April 27th, 2026. We spent the
afternoon getting an update on
the comp plan and the biennial
forecast and the policy
direction, and then finished it
off with the Interstate Bridge
replacement update. We've come
out of executive session. Would
you please stand and join me in
the Pledge of Allegiance? I
pledge allegiance to the flag
of the United States of America
and to the Republic for which
it stands one nation under God,
indivisible, with liberty and
justice for all. Mr. Miller,
please call the roll.
>> Councilmember Harless.
Present. Perez.
>> Present.
>> Fox. Here. Paulson. Here.
Stober. Here. Hanson. Present.
Mayor. McEnerny Ogle present.
>> Thank you very much. Let's
move in to the approval of the
minutes. Councilors, you have
the minutes of April 13th, 2026.
Are there any corrections or
changes? Henson seconded by Fox.
All those in favor say aye. Aye.
Opposed? Motion passes. Thank
you very much. We have some
proclamations this evening. And
the first one is about
volunteer month. Shari, are you
here with us, Sherry? Hi. Yes,
please join us. Let me read a
little bit, Sherry, while you
turn on those microphones.
Whereas volunteers make a
difference in our libraries,
neighborhoods, schools,
churches, faith based
organizations, community and
civic groups, and government
agencies. They are an
invaluable resource and are at
the heart and soul of our
cities, counties, and nation.
Volunteers help communities
provide basic human services,
spiritual support, neighbor to
neighbor assistance, and assist
and empower those who have been
marginalized. Whereas,
volunteers have played an
integral part in this city's
proud history, they are at the
foundation of our community
life. Volunteers are key to
assisting the city to meet the
needs of its community and
accomplishing our community
goals. We acknowledge that
volunteers help unite our great
country through their selfless
service. Now therefore, I Anne
McEnerny Ogle, Mayor of
Vancouver, Washington, do
hereby proclaim the week of
April 19th through 25th, 2026
and the entire month of April
as National Volunteer Week and
Month in the City of Vancouver,
and encourage all community
members and organizations to
help us thank, celebrate, and
recognize the contributions of
all of our volunteers. So let
me catch you right over here
and I'll give you a
proclamation.
>> Absolutely. Thank you. Okay.
>> Thank you, mayor, and all of
our council members, we
appreciate your support of all
the great volunteers that do so
much for the City of Vancouver.
I am Shari Burget has been
stated the volunteer
coordinator from FBRL libraries,
Fort Vancouver Regional
Libraries. In 2025, we had 862
volunteers that gave 38,000
hours. We honored these
generous donors of their time
over two Saturdays. During this
last month of April. These
volunteers help with our read
to the dog program, which
promotes reading among our
youngest citizens. Other great
volunteers lead our language
programs, our art programs from
practicing ASL, Spanish,
Japanese, French or English to
line dancing, yoga, and a lot
of other programs as well. And
for all ages, may I add, a lot
of our youthful volunteers lead
our gaming groups, and our
friends of the library also
manage our youth bookstores.
Keeping all those books,
recycling back into homes where
they'll be loved and cherished
and read over and over and all
across our service area. They
are our dedicated volunteers,
and they have hearts of
absolute gold. Washington State
is a top performer in
volunteering as well,
frequently ranking within the
top ten nationwide. According
to 2025 data, approximately
32.8% of Washingtonians engage
in formal volunteering, which
is much higher than the
national average. And we know
that the City of Vancouver
plays a big role in that. Our
state ranks eighth of for both
total volunteers and per capita
volunteer rates, these
statistics are collected by
Peace Corps. We are also ranked
14th among the most charitable
states in the 2025 WalletHub
analysis. So I think we can be
really proud of that. I know
that the City of Vancouver is
definitely a big supporter and
help to those numbers. So we
just want to thank you for
taking the time to honor not
only our library volunteers
that we love so much, but the
volunteers all across the city
of Vancouver. And today, I'm
sure you recognize Haley Heath,
who is the volunteer
coordinator with the City of
Vancouver.
>> Hello. Good evening, mayor,
Council member, community and
staff. Haley Heath, volunteer
coordinator with the City of
Vancouver. Thank you so much
for this honor. During National
Volunteer Month and week. I'm
so glad to be here to celebrate
the volunteers that shape
Vancouver in 2025, volunteers
supported 113 events, including
habitat restoration, cleanup,
education and special events
support in collaboration with
community partners. More than
6400 people participated in
environmental education, and
nearly 1500 volunteers
contributed contributed direct
service hours to our parks.
Together, they removed 532
yards of invasive plants.
That's nearly 50 big old dump
truck loads of English ivy and
Himalayan blackberry. If you've
ever done that, you know it's
quite a chore. Guided by the
vision of our all volunteer
pollinator subcommittee, the
city also achieved city USA
affiliation status last year,
strengthening our commitment to
pollinators and biodiversity.
Altogether, this work
represents nearly $200,000 in
volunteer value through the
parks program alone. It's
really just a snippet of the
total impact made by volunteers.
These. These matters. These
numbers matter, but what
matters most is what they show
stewardship and action. People
invest their time in the
communities that they care and
that they love. Volunteers
illustrate our values every day
in all of their actions. They
don't just help the city, they
strengthen our entire community.
They restore and protect
ecosystems. They deepen
connections between people.
They innovate and share new
ideas, and they help foster a
stronger sense of belonging for
all across Vancouver. And so
tonight, to every volunteer in
the city of Vancouver, I just
want to say thank you. Our city
is greener. It's stronger. It's
more resilient, compassionate
and connected because of you.
Happy volunteer month.
>> All right. We've been
working a lot on housing. This
is a Fair Housing Act
proclamation. We have a couple
individuals with us this
evening. Whereas the Fair
Housing Act was enacted on
April 11th, 1968, as title
eight of the Civil Rights Act,
affirming the principle that
access to housing is a
fundamental right and
prohibiting discrimination in
housing related transactions
based on race, color, religion,
sex, national origin,
disability and family status,
and the Fair Housing Act
reflects our nation's enduring
commitment to equity, dignity
and opportunity, and serves as
a cornerstone in the continued
effort to eliminate barriers to
housing choice and promote
inclusive, thriving communities.
Whereas, the observance of the
58th anniversary of the Fair
Housing Act provides an
opportunity to reaffirm our
shared responsibility to uphold
the law, advance fair housing
practices and ensure that all
individuals and families have
equal access to safe and
affordable housing. And whereas,
real estate professionals play
a critical role in advancing
the goals of fair housing by
adhering to ethical standards,
complying with federal, state
and local fair housing laws,
and fostering inclusive
practices within the
communities they serve now.
