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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - Minutes - City Council - Meeting Date: 3/9/2021 (3)City of Glendale 5850 West Glendale Avenue Glendale, AZ 85301 -0100�p` C&77 Glendale A R I Z O N A Meeting Minutes Tuesday, March 9, 2021 12:30 P.M. Workshop Meeting Civic Center City Council Mayor Jerry Weiers Vice Mayor Ian Hugh Councilmember Jamie Aldama Councilmember Joyce Clark Councilmember Ray Malnar Councilmember Lauren Tolmachoff Councilmember Bart Turner CALL TO ORDER Vice Mayor Hugh called the meeting to order at 12:30 p.m. ROLL CALL Present: Vice Mayor Ian Hugh Councilmember Jamie Aldama Councilmember Joyce Clark Councilmember Lauren Tolmachoff Councilmember Bart Turner Absent: Mayor Jerry Weiers Councilmember Ray Malnar Also Present: Kevin Phelps, City Manager Michael Bailey, City Attorney Julie K. Bower, City Clerk Vicki Rios, Assistant City Manager Jack Friedline, Assistant City Manager Councilmember Malnar arrived at 12:35 p.m. WORKSHOP SESSION 1. COUNCIL ITEM OF SPECIAL INTEREST HOMELESS RESPONSE UPDATE Presented by: Jean Moreno, Community Services Director Rick St. John, Deputy City Manager Public Safety Guest Presenter: Lisa Glow, J.D., Chief Executive Officer, Central Arizona Shelter Services Guest Presenter: Amy St. Peter, Deputy Executive Director, Maricopa Association of Governments Ms. Bower read the item by title. Ms. Moreno presented the following: Homelessness Investment Activities Subrecipient Contracts Issued Homeless Master Services Agreement Performance Outcomes Administrative Updates Bonsai[ Park Street Outreach Event Councilmember Clark requested clarification of the Homeless Master Services Agreement. Ms. Moreno explained the Homeless Master Services Agreement concept relied on robust partnerships within the community. The City only received approximately $200,000 a year in Emergency Solutions Grant funding. The $3 million from the CARES Act funding would allow for a greater impact in a shorter amount of time and the program would be performance based. Councilmember Clark asked how often the recipient of the Master Services Agreement would report back to staff and when the information would be made available to Council. City Council Meeting Minutes - March 9, 2021 Page 2 of 8 Ms. Moreno anticipated monthly check -ins to ensure the contract was on track along with United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and Council reporting. Mr. St. John said Council had directed staff to address homelessness and a multi -departmental task force was established. When a homeless issue was addressed at one park, it moved to another park, and became a rotating cycle that did not end, but increased. Enforcement was only one lane of what needed to be a five -lane approach which included shelter and affordable housing, job integration, mental health and addiction. The task force would bring people together to discuss what was going on and to problem solve as a team instead of sending police to the sites. Councilmember Tolmachoff asked about collaborating with neighboring cities so that people were not moved back and forth across city boundaries. Mr. St. John said a regional approach was being discussed with the Maricopa Association of Governments (MAG) leading the conversation. Councilmember Clark asked what goals would be set to measure the success of the approach. Mr. St. John said a measurable goal was for a person to come out of homelessness with a sustainable financial situation. Part of the Built for Zero platform included moving people through a process with sustainable long-term goals and benchmarks. Councilmember Clark asked if staff knew the number of homeless individuals at the beginning of the process in order to compare to the number at the end of the process. Mr. St. John did not have an exact number. It was an estimated number based on the Point -in -Time count. The community partners working with the homeless had the information needed to fully understand the problem and for staff's use to accurately measure going forward. One of MAG's goal was to enhance data collection in order to better understand the depth of the problem. Councilmember Tolmachoff asked if staff engaged with private property owners regarding the homeless issue and panhandling. Mr. St. John said staff did engage with property owners. Staff worked with Walmart to determine and curb the pattern and worked with the private property owners that were impacted. Councilmember Aldama said there were too many organizations trying to do the same thing. A way must be found to centralize resources. Mr. St. John said the City needed to partner with all of the groups, understand what the groups were trying to accomplish, and how each fit into the regional approach to deal with homelessness on a larger scale. Councilmember Aldama said there were many types of homeless people. The City lacked boots on the ground and that was where funds needed to be allocated. Councilmember Turner asked what the process was, and which resources were offered once a call was received by the Police Department regarding a homeless person. Mr. St. John said the process was dependent on the type of homelessness the individual was experiencing. Situational homeless was easier to deal with because the individual would be City Council Meeting Minutes - March 9, 2021 Page 3 of 8 introduced to available resources. Episodic homelessness was more difficult and chronic homelessness was the most difficult. Chief Briggs had introduced a program called the Misdemeanor Repeat Offender Program, which deferred punishments for lower level misdemeanor crimes for the chronically homeless, if