffective. I propose a vacancy tax. We have 30,000 vacant units in this city. With our crisis, we can’t afford to allow these units to remain vacant. Unless the funds raised through that tax would directly contribute to permanent housing solutions for those experiencing homelessness. 

Jean Ianelli Craciun 

As a council member, I will work tirelessly to make government accountable, transparent and efficient. This is what I have done in a 30 year owner of a market research company. What have we done with this homeless problem and how can it be a more humane process? I understand we’ve spent a billion dollars on this problem and I’m wondering on what exactly, and doing what I supported the five crisis centers. And I would continue to grow the mental health workforce, including support for the mental health technology transfer center network and all their training. I think we need to calculate mandatory wage increases for workers and contracts offered through the Seattle Human Services Department for the homeless service providers. The people on the ground that are solving the homeless should not be a step away from homelessness themselves, and I support the frontline DCR’s designated crisis responders. Who know first hand and lived experiences of those currently on the streets of Seattle. 

Rob Saka 

The homelessness crisis in our city has devolved into a homelessness catastrophe of epic humanitarian proportions. People are demanding better accountability for outcomes. As a former foster kid, I know what it’s like to feel uprooted and swept away. I also know we must do better for our unhoused neighbors. That’s why I plan to strengthen clean up and removal of unauthorized encampments that connect people with services and shelter. We also need to expand and invest in our mental health resources and capacity. 3rd I plan to increase the supply of affordable housing at all levels, particularly for low and middle income folks. And finally, we need to partner with local, state and federal governments to figure out the best funding solutions for all this. We need to not only address the root causes, but also the symptoms. 

Phil Tavel 

Look, Seattle has spent hundreds of millions of dollars trying to tackle our homelessness crisis, and it just keeps getting worse. What that tells me is that there are two things. That we seriously need to do right away, and this is where I’m going to start. One, we need to put into place clear metrics. What that means is if you’re a homeless service provider you are going to state what you intend to accomplish, when, and how much money it will take, and if you’re not getting people off the street into housing if you’re not getting people tied to wrap around services to deal with mental health issues and substance abuse issues then that’s going to be an issue and that’s going to lead to the second part, which is accountability and what that means is for those providers that are failing to accomplish their goals based on the metrics we’re going to set, you stop getting money from the city. We are only going to put money into programs that prove they can work. We’ve been throwing money down this pit for long enough. And we have to stop it if we want to truly help people, we need to put money where it works. 

Question Two

Crime rates are up with 5,784 property crimes per 100,000 people and violent crimes sharply higher at 736 per 100,000 in 2022. Yet there’s something more, and it’s obvious to even the casual observer. People driving wildly, more brazen break ins and disregard for others. Beyond measures to improve police recruiting, and retention what can you do as a City Council person to advocate for and  change the atmosphere of anarchy and lawlessness across the city?

Preston Anderson 

For the second question, it is important that we adequately staff our Police Department. Having an adequately staffed Police Department ensures that the officers on the beat are able to do their job safely and effectively. I also believe that we need to invest more in crisis responders who can, if this seems safe to do so, respond to those in crises and triage that person’s needs. I don’t view policing and the deployment of social service providers and crisis responders as an either/or equation, but rather a both/and solution. It is also critically important that we build out and staff substances disorder, treatment centers that are able to provide clinical stability to many who have turned to crime to fund their substance use or may be causing disorder and criminal activity due to them being under the influence of illicit substances. 

Maren Costa 

To improve safey In our city, first and foremost, we must drive a better bargain with Spog to provide alternative response models. The SPOG (Seattle Police Officers Guild) contract shouldn’t be a barrier for allowing police to respond to dangerous, violent situations, while a third public safety department handles calls where traditional police officers aren’t needed. Additionally, we have to address root causes of criminal behavior. We have $30,000 hiring bonuses for new officers, yet we’re netting 30 new officers per year and we want 500. We simply can’t put public safety on hold while we continue. On recruit work on recruiting police, we need alternative solutions to address root causes. Now, data backed prevention strategies like Community Court with 80% of people who enter who don’t reoffend, and familial counseling programs should be fully funded because they actually reduce recidivism. Unlike the traditional carceral system. 