Therefore, I Anne McEnerny Ogle,
Mayor of Vancouver, Washington,
do hereby proclaim April 2026
as the 58th anniversary of the
Fair Housing Act in the City of
Vancouver, and we encourage all
community members, institutions
and housing stakeholders to
join in reaffirming their
commitment to fair housing, to
learning about their rights and
responsibilities under the law,
and to working collaboratively
to build communities that are
inclusive, equitable and
welcoming to all gentlemen.
There you go.
>> Good evening, Mayor McEnry
Ogle and members of the
Vancouver City Council. My name
is Anthony Stroud. I am a
managing broker with
Professional Realty Services in
Washington, Oregon and Idaho. I
also serve as the president of
the Clark County Association of
Realtors. Thank you for the
opportunity to speak tonight in
recognition of Fair Housing
Month. April is a time to
celebrate progress. It is also
a time to recommit to the work
ahead. This year marks the 58th
anniversary of the Fair Housing
Act. Its purpose remains as
important today as ever. As a
realtor, fair housing is not
just a concept, it is a
responsibility. I carry it into
every client interaction. It
means providing equal
professional service to all. It
means ensuring buyers and
sellers have access to the same
opportunities. It also means
being intentional. I stay
educated, I hold myself
accountable. I advocate for the
practices that promote
inclusion in our community.
Fair housing protections help
ensure that housing access is
not determined by a person's
characteristics. These
protections include race, color,
religion, sex, national origin,
familial status, and disability.
In Washington state. They also
include marital status, creed,
sexual orientation, sexual
identity, veteran or military
status, and certain health
conditions such as HIV, Aids
and hepatitis C. It is a core
that sorry. At its core, this
is about fairness. It's about
making sure that everyone has
the opportunity to find a place
to call home. I am proud to
stand in support of this
proclamation. I remain
committed to advancing fair
housing in our community. Thank
you.
>> Thank you so very much. All
right. This is the opportunity
now that we will move into our
testimony on the consent items.
And so let's go ahead and have
Tabor Kelly come and join us at
the table. And Josh Harmon,
please join us at the table.
And if you'll hit that
microphone with the little face
there, it'll your microphone
will turn green and you're
ready to go. So Tabor, go ahead.
>> Good evening Council. There
are a few things that I wish
had not made it into the comp
plan. They include open space
minimums, impervious surface
maximums which include
residential structures, buffers
between zones, and quite a few
overlay districts. All of these
will increase housing prices
during a housing emergency.
With that said, the comp plan
is far better than the status
quo, and I encourage this
council to get it over the line
since it is essentially six
years late at this point.
Additionally, I would like to
commend the Council for the
support of the light rail all
the way to the library, as this
transit connection will be used
for many decades to come by
this community. Thank you for
your time.
>> Thank you. Josh.
>> Hi. I'm Josh Harmon,
resident of Vancouver. And
similarly, I wanted to share my
continued support for the work
that's going into the
comprehensive plan update. I've
been watching some of your
guys's deliberation and some of
the nuances that you guys have
been working out in the code,
and to me at least, it feels
like it's becoming much closer
to reality as those details get
ironed out, which is exciting.
I'm also excited to see that,
at least by my reading, it
doesn't seem like the city is
falling into the trap of of as
completely replacing things
like parking requirements with
other onerous standards that
suppress like actual good use
of land like design review that
some other jurisdictions have
chosen to do. And so that gives
me significant reason for
optimism that Vancouver is well
positioned to address the
challenges our city faces,
whether it be affordability and
housing supply or climate
action. I continue, though, to
believe that one thing that the
city will have to continue to
iterate on after this
significantly is transportation
policy. So, for example, in the
final environmental impact
statement, there was only a
approximately one percentage
point change in the percentage
of vehicle mode share that was
allocated to single occupancy
vehicle trips. And I think, you
know, with our goals under the
Climate Action framework, to me,
that seems at odds with coming
anywhere close to those goals.
And so while that's kind of my
remaining concern with the
city's plans, I think this is
an awesome starting point and
I'm excited to see it get
across the line next month.
Thank you.
>> Thank you, Josh, Jason
Cromer and Siobhan McEwen,
please. Jason. Go ahead.
>> Sure. Yeah. I also want to
commend City Council on your
work and deliberations on the
comprehensive plan. It's nice
to hear the support and really
common sense reasoning around
the plan that's been presented
to you all. So thank you. Yeah,
I really appreciate that. And,
and it's already been said, but
yeah, there's a lot in the comp
plan that really pushes the
city forward and modernizes a
lot of our standards. And a
really big one is actually the
removal of parking minimums,
which from many points of view,
especially economic, really
create a space for the city to
build more housing, more green
space, more density, better
walkability. It's one of the
core fundamentals. And what
makes a city livable is the
lack of parking minimums. So
really want to say thank you
for that. And also to support
the support of your decision to
extend light rail. Really,
that's I'm really looking
forward to that, myself and my
family, because that will be
the point to where we sell our
car and go car free. That's
going to be our catalyst to no
longer having a car. So these
are the type of things I think
more people will will switch to
and change as we get more
advanced forms of public
transportation. In addition to
the continual increase in
density, walkability and
bicycle networks, it makes some
big differences in people's
lives. So thank you very much.
>> Thank you Siobhan. Go ahead.
>> Good evening, Mayor and City
Council members. Thank you for
the opportunity to address you
tonight. As you know, my name
is Siobhan McEwen. I'm the
executive director of the
Southwest Washington Equity
Coalition. I know I've come
here many times and had some
really critical things to say
tonight. I just want to offer
my gratitude specifically for
Rebecca Kennedy, Dominique
Martin Martinelli and Meredith
Herbst. Sek has been working
with these folks for the last
three years to really try and
involve ourselves in the
comprehensive plan. And I know
that tonight in the workshop,
it was shared that, you know,
over 2000 people directly
shared inputs on the plan.
There were over 2000 ideas that
were both shared and included,
and over 150 public small
meetings, you know, in public
meetings. And I just have to
say, you know, when we say that
those closest to the problem
are closest to the solution,
and I couldn't be more
impressed with the team from
the city in the work that they
did to go out and really hear
from as many people as they
absolutely could. I know that
there's been a lot of feedback
in the in the Colombian
criticizing some of the work of
Vancouver staff, maybe not
being inclusive enough. And I
want to say that personally, in
my experience, I've never seen
a city entity go out and do as
much groundwork with as much
intention and foresight to
really try and create a plan or
a, or a program that really was
truly inclusive and reflective
of as many community voices as
they possibly could. So I just
want to share my appreciation
and gratitude for those staff
especially, and encourage you
as we get close down here to
the to the final hour for the
comprehensive plan to kick that
sucker across the finish line,
because it's been done just
exceptionally well. And I'm
excited to continue to work to
see Vancouver become an even
more equitable and prosperous
and diverse city. Thank you.