they accepted services. Councilmember Turner asked if it was appropriate for the public to call the non -emergency number if they were concerned about the welfare of a person who appeared to be homeless. Mr. St. John said if it was believed the person was in some sort of distress, it was appropriate to call the Police Department non -emergency number for an officer to conduct a welfare check. If an individual was seen routinely, an observer could request service via GlendaleOne. It was a more effective tool since it was routed to appropriate staff immediately. Ms. Moreno introduced Lisa Glow, Chief Executive Officer, Central Arizona Shelter Services (CASS) and Terry Smith, Chief Operating Officer. Ms. Glow provided information on the CASS Norton and Ramsey Social Justice Empowerment Center and a brief history of CASS and the services it provided. Councilmember Tolmachoff asked how to keep homelessness from increasing during a housing crisis, specifically for the fifty-five plus and sixty-five plus populations. Ms. Glow said CASS was advocating for more resources. By making Project Haven permanent, with the goal of 100 to 140 units, seniors would not have to stay in downtown Phoenix and would obtain more focused service. Councilmember Clark requested clarification of the similarities or differences with the CASS services and staff's proposal. She supported the use of the hybrid models and the approach of the Norton Center as a one-stop shop for services. It made more sense to apply resources toward the Norton Center rather than starting a new program. Ms. Moreno was hopeful CASS would submit a Request for Statement of Qualifications (RFQ). The RFQ spoke to creating an efficient delivery system, addressing all three types of homelessness, and a variety of housing options. Councilmember Malnar asked about the use of volunteers in the CASS organization and if the model could be expanded. Ms. Smith said CASS had limited volunteers but saw it as an area that could grow. Another method discussed for use at CASS was peer counseling. Councilmember Malnar said there would need to be more administration and oversight with the increase of beds, which could be filled by volunteers. He asked how the chronic homeless problem could be solved if money was not an issue. Ms. Smith said a significant part of the issue was substance abuse and it would be the one thing she would work on as it was the base of the chronically homeless. Councilmember Aldama had toured the CASS facility in Phoenix and noted there were criteria for individuals to enter the CASS program. He asked for an explanation of the criteria. Ms. Glow said CASS was a low -barrier shelter with minimal requirements. There were rules which had to be followed while in the facility. City Council Meeting Minutes - March 9, 2021 Page 4 of 8 Ms. Smith clarified CASS was the shelter and the campus was the Human Services Campus. Once accepted, a person could be under the influence, but could not bring substances into the building. Individuals did not have to participate in programming to become housed. Councilmember Aldama said there were steps with coordinated entry and if the individual failed the steps, the individual was back out on the street. Ms. Glow noted CASS and other providers agreed there were too many people who could not come in through coordinated entry and other options were needed. The model needed to be transformed, smaller specialized places needed to be opened, and more lanes for entry were needed. Councilmember Aldama said, because of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal ruling, the City's hands were tied from removing people from anywhere in the City. Mr. St. John said the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal's case stated it was inhumane to not allow someone to sleep on a public space when there was no other area for them to go. The City entered into a contract with CASS for guaranteed bed space. In order to enforce the urban camping ordinance, it had to be documented that resources were offered and reasonably available and those resources were refused. Councilmember Turner asked if the use of hotels was viewed as a temporary or permanent solution. He was concerned about the impact to the surrounding area because of the location of the Norton and Ramsey Social Justice Center. He asked if the location was permanent and if it was becoming a magnet for more homeless entering the downtown for referrals who then stayed in the area. Ms. Smith explained CASS was working with neighbors of the Empowerment Center. At full capacity, there would be no lines outside the center. CASS was intentionally not providing services that would attract people other than to move them forward in permanency. Ms. Glow said CASS was not providing food and the goal was to provide holistic services for people to get back into housing and connect to jobs. The hotel for Project Haven was not a permanent solution. The investments in hotels by Phoenix and other cities as permanent solutions were hotels that were struggling and wanted to sell. Ms. St. Peter provided information on regional efforts with a focus on reducing redundancies and gaps in providing housing. The four parts of the effort were: regional, inclusive, accountable, and sustainable. Wrap around services and systems integration were critical. Geo -coordinates were used to achieve real time data on a weekly or monthly basis, instead of waiting for the annual Point -in -Time count. Councilmember Clark asked if there was any consideration of the concept of true dispersal of services and shelters. Shelters were usually located in low socio-economic demographic areas. Ms. St. Peter said the