Jean Ianelli Craciun 

As a sociologist with a focus in criminology, I would ask that we accurately look at some of these crime statistics. I know that we’re feeling unsafe. I had my bike stolen last weekend and I do see road rage, but these also are reactions to having lived through a pandemic. And we feel honest fear. Statistically speaking, overall crime decreased in the fourth quarter of 2022. Chief Diaz reported that so far in 2023, we are still in a downward trajectory. Something that is of concern is a report today. It’s May 30th before the judge on the consent decree adds information that Seattle police killings rose under the federal oversight before 20/12/12. People had been shot by police between 2013. In 2019, 21 people were killed. This is something we need to understand. 

Rob Saka 

As an appointed member on the mayor’s police chief search committee, I’ve fought hard to make sure we have safer streets. Everyone has a right to feel safe in their own neighborhoods and communities, and we need better response times for more police. To get there, we’re going to have to hire more police. We can also fully empower our police and our first responders to effectively carry out their public safety mandate and enforce existing laws on the books. We also need to invest in non armed responses to police for certain crisis and behavioral health situations, crisis responses that are led by mental and behavioral health specialists rather than someone showing up with the badge and a gun. Through this multi layered approach we can make sure that Seattle is truly a safe, welcoming and thriving community for all. 

Phil Tavel 

I think we’re all getting pretty frustrated and pretty fed up with the rise in property crimes and violent crimes, and especially the rise in gun violence around Seattle is utterly unacceptable. One of the things we need to do is we need to change the narrative. The narrative right now is that we don’t have enough police. They don’t make arrests, they don’t investigate it, and that to criminals, it says you can get away with this. So go out and be brazen. Well, we need to change that. That’s going to start with the Seattle City Council standing with the mayor, with the police, with the city attorney and on a frequent basis, we need to highlight the successes when the Police Department does the right things and we either stop crime or solve crime. We need to show that’s happening because right now it sounds like everybody can be lawless and nothing happens. So we need to deal with the staffing issue because we need to get police walking beats in neighborhoods and being a visible presence. That’s a deterrent, but the thing that’s going to do the most right now is a unified front among the leadership in this city, saying no more and we’re not going to take it. 

Question Three

Visitors spent $7.4 billion in the city and county in 2022 (up 37.8% from 2021) and paid $689.1 million in state and local taxes in 2021, an increase of 34.4% from the previous year. Nearly 24 million people visited Seattle and King County in 2022. San Francisco more than doubled its spending on tourism last year. Yet Seattle, San Francisco and Portland all face a decaying downtown. What would you advocate for regarding tourism spending and the revitalization of downtown Seattle?

Preston Anderson 

For the third question, part of District one includes Pioneer Square, part of downtown. It is important that we make the streets of downtown more accessible to pedestrian traffic and more appealing. We can achieve this by enhancing the cleaning crews and Park Rangers that are already deployed downtown. Further, we can ensure that public drug use and retail theft and property destruction are addressed with the right policies. There are options between prosecution, particularly for those that have the mental capacity to understand what they’re doing is a crime. And for those that lack mental capacity, Community Court with wrap around. But most importantly, we will not normalize what has become of certain areas in the city where you find places. plastered with graffiti and where businesses are now surrounded by fences with razor wire and windows with iron bars. 

Maren Costa 

Revitalizing our downtown goes back to fixing homelessness. We have to be spending every dollar we can on bringing people inside Iimmediately. A decaying downtown is one that feels dirty, has crime happening, and has human feces on the sidewalk. We have to get back to the basics and stop putting the cart before the horse. We can aggressively increase emergency permanent housing with micro housing, apartments and sanitation statement stations for safe lots. This will immediately help our businesses. I am also proposing ways, for example, partnering with Seattle. Colleges to attract the industries that will define the next decade, specifically those that will help us respond to the climate crisis as well as rapid advancements in artificial intelligence. I will be a strong advocate for sustainable tourism and local culture and arts, all things that make our beautiful city unique. 