>> Thank you. That concludes
our community. Communication
will now move into the consent
agenda. I'll be pulling item
number six. Are there any other
items that you would like to
pull?
>> Item number three.
>> Item three. Last call. I'll
entertain a motion to approve
items one, two, four, five and
seven.
>> Move to approve Stober.
>> Stober. Seconded by Perez.
Perez. All those in favor, say
aye. Opposed. Motion passes.
Thank you very much. Item
number three, Council mayor Pro
tem. Go ahead.
>> Sure.
>> So item number three is
about a landscape service that
is landscaping and janitorial
services for the waterfront
area. And I'm recognizing that
there's been multiple
amendments to this. And I don't
remember, and I feel like maybe
I've asked this question before.
So it's all right to remind me
that I have. But what is our
obligation? How many years of
obligation do we have to pay
70% of landscaping fees along
the waterfront?
>> So I'll take that. Dave
Perlick, director of parks,
Recreation and Cultural
Services. This is this
arrangement is established in
the one of the development
agreements with Waterfront
Partners, LLC. There is not an
expiration on it. We would have
to go back and have a
conversation to change that. So
this this arrangement where the
city takes responsibility is
lead to contract and deliver
those services. And the
developer pays 30%, does not
have an end date.
>> And is there a limit to that
30%? Is that 30% of the costs
only for landscaping around
those particular buildings or
the janitorial services around
their specific building area?
Or is it for the entire
waterfront park?
>> It is for the entire
waterfront park. Basically, all
of the billings we receive, we
pay those and we send an
invoice for 30% to our partners.
>> And my final question,
although I feel like it might
be an obvious one, are there
cost savings to the city with
this arrangement moving forward
versus whether or not we do the
same level of services using
our permanent staff?
>> In a prior amendment to the
contract, we synced it to the
city's biennial budget process.
While no decision has been made,
we wanted to make sure that we
could understand our budget
situation. You received an
update on that today and could
make those decisions. One of
those could be insourcing. We
certainly need to have a
conversation with our partner
and we would, but we'll be
looking at that in the second
half of 26, which is exactly
why we wanted to sync up the
contract to to again, any
changes could be could be
approved through an amendment
that would be part of the
updated 2728 city biennial
budget.
>> That's really helpful to
know, because I do think about
the equity of our, you know,
parks throughout the city and
just concerned that we spend
could be spending, I don't know.
So I won't put it out there,
but an extraordinary amount of
funding on the waterfront, but
perhaps not at some of our
other parks that are equally
well loved. So I look forward
to that discussion with the
budget then. Is that what I was
hearing?
>> Yes. Yeah. So again, if
we're just at the very
beginning of that conversation,
but we can look at alternatives
and options both in sourcing
and continued outsourcing of
that. Again, we want to be
respectful and have that
conversation with waterfront
partners as well, because
they're a they're a partner in
this, but we should be looking
ongoing at both cost methods
and appropriateness of methods
as we continue to evolve our
approaches as well.
>> Yes. Okay. Thank you.
>> Thank you. Any other
questions? Nope. All right.
Thank you so much.
>> Oh, move to approve item
number three.
>> Foxx seconded by. Stober
Stober. All those in favor, say
aye. Aye. Opposed? Motion
passes. Thank you. Janey, will
you join us for a little bit?
This is not something we
usually do. We usually make an
appointment. People sit in the
back of the room. It's a
consent agenda item. It moves
on. But you were in a unique
position. You were on one of
our other committees. Correct.
And you made a decision and
asked subcommittee one to
change why the library?
>> So I have loved libraries as
long as I've loved parks ever
since I was a child. When I had
kids, both became very relevant.
My husband started working from
home and needed us out of the
house as much as possible
because he was telecommuting.
And so I discovered parks and
libraries. If it was nice out,
we went to the parks. If it was
rainy out, we'd go to the
libraries and fell in love with
both of them. My friend
happened to tell me about Prach
and that was how I ended up on
Prach. I've always loved
libraries. It's amazing. I'm a
nonfiction favorite fan, so I
will absorb and read as much as
I possibly can. With regards to
nonfiction, my kids just. It
was. It's wonderful to see kids
in park spaces and in libraries
because they're. Curiosity is
just piqued. Their creativity,
their imagination in both
places. So both parks and
libraries hold a very special
spot.
>> You do realize this is a
five year commitment.
>> I do realize that, yes.
>> Bless your heart. Thank you
so very much. I move approval
of item number six.
>> Paulsen.
>> Seconds. Paulsen seconded it.
All those in favor, say aye.
Mayor. Discussion?
>> Yes. Thank you. So I also
wanted to pull this because
there's some confusion in the
memo and staff memo. The staff
memo and the the two documents
were included. It starts and
ends with council with Council
subcommittee one. And in the
middle of the document it talks
about Council Subcommittee two.
So just wanted to give credit
that this was Council
Subcommittee one all the way
through. Thank you.
Subcommittee two did not play a
role in this. Thank you.
>> But they still wanted to.
Going back to the motion, I
have a motion and a second.
Those in favor say aye. Opposed.
Motion passes. Thank you. Thank
you. Okay. That concludes the
consent agenda brings us into
the public hearing. This is an
ordinance relating to
management of public rights, of
way granting to Fat Beam LLC
and its affiliates a Washington
LLC, a non-exclusive and
revocable franchise to install,
operate and maintain a
telecommunications system in on,
over upon a long and across
public ways of the City of
Vancouver, Washington,
establishing certain rights,
duties, terms and conditions
with respect to the franchise
and setting an effective date
and conditions. Grantee and
city are sometimes collectively
referred to as the parties. How
many of these have we done? Is
this number nine? Every time we
turn around are staff report.
Aaron. How many of these are
lined up waiting to put this in
our dirt?
