Redding differs from Salt Lake City in myriad ways, including its ability to provide housing to the homeless.
Members of the Redding City Council agreed on that much at least. Opinions differed, though, on whether Redding should launch a pilot program patterned after Utah’s “Housing First” approach that provides the homeless with permanent housing without preconditions like being sober or participation in an addiction treatment program.
The issue surfaced in February when Lloyd Pendleton, the former head of Utah’s Homeless Task Force, spoke at a community forum in Redding and explained the success the Beehive State has had with reducing homelessness.
The Housing First program is based on the theory that the chronically homeless are more amenable to addiction treatment, counseling and other social services after they get a roof over their heads. Utah’s homeless population was reduced by 91 percent, Pendleton said.
During his presentation in February, Pendleton challenged both Mayor Missy McArthur and Shasta County Board of Supervisors Chairwoman Pam Giacomini to create pilot Housing First programs that would each assist five chronically homeless people.
On Tuesday, the council voted 3-2 not to accept the challenge, per se, but to stake out a seat on a new implementation team charged with working on issues surrounding the homeless and continue to seek solutions, which may include a version of Utah’s Housing First program.
Councilwoman Francie Sullivan and Councilman Brent Weaver cast the dissenting votes.
Sullivan said the city’s housing staff was already stretched too thin and she questioned the city’s ability to justify spending roughly $70,000 to house five homeless people for a year. “Good intentions don’t pay the bills; everything we do needs to be sustainable,” she said.
Weaver said he opposed the city taking a “top-down” approach to the housing project. A lateral approach in partnership with nonprofit agencies like the Good News Rescue Mission would be better. “I think the private sector should lead and the city will meet them at the table,” he said.
Councilwoman Kristen Schreder firmly supported the Housing First pilot project and described it as an opportunity for Redding to improve its ability to coordinate with Shasta County and the other agencies and organizations that have moved to the forefront in addressing north state homeless issues. “We have the basis for that collaboration now; we should try,” Schreder said.
Schreder, who has been spearheading the Redding Area Homelessness Coalition Project in her own time, said studies indicate the city and county can actually save money if homeless residents are housed.
“We can provide leadership,” Weaver said, “but I don’t want to grow government.” Schreder replied: “We’re not trying to make a bigger government, but to make government better.”
In other news Tuesday, the council:
Downtown Project Advances
— Voted 4-0 (with Weaver abstaining) to join developer Daniel Knott and his K2 Land and Investments in applying for a $20 million state grant that would clear the way for an ambitious project to demolish the old Dicker’s building and replace it with a four-story, mixed-use hub of affordable housing and retail.
The total project cost is $37 million. Redding’s share of the costs would come in the form of a $4.8 million loan from the city’s housing loan fund.
The project would also mean a section of The Promenade in downtown Redding would reopen to vehicle traffic. While that part of the project is an acknowledgment of Redding’s car-centric nature, another part entails tying the project to the “Distelhorst to Downtown” trail system to attract more bicyclists and pedestrians to the downtown area.
The emphasis on walking and biking is critical since K2 and the city will be competing with other projects seeking grants from the Strategic Growth Council for Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities Program.
The Redding Planning Commission voted unanimously to grant a use permit for the project.
IT Contract Approved
— Voted 5-0 to approve an $180,000 contract with Development Group, Inc. of Redding to provide backup, maintenance and support services to the city’s Information Technology department.
Dave Allen, Redding’s IT director, said the Redding firm will help fill the gap created when an IT supervisor quit in February. “Due to a variety of factors, including recruitment difficulties, increased complexity of network infrastructure technology, and cyber security requirements, remaining staff is not able to assume the duties of network administration at the level that is required,” Allen says in his staff report to the council.