Jean Ianelli Craciun 

People love to come to Seattle and it is a multi billion dollar industry and we cannot disappoint. I did a project through the Diversity Center of Seattle, WA with Visit Seattle and I know that they are hard at work to make our tourists happy and I would say that the Metropolitan Improvement District, (MID) this is the right way to go right now. I will be meeting with Pioneer Square businesses to talk about how District 1 now includes Pioneer Square. The MID goes clearly to the stadiums, so we are already starting to work together on how to explain, demonstrate, show our city off. We have to stay up later and so in order to do that, we will need to work together on cleaning up our entire downtown corridor into Pioneer Square. We want to show off our multicultural communities, and so we’re going to try and bring people into some of our beautiful neighborhoods.

Rob Saka 

Seattle has a vibrant arts and cultural scene. But sadly, downtown is known more recently for fentanyl overdoses than it’s thriving retail and shopping corridors. We must revitalize downtown. To do that, we must make sure people actually feel safe to come downtown. That’s why I plan to hire more police and empower them to effectively carry out their public safety mandate. We also must end the open air drug market in downtown. I also need to fund and implement the mayor’s downtown activation plan. 4th and finally p lan to incentivize small businesses to open up the many vacant storefronts that we have downtown. Through these measures, we can ensure that downtown is a truly safe, clean, and welcoming place for all. 

Phil Tavel 

Obviously tourism and the revenue that comes from that is vital to our success as a city and as a. region in order to be inviting to tourists to generate more revenue, we have to be safe and clean and welcoming. And those are things we absolutely need to work on. Now in the wake of the last few years in COVID and all the things that have happened, we have lost a lot of our iconic businesses, but you know what? Times change and so we need to provide funds from the city and support from the city to allow the businesses to get back on their feet that we haven’t lost to maybe try to lure some of those people back who had to close their doors and stop their businesses to give them an opportunity to come back and be part of a regrowth and a revitalization. But if we don’t fully fund our Police Department, and if we don’t work on homeless services to help people in crisis, we’re not going to be the safe, healthy, clean, inviting city we want to be. So I believe it is important to spend money on those things that generate more money so that we can build the programs we want.

Question Four

A 2020 audit of Seattle’s 77 bridges revealed that many of them are in fair or poor condition. According to SDOT’s Capital Projects and Roadway Structures 2018 Annual Report, the total replacement value for all bridges over 60 years old serviced by Roadway Structures is $3.4 billion. What approach would you pursue to solve this problem and fund these infrastructure repairs?

Preston Anderson 

The 4th question is on the aging infrastructure throughout the city and I’m glad that you asked this question. We have neglected our aging infrastructure for far too long and I intend to prioritize the replacement. Or the rehabilitation of our infrastructure, especially our agent bridges. We are pushing. The limits of safety for a lot of our projects and I think it’s irresponsible to have some bridges in the city that run the risk of failing. Soon and West Seattle residents know all too well how structural failures impact local communities and the economy. I’ll ensure that these projects are funded with the levy to Move Seattle. 

Maren Costa 

To solve our bridge and road infrastructure problems, we will have to revise the Move Seattle levy. The original nine year Levy passed in 2015 will take care of 350 bridge spot repairs and the seismic improvements for one bridge. But we will need to continue these improvements. Our city is still mostly. Dependent on bridges and streets for mobility. And it is. Critical that we coordinate with our regional partners to continue this necessary repair. Their work, ideally the move Seattle levy, will be placed on the wealthiest 1% and used in tandem with other progressive revenue streams that have been stood up by the city and specifically targeted towards improving roads and bridges. There hasn’t been a significant push to raise progressive revenue for transportation infrastructure in many years. And we need to do that promptly. 