>> So well, good evening, Mayor
and Council. Aaron Lande,
assistant city manager. I don't
actually know the answer to how
many we've done. And I can tell
you we've got another one I
think, coming next month. So,
you know, I'll see you again
soon. But just so you all know,
and just a little bit of
background for those who are
joining us midstream, the city
recently received a request
from Fat Beam LLC and its
affiliates for the city to
grant them a telecommunications
franchise for their fiber
system. That Beam has agreed to
the city's standard
nonexclusive franchise,
including for a ten year term
with a mutual option for five
additional years. The language
provides ample protection from
damage for city right of way
assets, and will provide
additional broadband
connectivity options for our
citizens and businesses. And
there was a first reading of
this proposed ordinance on
March 16th. Tonight's the
second reading and the
opportunity for public hearing
before council considers the
ordinance this evening for
adoption. The proposed
ordinance establishes the
mandatory terms and conditions
under which the franchisee must
maintain and operate its
telecommunications facilities
within the rights of way. The
city has granted several
similar nonexclusive
telecommunication franchises to
different companies, and
federal law requires that the
franchise terms not put one or
more other franchisees at a
competitive disadvantage
relative to other providers. As
such, these franchises tend to
be very similar over time.
Perhaps you can tell that the
legal wrote that for me, not me.
I'd be happy to answer any
questions at this time.
>> Okay. Oh, hang on Aaron,
I'll open council. Do you have
any questions of Mr. Lande?
Nope nope nope nope nope. I'll
open the public hearing. I have
no cards. I'll close the public
hearing. Bring it back for
discussion from the council
councilors. Anything you want
to say, Counselor Stover?
>> Go ahead. Thank you. Mayor,
I always when we have these
things come before us, I like
to point out that the. Because
we have a lot of people who
will come and complain to us
about what we're doing. And
it's important for everybody to
know the city has next to no
authority over granting these
things. The FCC has very much
boxed us in, and what we're
able to do, and outright
denying any of these is not in
the cards. So don't yell at us.
If you don't like it, call the
FCC. Thank you. And with that,
I move to approve passage.
>> We have Councilor Stauber
and Councilor sober. I have a
note here from Miss Dollar.
Make sure that the council
member states the motion
clearly. Was that clear enough
for you, Miss Spolar, or would
we like him to give the entire
language, the entire language?
No, no. It's fine, it's okay.
What a relief. Who will second
the motion? Asks the little red
hen.
>> I'll second Harless Harless.
>> Thank you so very much. Roll
call. Vote please.
>> Councilmember Harless I
Perez I Fox I Paulson I Stauber
I Hanson. Mayor McEnerny.
>> Ogle I. Motion passes. Thank
you very much. Let's move into
communications from the council
councilor Harless. Councilor
Perez.
>> Yes, I just wanted to share
real quickly an update on last
week's ending community
homelessness organization panel
that we had. We had a landmark
panel bringing together law
enforcement leadership from
across the region that included
our Vancouver Police Department,
Clark County Sheriff, Camas PD,
Ridgefield PD, Clark County
Jail Services, and Clark County
Fire Cares. And the whole
purpose of it was to hear
directly from our law
enforcement leaders on things
that are happening on the
ground related to homelessness,
and some of the issues and gaps
that they're experiencing, and
some key takeaways that I
wanted to share with my
colleagues was that that, you
know, law enforcement cannot
solve homelessness, and they
clearly know it. And the
current CARES model that we
have, which is a mobile
integrated health team that
pairs paramedics with mental
health providers and social
services. You know, there's
only one for the entire Clark
County, and it is at its
breaking point. So clearly,
there's some support that we
need to look at and that we're
cycling people through jails
and emergency rooms without
solving anything. I think
there's some room, such as a
community court model, that
shows promise as an alternative
accountability mechanism, the
biggest on the ground barriers
are ones that we can fix, and
several of the law enforcement
officers shared that our
systems are siloed in ways that
cost lives and money. Taking a
look at a better look at that,
and working with our state
legislators who were some were
in attendance, can help with
that and that there are already
collaborative meetings
happening. But our law
enforcement folks don't know
about those collaborative
meetings. So just this is a
part about ensuring that we're
all sharing this information
and avoiding the silo approach.
And I think this conversation
proved and confirmed to many of
us what we've suspected, but
rarely hear or stated so
plainly by the people who are
actually doing the work on the
ground, is that we do have
dedicated, compassionate first
responders doing great things,
but they don't have the
adequate tools and that the
systems don't talk to each
other. And obviously, funding
is always a big issue. So I'm
really excited about what echo
is going to do the next step. I
think one of the suggestions
was to have a solution centered
work group amongst the law
enforcement across the region,
to help us pivot into the next
role. So it's all recorded on
CVTV Echo, April 14th, where
you can go and listen to what
others have shared. And I
wanted to make a shout out to
our, our police officers that
were there. It was Assistant
Chief Darren McShay and
Corporal Sean Mateo. Thank you.
>> Thank you, councilor Hansen.
Pass Councilor Paulson,
councilor Stauber.
>> Thank you, mayor. It was a
very good session at Echo.
Really appreciate that
opportunity. Last Monday night,
I took advantage of us not
having a meeting went out. I'm
in my role as a WC board member
to battleground to present
several of their council
members with their certificates
of municipal leadership. The
training program that Hwc puts
on. But it gave me the
opportunity to listen in and
see another council in action.
And was great to hear their
council member Frayer, talk
also glowingly about that
program. So I think it's great
that we are building
relationships across the county
on this. Council. Tonight. I
wanted to to. To bring up what
I view as how, how are we
living out our values of equity
in our community. Right now? We
have a long overdue project of
repaving Fourth Plain between
Main Street and the. And Fruit
Valley Road, and in doing that,
I'm just concerned about the
impacts that it's having on
local residents. That is a.
While we see a lot of trucks
traveling down fourth plain.
Fourth plain in that area is a
residential street, and people
who are living in that area are
doing so because it's probably
where they can afford to live,
not necessarily where that they
have a billion places that they
can choose from. And I can
almost certainly assure you
that people living on Fourth
Plain do not have second homes
to go to. And I bring that up
because it was chosen by staff
to prioritize traffic, come out
of the port over local
residents so that construction
work is happening overnight. I
live about four blocks off of
Fourth Plain, and it was it was
very noticeably loud in my
house. And the folks that are
living on Fourth Plain don't
have a way to get away from
that. They're being asked to
endure that weekdays overnight.
And my, my concern I have
several concerns with that. One
is people coming out of the of
the port have mill plain and
have 79th that they could use
as alternate routes during the
few days that that that is
going on. My concern is also
that there could have been this
work could have been done on
the weekend, but during the day,
rather than disturbing people's
sleep overnight. But there's
but there are a few properties
in this corridor that I'm
especially concerned about,
because the work that was done
to put in the stoplight at
Fourth Plain and Franklin
Street took months, probably
took four months at least,
maybe even more in order to
complete. And we were heavily
impacting the homes that those
four corners, I believe we need
to be doing a better equity
analysis about about our
projects and who's getting
impacted more heavily, and what
are the ways that we can
mitigate those, those impacts
and, and, and really do a value
analysis on who are we going to
prioritize through that process?
