February 21, 2023
City Council
DATE: February 21, 2023
TO: Mayor Martinez and Members of the City Council
FROM:
Councilmembers Soheila Bana and Cesar Zepeda
Subject:
Approval to attend the Community Village Symposium in
Austin, Texas
FINANCIAL IMPACT: The potential cost is $1,200 per person for registration and airfare.
PREVIOUS COUNCIL
ACTION:
The City Council adopted resolution 92-17 banning travel to states that have enacted laws that discriminate against the LGBTQ community.
STATEMENT OF THE
ISSUE:
Approval by the City Council is needed to authorize travel to a state listed as one of the states that has enacted laws that discriminate against the LGBTQ community.
Eligible exceptions may apply to allow travel.
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
APPROVE travel requests to attend the Community
Village Symposium in Austin, Texas in April –
Councilmembers Soheila Bana (510-620-6743) and
Cesar Zepeda (510-620-6593).
DISCUSSION:
The April 25-27 Symposium for Goodness Sake is an in-person event in Austin, Texas addressing the very successful model to address intractable homelessness.
Councilmembers Bana and Zepeda are interested in attending the symposium for consideration in Richmond and Contra Costa County.
AGENDA
REPORT
February 21, 2023
Community First! Villages is a model designed for the chronically homeless and offers them permanent housing and community. It is a 51-acre master planned community in Austin, TX with tents, RVs, and tiny homes, for which residents pay rent while they live and work in the community. There are communal kitchens, art studios, a blacksmith studio, gardens in which to work, community events, an outdoor amphitheater, and many earn income by working the grounds or the kitchens or selling their arts and crafts. The county offers wrap around services on site and residents can access other jobs and services via bus. Those who have the greatest issues find a place in which they can heal. Those with childhood trauma tell the story of finding themselves for the first time. The larger community takes an active role in the solution, which revolves around the idea that “For our homeless friends to truly settle, heal and transform their lives, they need much more than four walls and a roof to no longer be homeless. They need relationships. They need dignity and a renewed sense of hope. They need community.”
The Community First! experience provides centralized social services, peer to peer support, and a quality of life not possible in shelters or on the street. It also provides an opportunity for the larger community to have a positive interaction with those in the program. Jurisdictions across the nation have been invited to the symposium. This item has been placed on the City Council agenda for approval because there is a ban on traveling to states that discriminate against the LGBTQ community per Richmond Resolution 92-17.
As part of the approval process to travel to the symposium, the city manager will have to sign Travel Request Forms upon approval by the City Council. The requesting councilmembers would like the City Council to consider the following exceptions and approve the travel request.
Applicable exceptions listed in Resolution 92-17:
For the protection of public health, welfare, or safety, as determined by the affected agency, department, board, authority, or commission Participation in events, conference, training, or other activities that have a stated purpose of advancing … pro-equality related issues that are directly relevant to the city agency…
Resolution 92-17, can be accessed at the following link:
https://www.ci.richmond.ca.us/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/8151.
Additional information about the conference can be found at https://mlf.org/symposium/.
DOCUMENTS ATTACHED:
Attachment 1 – Resolution 92-17
Attachment 2 – Symposium for Goodness’ Sake