Jean Ianelli Craciun 

In April 2023, the Biden Harris administration announced nearly $300,000,000 for a nine bridge project. It comes on the top of billions of dollars in other bridges and Highway funding already flowing to every US state and territory that is helping communities rebuild, repair and replace tens of thousands of bridges across the nation and restoring connections that are vital to commuters, emergency responders, truck drivers, public transit riders and more. We are in on the public transportation section of this. We received $368,000,000 to improve our transit, clean public transit and school buses. But we have to get in on the Federal Bridge project. West Seattle Bridge is a crisis. We must have a way to get to work, we do not want to be an island off the shores of Seattle and we want to keep our communities engaged in public transportation. I wish all of you a joyful Juneteenth happy pride. I would love your vote. 

Rob Saka 

I’m passionate about these issues, but I’m also passionate about the potholes and our infrastructure situation. That’s why I want to focus on the basics of what I think a well functioning city government can and should be doing for folks. We must employ a multifaceted approach to solve our infrastructure challenges. First we need to create a prioritized list of projects that need repairs based on need. To do that, we’ll want to collaborate closely with transportation agencies and community stakeholders. The work product of which should be a comprehensive plan to figure out which one of these projects we’re going to attack first. Now with respect to funding, we obviously will want to prioritize maintenance and repairs with their own city budget. That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t also seek strong federal and state grants as well to supplement our own funds. Third and finally, we should explore innovative financing mechanisms like public private partnerships as well. 

Phil Tavel 

As those of us in District 1 are keenly aware Seattle is not doing a particularly good job maintaining and keeping up its bridges. We’ve got billions of dollars worth of bridge infrastructure in this city, and we spend less than $20 million a year on upkeep and maintenance. Now it is an expensive thing and sometimes we don’t want to spend that money ahead of time, but we have to spend the money in a preventative way so that we know which bridges are aging, which bridges may have a problem, and which bridges need money. Now, luckily, the US Department of Transportation has set aside three separate funds that total $460 million that we can tap into to help maintain our bridges. So we need to prioritize it properly. We need to work on a proper budget within SDOT on maintenance and being able to catch these problems before they become even bigger. But we can tap into the federal money to help us maintain these bridges and get them back up to where they should be. 

The post District 1 Metropolis Council candidates provide contrasting views appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

by Samar Khurshid

As Mayor Eric Adams continues to propose sweeping cuts in city agencies, council members and supporters are calling on him to restore and increase funding for the Department of Parks and Recreation.

Mayor Adams’ proposed $102.7 billion interim budget provided $520 million for the Parks Department, a decrease of $42 million from the budget approved last June and nearly $58 million Dollars less than when the budget was last changed in November.

“As our response to the council budget made clear, the parks cuts proposed by the mayor in his interim budget are absolutely unacceptable,” Councilor Shekar Krishnan, a Queens Democrat and chair of the Parks and Recreation Committee, said in a phone interview.

Since taking office, Adams has strived to reduce the city’s wasteful spending and make government agencies more efficient. His government has also been forced to make difficult financial decisions as it faces several significant fiscal challenges, including a projected cost of nearly $4.3 billion in current and next fiscal years due to the migrant asylum-seeker crisis, the cost of municipal employment contracts (estimated to be $16). ($1 billion through fiscal 2027) and more than $1 billion annually in cuts and cost shifts in Gov. Kathy Hochul’s proposed state budget.

Since November, the mayor has launched two Programs to Eliminate the Gap (PEG), mandating most agencies 3% cuts each time and implementing a major vacancy reduction initiative. Earlier this week, shortly after the city council issued its official response to the interim budget, the mayor announced another round of cuts ahead of the release of his executive budget, urging agencies to cut spending by another 4% (CUNY and the Department of ). A reduction of 3% is made for education.

Council members and park advocates are urging the administration to mitigate the impact of this PEG, which could potentially reduce the park’s budget by an additional $20 million, to reinstate all proposed cuts while increasing the department’s budget by tens of millions.

“We know that our parks are vital to our public health and well-being and that they are overseen every day by our city’s parks workers who are truly the beating heart of our parks system,” said Councilor Krishnan. “The cuts in the parks proposed by the mayor will directly impact workers and jobs, and will directly impact the services in our parks. We really should invest a lot more in our green spaces than we do, let alone give up.”