And I would really love us to
be able to, to dig in as a
council member, Perez says,
have an after action to talk
about what can we be doing
better in situations like that?
>> Thank you councilor.
>> I just wanted.
>> To remember. Mayor may be
called on. Call me please.
Councilor Perez. Go ahead.
>> Thank you. I just wanted to
agree with Council Member
Stauber in his statement. And
as far as some type of equity
impact analysis on on all of
our implementation programs and
contacts in the community and
neighborhoods, I believe we had
mentioned that quite earlier in
the beginning during some
previous iteration. I remember
us mentioning something like
that, but now it's like rubber
rubber to the ground and an
actual implementation and
support what council Member
Stauber is requesting.
>> Thank you.
>> Councilor Harless.
>> Yeah, also supportive.
>> Of this analysis. And it
reminds me of some of the
conversations we've had over
the last year, plus about noise
pollution and how to take that
more seriously. So there's also
the opportunity for a broader
conversation after doing that
sort of after action on this
one. Thanks.
>> Okay.
>> Councilor Fox.
>> Sure. I'm going to shift
gears and talk about trees. I
know that's a big one for you
guys. Be surprised that I would
talk about trees, but I got to
go to Lincoln Elementary School
last week for Arbor Day. I was
there to accept our Tree City
USA award, but I also was out
in the field with a bunch of
our Forest City Forestry
Commissioners. There was about
three of them out there with us,
along with our Clark Public
Utilities commissioners, Cheri
Erickson and Jane Van Dike. And
we were out there planting 25
new trees in the in the out
there in the yard of the school.
And so I just wanted to say it
was a pretty amazing day. We
had good, good weather and
everything, but also just was
quite a joy to be out there
with the kiddos. And then also
to say that I was a student at
Lincoln Elementary School when
I was a kindergartner and first
grader, and I don't remember us
having a school song.
>> And so. Do they now.
>> They do now. Yeah. It
involves lots of yays during
the song. I wish I could have
sang along, but I wasn't
prepared. But I am really
grateful that our urban
Forester Forestry Commissioner
showed up to join in the event
and also our Public Utilities
commissioners. Well, they were
also receiving an award. But
anyways, it was it was a great
day. So I'm just reporting that
back.
>> Perfect, perfect. Several
several things. Eric, thank you
for taking care of Sakura
Festival. I know several of you
attended that. That was a huge
event. Many of us were with
Lieutenant Governor Denny Heck.
He was down to have a
discussion about housing. And
then Senators Ludwig and
Cleveland were down talking
about the Southwest Washington
Training Academy. We had our
community salutes, which is the
opportunity to celebrate those
individuals who are high school
seniors who have chosen to
enlist in the services. So we
honored them and their families.
At Skyvue. Congratulations to
James Fitzgerald, the longtime
lead over at Fish Pantry, and
he's retired. It was Bring Your
Child to work this last week,
and we had children all over
the place. So thank you to
Shyann and Tony and Tatiana for
hiding Sasquatch all over City
Hall. It was fun to find them.
Had the opportunity to attend
Hope dementia fundraiser. They
are the individuals that are
helping caregivers through that
journey of dementia with loved
ones and friends. And then the
Nez Perce came in for
reconciliation. We did a
special Oregon white oak tree
plant at the National Park
Service in honor of scholar
Scotty and Bessie and the Nez
Perce tribe, and then Pow-wow
at Clark College. What a great
opportunity, a lot of wonderful
experiences, and we're so
pleased to have those
opportunities here. Councilors,
you heard that C-tran has made
the decision for four
representatives from the city
of Vancouver, three from the
county and two from the small
cities. And Councilor Harless
has mentioned that she would be
interested in serving on the
C-tran board. I'm wondering if
there are any others that would
like that opportunity for the
fourth seat. And we will need
an alternate. Is there anyone
who would choose mayor?
>> I offered to be the
alternate Council member.
Stober.
>> Thank you. I'll entertain a
motion to approve Councilor
Harless as the fourth
representative on the C-tran
Board of Directors representing
the City of Vancouver and as Ty
Stober to be the alternate.
>> So moved. Paulson.
>> Thank you. Seconded by
Hanson. All those in favor, say
aye. Aye. Opposed? Motion
passes. Thank you very much.
Let's move over to the City
Manager. Jeff, thank you for
jumping in tonight.
>> Thank you. Mayor Jeff Tory,
Deputy city manager. Very
briefly, Mr. Lande wants you to
know that your previous action
was the ninth telecom franchise.
And we'll have a we'll have a
10th one in the queue. And
while Jamie Spinelli is making
her way forward, if you have
not gotten a chance to view her
appearance on Straight Talk,
you have a link to that in the
communications memo that you
got from Laura Shepherd on
Friday, and I would commend
that to you.
>> Miss Spinelli. Did they send
you home with a new coffee cup
with their logo? Oh, we'll work
on that. There you go.
>> There we go. Okay. Good
evening. Jamie Spinelli,
homeless response manager. So
we will be covering both
February and March. I don't
need that. Tonight. I'm going
to try to do it quickly because
I know that I'm at the tail end
of this meeting. So since mid
December, since the homeless
memorial in December, we have
lost a total of 1010 folks
connected the homeless
community, one of those in
February, three in March.
Update on the fire department.
The data we usually get from
the fire department. So there's
a delay in that in getting that
information because they've
they've implemented a new kind
of software data collection
program. They are hoping to
have the ability to get me that
data by the end of quarter two.
So more to come on that the
police department, a number of
events that law enforcement are
responding to are hovering at a
little over 8% of total events
that they respond to. So kind
of standing steady there. And
then the number of hours that
makes up is right around 15% of
their total time. So again,
pretty, pretty consistent with
how it has been lately for
cleanup activities, for the
larger cleanups that that
utilize operations, close to 35
tons were removed, removed from
encampments. And then for our
smaller kind of rapid response
crew with Sheila, that was
nearly 21.5 tons. So we're year
to date, just over 100 tons of
solid waste for safe stays in
Safe Park. We have had 17
people move into housing over
those two months, and then
another two transferred from
Shelter no. Two shelter from
Safe Park and another six
people are have been referred
to housing. They have a voucher.
They're just kind of looking
for housing at this moment. So
very close to housing. 14
people are engaged in mental
health and or substance use
services. So detox medication,
assisted treatment. Some have
gone to inpatient. That's a
that's a big number. So I'm
pretty excited about that. Two
people in particular
celebrating 90 day sober one
celebrated 30 days sober.
