April 4, 2023
Community Development
DATE: April 4, 2023
TO: Mayor Martinez and Members of the City Council
FROM:
Lina Velasco, Director of Community Development
Daniel Chavarria, Director of Public Works
Subject:
Approval to Attend the Community Village Symposium in
Austin, Texas
FINANCIAL IMPACT: The potential cost is approximately $2,500 per person for lodging, registration, and airfare.
01231031-400243
PREVIOUS COUNCIL
ACTION:
The City Council adopted Resolution No. 92-17 banning
travel to states that have enacted laws that discriminate against the LGBTQ community. On February 21, 2023,
the City Council authorized Vice Mayor Mclaughlin,
Councilmember Bana, and Councilmember Zepeda to
attend.
STATEMENT OF THE
ISSUE:
Approval by the City Council is needed to authorize
travel to a state listed as having enacted laws that
discriminate against the LGBTQ community. Eligible
exceptions may apply to allow travel.
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
APPROVE travel requests for Jesus M. Morales, Housing
Manager, and Robert Armijo, Deputy Director of Public
Works/City Engineer to attend the Symposium for
Goodness’ Sake in Austin, Texas to learn about the
Community First! Village model for addressing
intractabl e homelessness – Community Development
(Lina Velasco 510-620- 6841).
AGENDA
REPORT
April 4, 2023
DISCUSSION:
The April 25-27, 2023, Symposium for Goodness’ Sake (see Attachment 2) is an in- person event in Austin, Texas addressing the very successful model to address intractable homelessness. Vice Mayor McLaughlin, and Councilmembers Bana and Zepeda are attending the symposium to learn about the Community First! Village model for consideration in Richmond and Contra Costa County. City staff is seeking approval to send Jesus M. Morales, Housing Manager, and Robert Armijo, Deputy Director of Public Works/City Engineer to participate in this information gathering trip.
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.
City staff is requesting approval of this travel by the City Council since there is a ban on traveling to states that discriminate against the LGBTQ community per Resolution No. 92-17 (see Attachment 1).
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. City staff would like the City Council to consider the following exceptions and approve the subject staff’s travel to Texas request.
Resolution No. 92-17 provides for travel exceptions to be approved for the following reasons:
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 April 4, 2023
the city agency…
As noted above, this information gathering event will assist City staff in learning more about the Community First! Village model for consideration in Richmond and Contra Costa County.
Additional information about the symposium can be found at https://mlf.org/symposium/.
DOCUMENTS ATTACHED:
Attachment 1 – Resolution No. 92-17
Attachment 2 – Symposium for Goodness’ Sake