In its response to the preliminary budget, the city council — which identified $2.7 billion in additional revenue over the administration’s projections — asked the mayor to provide $46 million in new core funding for 1,000 additional entry-level park workers and $2.5 million to restore and baseline for natural forest conservation and $4.1 million for 50 Urban Park Rangers. “Since the beginning of this year’s budget process, the Council has prioritized the people of New York City and what they need to be successful,” Council Speaker Adrienne Adams said in a statement accompanying the budget response. “This requires investment in housing, libraries and parks, schools, early childhood education, mental health care and many other basic needs.”

Noting an increase in crimes against people in parks from 179 to 231 in the first quarter of this year, the council also called for additional spending funding to hire 300 more Parks Enforcement Patrol officers, doubling their number, and capital funding for the installation of Security measures cameras in parks.

Mayor’s spokesman Jonah Allon defended the mayor’s budget proposal, citing “significant fiscal and economic headwinds” the city is facing. “In Mayor Adams’ preliminary budget, the administration has made critical investments in public safety, affordable housing, clean streets and so many other areas that New Yorkers care deeply about – while maintaining the mayor’s strong track record of financial responsibility and continued investing in the future of our city,” Allon said, in part, in a statement. He also noted that the Council’s response did not take into account the full cost of the asylum seeker crisis. “The City Council’s failure to account for the associated $4.2 billion cost to asylum seekers, or possible government cuts, is unrealistic and does not adequately address the city’s current and upcoming financial challenges.” We value the council’s partnership and look forward to working with them over the coming months to negotiate a budget that will benefit New Yorkers,” he said.

However, Krishnan said the mayor’s proposed cuts to Parks are “inexplicable” when compared to his campaign commitment to a five-point Park equity plan — published by New Yorkers for Parks, an advocacy group — that would allow for the provision of 1 % of the city budget, approximately $1 billion, to the Parks Department. “New York City lags behind every single major city in America in park investment. Washington, DC, Chicago, LA, San Francisco, Minneapolis,” Krishnan said. “We spend $72 per capita on green space in New York City, which is one of the lowest in the country for any major city.”

“The mayor campaigned successfully and garnered many votes in support of our city’s park system, which has been underfunded for generations,” Adam Ganser, executive director of New Yorkers for Parks, said in a phone interview. “The government continues to reaffirm that commitment … but its actions appear to fall short of that political commitment.”

Ganser pointed to the peak of the pandemic when the city cut the park budget by about $84 million. The cuts disrupted maintenance and cleanup efforts, and resulted in littered parks and overflowing garbage as people flocked to the outdoor areas. “What we’re talking about now between the PEG cuts and the interim budget is a Parks Department cut, not far off the cut during the COVID-19 cut. So that’s really short-sighted thinking,” he said.

New Yorkers for Parks recently released a report highlighting the impact of allocating 1% of the city’s budget to parks, including cleaner and safer parks, faster repairs to avoid prolonged closures, better air quality and protection from the heat, and better conditions for park workers . among other benefits.

The mayor fulfilled one of the key commitments in the park justice plan in February this year when he appointed Ya-Ting Liu as the city’s first-ever chief public realm officer, tasked with coordinating quality of life improvements in the city’s public spaces. Among the major initiatives she is leading is a major redesign of Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue, from Bryant Park to Central Park.

“We have 30,000 acres of parkland, 14% of the city is parks, and we need to plan and maintain that space in a way that serves all New Yorkers equally,” Ganser said. “I think it’s a little counterintuitive for the government to invest in this position [of a public realm officer]and then go ahead and cut funding for the very assets that really matter in this position.”

If the park cuts are eventually factored into the city-approved budget, both Krishnan and Ganser said it will be the low-income communities of color that will bear the brunt. “For a mayor who is talking about creating a fairer city, this decision is totally unfair for New Yorkers,” Ganser said.

“The reality is that if you cut jobs, if you cut maintenance funding instead of increasing it, the impact won’t be felt in the same way,” Krishnan said. “This will be felt by communities that have so often suffered from underinvestment and a lack of green space.”