Congrats to them. Seven people
obtained employment. Kind of a
note on employment efforts and
supports. I don't know if any
of you heard the Snap benefit
changes federally. There are
some pretty significant changes
to that that will certainly
impact. I mean, a ton of the
community, not just the
homeless community, but
certainly the homeless
community. However, I will say
that that has helped us get
more folks engaged in
employment support, employment
activities, employment support.
So, you know, lemonade out of
lemons. But seven people
obtained employment. That's a,
that's a, that's a big deal.
Pick partners and careers has
come out to for 15 West to
provide kind of a workshop on
the services that they offer
related to employment, Dshs,
mobile, they have a mobile
vehicle that comes out and they
can do they can help people
apply for benefits. They can
reissue or issue new Snap
benefit cards for folks. So on
the go, bringing people the
services they need. They've
also come out to for 15 West.
And then I think some of our
other sites are also connecting
with goodwill job connections.
I think like five people from
Safe Park enrolled in that. So
that's pretty exciting. Some
themes across all sites that I
noticed while reading all of
the reports over the last
couple of months. Some of these
are going to be repeats from
what I've said previously, kind
of higher level of health care
needs, like more significant
medical and health care needs.
Certainly we are experiencing
and observing some some
additional hoarding behaviors,
very general life skill needs,
running laundry machines, you
know, things, things like that,
doing dishes, basic life skill
things, conflict resolution,
communication skills, those
kind of things. Pet care needs.
So we've got, as I mentioned,
many folks interested in
treatment, whether that's going
to detox or going to inpatient.
And many of the folks that
we're serving right now have
pets and treatment doesn't take
pets. So it can be challenging
trying to figure out how to get
that that need met. Also have
some pets with health care
needs. The Humane Society is
actually really great at
helping with those kinds of
things. Every once in a while
we have like curveball where
like a dog needs an amputation,
right? It's, we've gotten it
figured out, but that that
tends to be a barrier. However,
to address some of at least
some of those things that I
just mentioned, I'm pleased to
announce Columbia River Mobile
Health is back up and running.
>> Oh.
>> Yay. I know, very exciting.
They're not fully staffed yet,
but they are staffed enough to
be a presence at the Safe Stays
and Community Court weekly, as
well as responsive to the
fourth plane corridor and other
places as needed. So as of the
end of March, they've got a
nurse practitioner, a peer
support specialist and a
program coordinator still
recruiting for an MDP and an RN.
But they are able to do mental
health assessments, treat some
more minor ish medical stuff.
They had about 20 clients on
their caseload at the end of
March, treating things like
wounds, local and systemic
infections, chronic health
conditions. Providing and and
continuing to schedule out
mental health assessments. I
don't know if any of you have
ever heard about what it's like
to try to schedule a mental
health assessment. A lot of
times you need that because you
have to have a diagnosis in
order to be eligible for
something like permanent
supportive housing. But it can
it can take like two months or
more to get to get one of those
just scheduled. So, so their
ability to do that is very
helpful. They're providing all
of those services at the Safe
Stay Safe Park Community Court,
various resource events that
take that have taken place and
then just kind of out in the
community. As I mentioned,
something else, I'm actually
very excited about. Part of
their contract with the city is
in addition to providing direct
service to clients, they're
supporting the city's homeless
response programs with kind of
some training and capacity
building across all of them. So
as a system, in February, they
did a really excellent
motivational interviewing
training, which the heart team,
safe stay staff, safe park
staff, as well as some some
newer mobile health staff
participated in that. The idea
being we kind of just need to
raise our our skill and our
capacity up a bit to meet some
of those enhanced challenges
that we're that we're now
experiencing. Another one of
those trainings will be done in
the fall for bridge shelter
staff, new bridge shelter staff
in anticipation of that opening
soon. And then we are working
on building out with them a
building out kind of a
curriculum for system wide
training to, to ensure that we
all have kind of a shared
language at a minimum, and just
make sure that kind of across
the board, our skills are, are
increased a bit to meet those
challenges. Okay. Community
court 62 citations into
community court. We had six
graduations, three people
referred into shelter. By the
end of March. We're going to
bridge shelter now. By the end
of March, all the site work
needed to receive the two
structures that were being
brought in, the materials for
the two structures was complete.
So that's like the underground
work, the slabs, etc. the dorm
building was received. An
erection of that began. Well,
I'll just give you a spoiler
alert because now we're near
the end of April. Both
buildings are into erection
work and I'm very excited about
that because that was the first
time I'd actually seen the
property since it was flat. So
it's very cool to see actually
the buildings going up and then
special appreciation for both
of us. I'm going to read these
because we have two different
months, and I don't want to get
them all messed up. So for
February, we specifically
wanted to thank Anna Cantrell,
who dedicates countless hours
assisting folks who contact the
city for a wide range of needs.
She serves as a liaison to our
community, connecting residents,
businesses, neighbors and
leaders with the city manager's
office, city staff and other
city services. I also
personally know she spends a
lot of time hunting down the
answers to things that are not
simple. They're complex, and
it's true for people who call
in from the county who really
need county support answering
those things. So she's
incredible and I hope she sees
this. She does such an amazing
job with everyone who calls in.
So thank you, Anna. And then
for March, we wanted to thank
Nikki Chen and Jen Dugger
Spaulding from the city's
engagement and access
department. So Jen has been
very helpful in supporting the
heart team, specifically with
Ada related concerns, offering
guidance that really kind of
helps us to balance the needs
of everyone involved. So
including the folks who are
living outside as well as
everyone else, to ensure that
we are remaining compliant but
needs are still getting met.
And then Nikki has helped
foster some very meaningful
conversation with folks who are
passionate about supporting our
unsheltered neighbors, even
when their perspectives are
perhaps a little different from
from ours or others. And that,
I think, helps us to move,
remove some barriers to
building, you know, the
inclusive city that we are, we
are forever working towards. So
big thank you to Nikki and Jen.
And then I think record time,
that's all I. Move for
questions.
>> Yes, councilors, do you have
questions, Councilor Fox? Go
ahead.
>> Quick question. That
training that you'll be rolling
out for staff, will there be an
opportunity for perhaps that I
could join or other council
members, if they're interested
in being part of that training,
really interested in having a
better understanding of how to
respond to some of the
situations from folks that are
struggling. You know, on our
streets.
>> I would say that it's very
likely. I don't see why not.
The limitation would just be,
how many people do we have
signed up for it? And can it? I
don't see why it would be an
issue if I'm being honest.
