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Q&A
Council member's role in shelter siting decisions
0:52:01
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126 sec
Council Member Alexa Avilés inquires about the role of local council members in shelter siting decisions, referencing a DOI report. Commissioner Molly Wasow Park explains the DSS process for engaging with local council members and community boards on shelter siting.
- DSS sends annual letters to council members and community boards soliciting sites for new shelters
- DSS engages in a formal notification process and community advisory board when new shelter sites are identified
- Most shelter sites are 'as of right' based on current zoning
Alexa Avilés
0:52:01
Thank you.
0:52:02
Thank you so much, deputy speaker, and thank you for being here, to testify.
0:52:08
I guess I'd like to go a little hyper local.
0:52:14
And I know this is a preliminary budget hearing, but certainly it is endemic of some of the challenges that we face.
0:52:22
So in October 2024, DOI report.
0:52:27
DOI examination finds compliance and governance risks at 51 city funded nonprofits and flawed oversight of DHS funded providers on page 73 of that report.
0:52:40
It also states that local council members have a say or influence in the decisions to the site shelters.
0:52:47
Can you describe what that actually means, role or influence?
Molly Wasow Park
0:52:54
So we always engage with local council members.
0:52:59
We send a letter every typically April, April, May to both council members and to local community boards soliciting sites for citing new shelters.
0:53:13
And then as we do identify sites for new shelters either through that process, which I will acknowledge is rare but occasionally we do get a proposed site through that process, or not for profit providers bring us sites we will do a formal notification process and then engage.
0:53:34
We generally go to a community board meeting and then we have a community advisory board where the council member is We work with the council member to assign members to the cab.
0:53:46
Virtually all the shelter sites that we do do are as of right, meaning that they can move forward based on current zoning.
0:53:56
We do that understanding that shelter siting can be challenging, but we do have a legal and moral obligation to provide shelter that it is important.