—

This post was previously published on gothamgazette.com under a Creative Commons license.

***

All premium members can watch The Good Men Project without ads. do you need any more information? A full list of benefits can be found here.

—–

Photo credit: iStockPhoto.com

The post Advocates, Metropolis Council Members Push NYC Mayor to Make investments Extra in Parks appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco

FHLBank San Francisco is appointing four new members to the Affordable Housing Advisory Council

The Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco has appointed Cesar Covarrubias, Patricia Duarte, Elizabeth Elliott and Maurilio León to its Affordable Housing Advisory Board

SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 14, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — The Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco is pleased to announce the appointment of Cesar Covarrubias, Patricia Duarte, Elizabeth Elliott and Maurilio León to its Affordable Housing Advisory Board (Advisory Board). give ).

The Advisory Board provides the bank with expert advice on affordable housing and economic development issues, as well as advice on FHLBank San Francisco’s community grant and loan programs.

New members of the Advisory Board are:

Cesar Covarrubias
Executive Director, The Kennedy Commission, Irvine, California

Cesar Covarrubias manages and provides strategic leadership for the Kennedy Commission’s advocacy and programs to improve affordable housing and improve the resilience of low-income families in Orange County, California. Mr. Covarrubias’ expertise combines more than a decade of experience in nonprofit management, affordable housing policy, advocacy and community building. Previously, Mr. Covarrubias coordinated the Commission’s efforts to develop and implement public policies and strategies for affordable housing at local government and state levels. Mr. Covarrubias has also worked with Orange County’s Fair Housing Council as a housing discrimination case manager, assisting clients with landlord-tenant issues. He serves on several nonprofit boards and holds a law degree from the Thomas Jefferson School of Law and a bachelor’s degree in political science and Spanish literature from California State University, Fullerton.

Patricia Duarte
Executive Vice President, Chicanos Por La Causa (CPLC), Phoenix, Arizona

Ms. Patricia Garcia Duarte joined CPLC in March 2022 to lead and manage homeownership initiatives and focus on building a homeownership ecosystem to narrow the wealth gap among Hispanic, Black, Asian, Indigenous and low-income people. Previously, she was President and CEO at Trellis, an Arizona nonprofit organization, for 16 years, where her responsibilities included creating a housing vision and leading the organization’s strategic goals to better serve customers, stakeholders and neighborhoods/communities. Headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona, CPLC is a multistate not-for-profit organization dedicated to five impact areas: Health and Human Services, Housing, Education, Economic Development and Advocacy. Ms. Garcia Duarte holds a bachelor’s degree in finance from Arizona State University’s College of Business.

The story goes on

Elizabeth Eliot
Executive Secretary of the Northern Circle Indian Housing Authority (NCIHA), Ukiah, California

Led by Elizabeth Elliott, NCIHA has transitioned from a $4 million portfolio to a $38 million portfolio serving tribal members of a consortium across the United States. NCIHA was the first from the Tribally Designated Housing Authority to receive an AB1010 Exception Waiver for the Home and Home Key programs through the California Housing and Community Development Division. In this way, NCIHA has struggled to gain precedence in California’s exercise of the federally recognized tribal rights to sovereignty and self-determination in the successful application and award of the Home Investment Partnership and Home Key programs. Ms. Elliott started a movement to provide hope, healing and shelter. Ms. Elliott believes that in order to foster historical resilience in tribal communities, one must first provide safe housing for all.

Maurice Leon
Chief Executive Officer, Tenderloin Neighborhood Development Corporation (TNDC)

As CEO of TNDC, Maurilio León leads the organization towards its vision of advancing community well-being through affordable housing, food and wellness opportunities, and community advocacy. Mr. León has a combination of public and private sector work experience, including over ten years of work in the not-for-profit affordable housing, community and economic development sector. Most recently, he was Chief Operating Officer of Community Housing Opportunities Corporation (CHOC), an affordable housing and community development organization. Prior to this role at CHOC, Mr. León was Executive Vice President of Unity Council, a nationally recognized non-profit organization known for its innovative and successful approaches to community development. Mr. León also worked extensively in the financial industry and local government with such entities as the City and County of San Francisco, Office of the Assessor-Recorder, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, Goldman Sachs, Providian Financial Corporation and JP Morgan Chase ( formerly Washington Mutual). Mr. León received a master’s degree in public policy from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and a bachelor’s degree in political science and education from the University of California, Berkeley.