>> Could you share those with
us then?
>> Yes, whenever we have them
actually scheduled, I will. I
can tell you that the one
that's happening in the fall
and the same one that happened
in February, is a motivational
interviewing training that was
actually done by Casey Jackson,
which he's done a lot of
training for law enforcement as
well as many other things.
Really phenomenal trainer. And
then we plan on bringing him
back out in the spring to do
kind of an advanced version of
that for everyone. So if you
get in on that one, it's gonna
be good.
>> Okay.
>> Thank you. I have I have
literally watched my team and
other safe, stay safe park
staff, put that, put that stuff
into practice and some of our
most challenging folks, right?
So kind of higher mental health,
just kind of it requires more
skill. And we are not
clinicians. I have watched them
be so successful at now getting
people into like some of our
sites and staying in some of
our sites. It's been pretty
impressive, actually, to watch.
Okay. Thank you.
>> Councilor Stover.
>> Thank you mayor. Hey, Jamie
Stover, city Council, if we run
across somebody in the
community that has some health
needs, is there a way to
contact the Columbia River team,
help direct them? Yeah. Love to
know that. Thank you.
>> I will get you their contact
info if it's and it might be
online, but I'll get you their
info. Okay? And I'll try to get
it on the website.
>> Councilor Harless. Go ahead.
>> Yeah. First. Yeah. Thanks
and gratitude to Nikki and the
rest of your team and
colleagues for having those
conversations. It's really
greatly appreciated. There's
also, you know, an article in
the Columbian, I think on the
24th it says covering the
cleanups. And, you know,
something that some folks have
asked is how can they help? How
can they help actually, like
make help residents. That's
truly like helping get to the
outcomes that we're hoping for,
for our community. And you have
some good quotes in there. And
I know, but I just wanted to be
able to relay that information
about what is actually helpful
and what I, when I am asked
what I can tell folks, if they
want to volunteer, you know,
besides meal trains, what are
the other options for folks to
do that truly helps folks in
these situations?
>> Sure. I do actually want to
clarify one quote in there,
because now I have the
opportunity to I have I have
never said that cleanups are
part of our engagement model.
Cleanups are just something
that have to occur as long as
we have people living outside,
any contact we have with folks,
we utilize them as a point of
engagement. But the vast
majority of engagement with the
heart team and other outreach
happens before and after
cleanups, during a cleanup.
That's not really the ideal
situation. That's really a
sanitation and health effort.
So I just want to be very clear
about that kind of in that same
vein, there are folks who are,
you know, more confident or
comfortable in different
scenarios. So there certainly
are some, some folks who, who
do some mutual aid work or
volunteer work literally at
camps for, for any of those
folks, like I've had the
conversation with them before.
It's actually much more helpful
to spend that time with folks
out there prior to a cleanup,
because then we don't have to
be out there as long doing the
cleanup work, right? If that's
the if those efforts are
happening. And I knew that, I
know that they do happen with,
with more kind of like formal
or official outreach throughout
the week, but that is far more
helpful than a lot of things
actually, because then we don't
have to be out there as long we
don't have to have as much
equipment out there. We don't,
you know, potentially have to
have as much enforcement out
there. Kind of depends on how
long a cleanup is going to
occur, how big of an area we
have to clean. That's what kind
of determines the enforcement
presence that and how much like
public works crew we have out
there. So for those folks, that
is what is the most helpful.
And then I think, you know, we,
we are putting so much work
into very intentional work into
helping folks when they're at
one of our shelters. And that
looks like so many things that,
I mean, we have people who come
out and do craft time because
that's really just community
building. We have people who
come out and help garden. And I
am now going to annually this
annually. I say this, we are
nearing spring time. Okay,
we're planting is about to take
place at all of our sites,
which I'm very excited about.
So seed swaps, helping people
garden, teaching people how to
grow some of their food or cook
some of that food. I mean,
there's so many different
things that people could do at
the, at the shelters that are
so helpful, including literally
just hanging out with people,
people who are I said this in
the straight talk thing, but
people who are who are
experiencing homelessness,
especially those more chronic,
have been kind of radically
disconnected from community.
And we need to we need to help
people get back into community.
Right? You know, there's always
kind of the usual stuff making
a meal, you know, spring
cleaning is about to happen.
It's already started, I think,
at some of the sites. But you
know, that's always that's
always an effort.
>> And if someone was
interested, who would they
reach out to?
>> Oh, you know, Tyler.
>> Tyler.
>> I'm gonna throw Tyler under
the bus because he's so great
at connecting everybody with
the sites specifically,
although each if I mean, if, if
somebody has a, a, a shelter,
they prefer to work at, their
contact information is on the
city's website. There you go.
But certainly Tyler's great at
sending everybody where they
where they need to be.
>> Awesome. Yeah. It's that
sort of that that person that's
the hub that knows everything
that's going on the right folks
to connect to. If they have an
idea or, you know, wherever
their passion lies, like
gardening, or maybe it's access
to certain things that just
generally make life have a
higher quality of life at these
locations. And so it sounds
like, you know, folks go to the
website and then those specific
locations, whichever one's
closer to them, maybe. Yeah.
And then reaching out to Tyler.
Yes.
>> Cool. Yeah. And the easiest
way to get Ahold. Tyler.
Honestly, it's just the heart
team heart team email HARTTEAM
at city of vancouver.us.
>> Thank you.
>> Okay. Diana. Councilor Perez.
>> Thank you Jamie thank you. I
you said over 100 tons of solid
waste to date.
>> Since January.
>> Since January. Okay, so just
for my colleagues, I'm going to
100 tons of solid waste equals
67 Tesla Cybertrucks. So I'm
equating solid waste to Tesla.
Cybertrucks. So if you think
about it, it's so 67. That's
the amount of solid waste. So
and then going back to the
comment about the article in
the Colombian that really
highlighted the issue of
personal belongings, sensitive
documentation that has been in
the solid waste. Is there
discussion to how to prevent
that, or is this a one time
occurrence for 1 or 2 people?
Or is this really something
that I mean, from what I read,
I get the understanding that we
don't know the magnitude, but
it happens. And if even if it
just happens to one individual,
that's really a bad thing. And
what are we doing to mitigate
that?
