WSCONA Meeting Agenda for July 06, 2022, ZOOM Meeting 6:30 to 8:15 Meeting Protocol and Procedures: Use the 'Raise Hand' feature. Using the electronic feature helps the meeting run smoothly. If you raise your hand manually, it is challenging to see you and call on you promptly. Please use the chat function and address your comments to everyone. The chat function allows us to record discussions, information, and presentations. Modify your user name by stating your name and Neighborhood Association. WSCONA uses the participant's list to take attendance and record members attending the meeting. Thank you to members attending the July Meeting and our guests. Tonight's meeting focuses on strategies to elevate the crisis of the unhoused through policy, funding, and the work of our Public Safety Departments, Northwest Area Command, Bernalillo County Sheriff's Department, County Commissioners, County staff, and the City of Albuquerque City Counselors and CABQ Departments of Planning and Development and Family and Community Services staff. The public comment period for the redistricting of the Albuquerque City Council District is completed and in the hands of the City Council. Some proposed maps significantly alter WSCONA and West Side Neighborhood representation. WSCONA members share their views on the redistricting process, criteria, and draft maps. 6:20: Meeting Sign-in Open 6:30: President Haley welcomes members and guests. Membership Quorum 6:40: Alan Schwartz, Frank Comfort, and Candy Patterson will offer their insights into the proposed maps and possible impacts on affected neighborhoods. 6:55: APD Westside Area Command Report, Acting Commander David Saladin and Lt. John Gonzales from the Crisis Intervention Unit will address the behavioral health topics and the following WSCONA follow-up questions.
Describe the most common citizen complaints received by the police and outline any trends over the past few years in type, frequency, or seriousness.
Briefly describe the factors that affect enforcement when dealing with camps and the homeless. What constitutes the basis for a police response, and what remedies are available to officers if they feel action is justified?
If limits on enforcement were too strict, in your opinion, what would you recommend the city do to change the situation?
How are public safety departments and behavioral health advocates coordinating services? What is the best guidance when an unhoused person is a present danger to themselves or others? What is the best direction when approached for help? What were the costs to public safety departments when they were the primary public contact programs for the mentally ill?
Westside Area Command Updates
7:15: Family and Community Services Department Director Carol Pierce gave Testimony before the City Council on Safe Outdoor Spaces (SOS). Her Testimony gave insights into the current development and challenges of the program. WSCONA directed the following follow-up questions to the Department. Director Pierce
Denver is a model for the SOS initiative. Briefly outline the Denver program's design, structure, and zoning and how the program's administration (city/county departments, nonprofit, or for- profit) or some combination operates.
List the elements in each SOS to provide sanitation, privacy, security, etc.
What are the primary reasons for homelessness and the channels for addressing each? Are job loss, drug and alcohol addiction, or mental illness approached differently? If so, how?
How would the proposed spaces on private land be managed and funded? What would be the process for identifying locations, preparing the area, establishing management, and continuing oversight?
The imperative for the SOS initiative was a lack of facilities. Please describe how many beds are now available for the homeless, where they are, and how effective they are in meeting the needs of the unhoused? How would implementing the SOS initiative change availability, and — based on your experience — what segment of the homeless population would most likely take advantage of it? Please explain the findings of HUD's Point in Time Homeless Survey and what the most recent study does and does not tell us about the unhoused living here. What are the time limitations on creating SOS locations?
7:40: Rene Horvath will discuss WSCONA follow-up questions to the Planning and Development Department and what we have learned thus far. Director Varela
Denver is a model for the SOS initiative. Briefly outline the Denver program's design, structure, and zoning and how the program's administration (city/county departments, nonprofit, or for- profit) or some combination operates.
If SOS is approved, what zones would allow them permissively or conditionally? What protections do neighborhoods or businesses have if an SOS is nearby? There is a "setback" provision from residential and business communities; what would that be?
How does the IDO zoning classification address these uses - outdoor encampment, emergency shelter, or religious institution providing shelter services?
Denver didn't include a change in zoning as a step in creating SOS locations. Why can't the City of Albuquerque consider the specific locations for a Special Zoning Use or Temporary Zoning Use, as each will have unique challenges?
7:45: President's update and next agenda topics 8:00: Comments and Questions from Neighborhood Association:
Current Challenges
And Neighborhood Association requests for topics.
8:15 Adjourn
Comments