Housing

Our emergency shelter system for families who have fallen on hard times isn’t working the way it should. It’s expensive, stagnant, and disruptive to the children’s development.

The number of families staying in emergency shelter spaces has increased, and the average length of stay has nearly doubled. When I was first elected in 2022 we had around 400 families staying in shelters each month, and the average length of stay was 4 or 5 months. Today, we have around 700 families, and the average length of stay is 11 months. Three quarters of these families are staying in hotels and motels all across our city.

This spring the city released a report and a new strategy for supporting these families, and it illuminated just how expensive the current model is with the amount of hotel and motel use we rely on. The city is making improvements, and I want to help move this along.

We are paying market rates to the tune of over 29 million dollars in 2025, but no one is getting their money’s worth here. We desperately need new investments. There are ways to do this more affordably while offering emergency housing options that are far better for the families and their communities. Countless residents have raised concerns with me about the conditions of some of the hotels and motels. Right now these spots are the only options available, and it’s really concerning. This needs to change. We can do better with our money.

Here’s what I want to do next term:

 

  • Reduce our reliance on hotels and motels.

  • Reduce the average length of stay back down to 2022 levels.

  • Improve the conditions of emergency accommodations.

  • Save everyone money by investing in actual assets rather than paying market rates to private companies for this many hotel and motel rooms.

  • Help families along their housing journey by increasing our transitional programs and affordable housing supply.

  • Help families who are at risk of becoming homeless, so that less families need to access the shelter system in the first place.

  • Purchase assets and partner with non-profits for cost-effective emergency accommodations with far better conditions.

  • Explore the feasibility of a rent bank for families with children, this will help prevent families from entering the system in the first place.

  • Invest in transitional housing programs to help vulnerable families more along their housing journey properly.

  • Expand our supply of affordable housing so that families of various income levels can have a permanent home.

  • Explore creative solutions to our problem, such as housing co-ops, new partnerships, and modern strategies.