congregate housing model still had success, however, there was more success with the dispersed program. There was a focus on finding high impact, low profile methods for homeless assistance programs to enter communities. Dispersing the programs was critical. She was not sure where the federal government was going with the affordable housing analysis and was concerned about increased homelessness once the eviction moratorium was lifted. Councilmember Tolmachoff did not see where the elected officials were getting access to the information and collaborating on regional polices and asked if it would be part of the strategy. City Council Meeting Minutes - March 9, 2021 Page 5 of 8 Ms. St. Peter said on April 6th, 2021, a forum would be held for elected officials. Elected officials were in a unique position because they understood their constituents' needs and community priorities and were in a position to help shape and drive the work. A capstone event would be held in June 2021, where all participants from the outreach forums would be brought together to review the approved regional strategies and determine how the strategies could be implemented. Councilmember Tolmachoff said much of the American Recovery Act funds would have the criteria to focus on affordable housing, homelessness, addressing addiction, and other issues such as mental health. It was imperative to work together and not fix something in one city while creating an issue in another city. Ms. St. Peter agreed and said her agency was tracking the amount of COVID relief funding communities were receiving for FY20 and FY21. Ms. Moreno would provide Council with opportunities to provide input. CITY MANAGER'S REPORT Mr. Phelps congratulated the owners of Cuff on the re -opening of the restaurant at its new location across from Murphy Park. Mr. Phelps said the G303 Project opened the first half of its 1.2 million square foot facility. Mr. Phelps said 200 second doses of COVID vaccines had been dispensed at the Civic Center. Staff was working on additional dispensing opportunities. CITY ATTORNEY'S REPORT No report COUNCIL ITEMS OF SPECIAL INTEREST Councilmember Aldama requested Council hold a visioning retreat for downtown Glendale to include events, beautification, short-term and long-term goals, and funding and budget. He requested the visioning retreat to be held no later than April 13, 2021. Councilmember Clark supported Councilmember Aldama's concept for the downtown visioning retreat. MOTION AND CALL TO ENTER INTO EXECUTIVE SESSION A motion was made by Councilmember Bart Turner, seconded by Councilmember Ray Malnar to hold an executive session. AYE: Vice Mayor Ian Hugh Councilmember Jamie Aldama Councilmember Joyce Clark Councilmember Ray Malnar Councilmember Lauren Tolmachoff City Council Meeting Minutes - March 9, 2021 Page 6 of 8 Councilmember Bart Turner Other: Mayor Jerry Weiers (ABSENT) Passed EXECUTIVE SESSION Council entered into to executive session at 2:41 p.m. for: • Discussion regarding appointments and matters relating to the following boards, commissions and other bodies pursuant to A.R.S. § 38-431.03(A)(3)(4) • Discussion and or consultation, to consider its position, and to provide instruction/direction regarding the appointment of a Judge in the Glendale Municipal Court and discussion/consultation for legal advice with the City Attorney pursuant to A.R.S. §38-431.03(A)(1)(3) • Discussion/consultation with the City Attorney to receive legal advice, to consider its position, and to provide instruction/direction to the City Attorney regarding Non -Disclosure Agreements, the Arizona Public Records Law and the Arizona Open Meeting Law pursuant to A.R.S. §§ 38-431.03 (A)(3) • Discussion/consultation with the City Attorney and City Manager to receive an update, to consider its position, and to provide instruction/direction to the City Attorney and City Manager regarding Glendale's position in connection with 5141 West Lamar Road, Glendale, Arizona pursuant to A.R.S. §§ 38-431.03 (A)(3)(4)(7) • Discussion and consultation with the City Attorney and City Manager to receive an update, consider its position and provide instruction and direction to the City Attorney and City Manager regarding Glendale's position in connection with agreements associated with the Arena and the Hockey Team pursuant to A.R.S. § 38-431.03(A)(3)(4)(7) • Discussion/consultation with the City Attorney and City Manager to receive an update, to consider its position, and to provide instruction/direction to the City Attorney and City Manager regarding Glendale's position in connection with contracts, agreements and/or development agreements pertaining property in the area of Reems Road and Camelback Road that is the subject of negotiations pursuant to A.R.S. §§ 38-431.03 (A)(3)(4) A motion was made by Councilmember Jamie Aldama, seconded by Councilmember Ray Malnar to adjourn the executive session. AYE: Vice Mayor Ian Hugh Councilmember Jamie Aldama Councilmember Joyce Clark Councilmember Ray Malnar Councilmember Lauren Tolmachoff Councilmember Bart Turner Other: Mayor Jerry Weiers (ABSENT) Passed Vice Mayor Hugh adjourned the executive session at 4:45 p.m. ADJOURNMENT Vice Mayor Hugh adjourned the meeting at 4:45 p.m. City Council Meeting Minutes - March 9, 2021 Page 7 of 8 I hereby certify that the foregoing minutes are a true and correct copy of the minutes of the meeting of the Glendale City Council of Glendale, Arizona, held on the 9th day of March, 2021. 1 further certify that the meeting was duly called and held and that a quorum was present. Dated this 26th day of March, 2021. Juite K. Bower, MMC, City Clerk City Council Meeting Minutes - March 9, 2021 Page 8 of 8