>> Good question. Certainly
people have lost items in in
cleanups, whether it's because
they didn't remember that
something was in a tent that
they told us we could take
because they got in a new tent
or because they weren't there
during a cleanup. They left it
there for a few days. There's
there are reasons that that can
occur. My team, when they're
doing cleanup work in cases
where a tent or bags or things
like that are not biohazard
themselves or covered in
biohazard themselves, they do
look through, you know, to
identify wallets, ID photos,
medication, you know, the
things that that can be stored
should be stored. If someone
loses something we have there
is kind of a process. You know,
I was, I did actually mention
in that article that I've known
of two in like a, I don't know,
seven year period, two, two
different occasions where
somebody's stuff was
accidentally taken when it
shouldn't be somebody had to go
to the hospital, like in the
middle of a cleanup unrelated
to the cleanup. And the people
down at the end of the block
did not realize that was that
guy's stuff. And so a claim is
submitted to the city with like
the risk management folks. And
then for him, for example, a
new tent and sleeping bag and
tarps were were purchased. So
there are processes for that.
We do attempt to keep it from
happening to begin with. And
that involves lots of eyes on
each camp individually, not
just a single person kind of
making that, making that call.
It's one of the reasons our
outreach workers are also
around during the cleanups, so
that the cleanup folks and the
officer, if they have a
question, they can always kind
of rely on the outreach folks
that are there.
>> Okay. I'm just thinking that
we could probably do better in
mitigating that impact and, and
ask for us to, to do better.
And when we get the shelter,
the high capacity shelter built,
which is when again.
>> We're looking at fall, fall.
>> Okay, I'm assuming that we
don't anticipate this large
amount of waste collection
either or these issues, okay.
>> At the shelter.
>> Or just in general.
>> Oh, I mean.
>> At at the current magnitude,
theoretically.
>> Okay. No, we don't
anticipate that. We anticipate
120 people will be able to be
inside and not need quite so
much stuff. I cannot predict
how many people will enter
homelessness. Yeah. You know,
and, and at what rate? Right.
Okay.
>> Thank you.
>> Councilor, I would encourage
you to go on a little field
trip with the heart team on
cleanup day. So if you have not
seen how very procedural they
are and what they do, yes, we
can always improve. But if it's
kind of like throwing things
out of your refrigerator, you
thought you wanted to keep that
balsamic vinegar, but you
didn't realize it was in an
unmarked bottle.
>> Jaylee we do also have sorry,
mayor, we do also have still
some people's items stored.
>> Yep.
>> And then they don't come
pick them up.
>> So yeah, moldy and nasty.
Jamie, we've been getting
emails about individuals who
are arrested and one of the
description of this one I'm
looking at unlawful camping,
unlawful storage of personal
property in public spaces,
criminal trespass and criminal
trespass. Two and one. But all
of them have unlawful camping.
Are we arresting people just
for unlawful camping?
>> In most cases, no. In most
cases there are other charges,
whether that's burglary,
sometimes trespassing,
possession. There are many
other kinds, but in most cases,
no. Every once in a while there
are people who only have a, you
know, camp, multiple camping
usually, or camping in
conjunction with storage of
property. Those are folks
probably 99% of the time, if
not 100, who we have repeatedly
offered shelter and services to
have repeatedly worked with on
the amount of belongings they
have, how they maintain the
space that they that they camp
in and have been cited in the
community court multiple times
and not shown up in many cases.
So most of those are their
failure to appear warrants. Who
then that then show up as
multiple charges. So they are
just not they're not engaging
in any kind of forward movement,
anything to get them out of the
homelessness that they
currently experience. So that
is kind of our it's kind of our
last, our last efforts.
>> Could you talk about that
little bridge between unlawful
camping and community court and
which how do you use community
court in that.
>> Community court really is
like many other therapeutic
courts, it is intended to
provide services to help with
kind of the underlying issue
that often exists underneath,
you know, some some criminal
activity and things like that
or, or charges. So the goal of
community court is to connect
people to the various services
they need, whether it's just a
housing assessment, getting ID,
getting a mental health eval,
like I mentioned earlier,
that's a requirement for some
housing. Same with substance
use evals. Those are things
that pretty much everyone who
goes through community court
connects with at least the
first time. There are people
who participate in community
court multiple times. And like
with each time, their level of
engagement in those things is
is typically increased at least
a touch. And if they do that,
if they do those things, which
takes usually about six ish
weeks, then the charge just
goes away. The charges dropped
because they've, they've done
the things, they've taken the
steps. We try as much as we can.
Certainly capacity is an issue,
but we try to. For those folks
who do kind of plug in and
engage with community court,
kind of fast track them into
one of the safe stays or safe
park, if that's most relevant,
again, to help them, you know,
have kind of a stable
foundation from which to
continue working. Like all the
people that I mentioned earlier
that are that are now employed
and moving into housing and
engaging in treatment. So I
think the bridge shelter will
help with that. But that's the
intent of community court. It's
it's not to add additional
barriers. It does add a little
more structure, you know, kind
of routine, a little bit more
kind of expectation, just
behavior wise, you know,
because the I, I know a lot of
people have, have strong
feelings about enforcement
being on our team or, you know,
kind of connected to anything
we do with homelessness. And as
an outreach worker, you know,
with that being my background,
anyway, I understand that to a
degree, but it's, it's just
true that some, some people are
so disconnected that they, they
need a little bit more kind of
a nudge. My mom always used to
tell me that I only learned the
hard way. That's that's, that's
true for more than just me.
Right? So we have, we have a
responsibility as a city to, to,
to maintain as much as we can,
like expectations for activity
and behavior on public property,
period, for anyone, whether
they're housed or unhoused and
for folks who are living
outside on public property.
That's something that we have
to we still have to maintain
that. So we try to do that in
an equitable, supportive way.
They're able to stay there in
many cases, as long as they're
working on leaving there and,
you know, keeping it as tidy as
they can with some help from
the city. Right.
>> Good. Thank you. Any other
questions or comments? Yes. Go
ahead.
>> Just one last thing. I just.
>> Want Councilor.
>> Councilor Harless.
>> It's going to be hard to get
used to that. Council member
Harless, I just want to just
finish off by saying that I
don't. Envee. Envee. Your role
or your team, which is also why
I have such great appreciation.
There's a lot of different
angles and ways of looking at
this and things coming from all
sides, in all directions, all
the time. To you. It's a very
public position. And I think,
you know, it's just really
admirable what you guys do
every single day. And I just
want to make sure you know that.
Thanks.
>> I appreciate that.
>> Thank you Jamie. All right.
Jeff, any any other additional
items from the second floor
city Attorney? Anything?
>> Nothing from legal mayor.
>> Thank you. Okay. It is 745.
We'll adjourn. The business
portion of our meeting will now
go into the portion where we
have the community forum. And
our policy has us here to with
the opportunity to hear from
the community members, we will
be audio recording, but not
video recording. So let's go
ahead and turn off CVTV.