Advisory Board members also elected David Paull, President of CORE Advisory Partners, as Chair and Holly Benson, President and Chief Executive Officer of Adobe Communities, as Vice Chair of the Advisory Board.

About the Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco

The Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco is a member-run cooperative that helps local lenders in Arizona, California and Nevada build strong communities, create opportunity and transform lives for the better. Our member financial institutions—commercial banks, credit unions, industrial lending firms, savings institutions, insurance companies, and community development financial institutions—depend on us to provide prompt access to low-cost financing, risk management tools, and affordable housing resources for community economic development. Together with our members and other partners, we make the communities we serve more resilient, just and vibrant.

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/7d6d01a8-fb0c-4b93-b297-df4d341898b8

CONTACT: Media Contact: Mary Long Senior Director, Marketing Communications longm@fhlbsf.com 415.616.2556

The post FHLBank San Francisco Names Covarrubias, Duarte, Elliott, and León to Reasonably priced Housing Advisory Council appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

South San Francisco will get 31 new surveillance cameras to be placed along Highway 101 and Interstate 280 following an unanimous vote from the City Council approving the new law enforcement measure.

The cameras, called automated license plate readers, have been increasingly installed in the Bay Area with several Peninsula cities recently approving their use. By capturing images of passing vehicles and logging plate numbers, make and color, the technology can alert nearby officers if a vehicle suspected of being involved in a crime is spotted. Officers can also access data after the fact to aid in police work.

“This is the world we are living in,” Council member Mark Addiego said. “It’s horrifying when you read reports about how many people are coming into our city and quite frankly just raising hell.”

The city first looked into adding the cameras last year, citing an uptick in crime near hotels, particularly “smash-and-grab” car break-ins. Councilmember Eddie Flores also voiced concern regarding highway shootings, citing those that have occurred recently in Oakland.

The technology can be used in instances of crimes from homicide to catalytic converter theft but, unlike red light cameras, would not be used for traffic enforcement.

Despite agreeing the cameras would be useful in fighting crime, council members expressed some hesitation surrounding privacy. The move will establish South San Francisco as the city with the most cameras in the county, which currently has a total of 119.

“I come from a time when George Orwell’s 1984 was required reading,” Addiego said. “Apparently we’re there, and there’s something a little bit disconcerting about that.”

While storage practices differ in other cities, data captured by the cameras would be deleted after 30 days unless part of an investigation, and the city would allow data to be shared with other law enforcement agencies only if requested for an investigation. Sharing data with US Immigration and Customs Enforcement would be strictly barred.

Per a request from Flores, the program will undergo quarterly audits from an independent party to ensure compliance with the city’s rules. A webpage will also be established allowing members of the public to view the volume of data collected and how often it is being accessed by officers.

“We want to make sure that when we do this, we do it right and don’t produce unintended consequences that we might later regret,” Flores said.

According to City Manager Mike Futrell, the city’s guidelines mirror that of soon-to-be proposed legislation from state Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, which aims to curtail ALPR use. Wiener had last year introduced legislation to require data deletion after 24 hours following a report that some agencies were storing data for up to five years and others had shared data with ICE.

Police Chief Scott Campbell noted the technology carries the benefit of allowing for “completely unbiased” police work, allowing officers to react to crime that has already been committed.

The cameras would likely be procured from ALPR operator Flock Safety, at an annual cost of $2,500 per camera, or $77,500 for the whole city. A one-time installation fee of $250 per camera would also be added in the first year.

The city’s immediate neighbors all have cameras installed with the exception of Brisbane. Daly City is the only city in the county where its cameras are affixed to police vehicles rather than fixed locations.

The post South San Francisco council OKs license plate studying cameras | Native Information appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.