{"id":9307,"date":"2018-08-04T12:56:51","date_gmt":"2018-08-04T19:56:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=9307"},"modified":"2018-08-04T12:57:03","modified_gmt":"2018-08-04T19:57:03","slug":"richmond-mayor-asks-companies-to-pay-for-city-homeless-camp","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2018\/08\/04\/richmond-mayor-asks-companies-to-pay-for-city-homeless-camp\/","title":{"rendered":"Richmond mayor asks companies to pay for city homeless camp"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Homeless men, including Roberto Garcia, left, Donald Carr, right, and Samuel Vazquez, eat snacks left by outreach workers during the Homeless Count, which takes place every two years, in Richmond, Calif. on Wednesday, Jan. 26, 2011. Richmond mayor Tom Butt is calling on the city\u2019s biggest companies to pay for a city-managed homeless encampment. (Dean Coppola\/Staff)<\/em><\/em> <\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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By\u00a0ALI TADAYON<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0atadayon@bayareanewsgroup.com<\/a>\u00a0| Bay Area News Group<\/div>\n
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RICHMOND \u2014 Richmond mayor Tom Butt is calling on the city\u2019s biggest companies to foot the bill for a city-sanctioned homeless encampment akin to those in Oakland and Berkeley.<\/p>\n

Over the weekend, Butt sent out the request to the companies with the largest amount of employees in Richmond, including Chevron Corporation, Kaiser Permanente, Blue Apron and Costco Wholesale. He asked each of the 10 companies to donate at least $154,000 to establish and operate a managed homeless camp that will serve at least 100 people.<\/p>\n

By Monday, he hadn\u2019t gotten any bites, Butt said.<\/p>\n

Plans for a city-managed homeless encampment are in the very beginning stages, he said. The idea hasn\u2019t gone before the City Council, and Butt is working to secure the funding first before working out all of the logistics and find a location.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not saying (the companies) should be paying for it; I\u2019m just saying this is a purely philanthropic thing they can do. It\u2019s not a tax; I\u2019m not trying to compel them to do it, I\u2019m just saying there\u2019s a major problem in the community, and here\u2019s a chance to be part o the solution,\u201d Butt said.<\/p>\n

His suggestion for the encampment is to have it be in a place that is \u201cvisually isolated from main streets,\u201d but close to transportation and other services, he said in a blog post. A two-acre site could handle at least 100 people, he said.<\/p>\n

The site would include water, toilets, hand-washing stations and trash disposal, he said, as well as a \u201cday-room\u201d for dining and one or more cargo containers for storage.<\/p>\n

He suggested tents or recreational vehicles be used to house people on the site. Any other structure, he said, would be subject to California Building codes and housing laws.<\/p>\n

Establishing the site and contracting a nonprofit to manage it 24\/7 could cost as much as $600,000 for the first year, he said, comparing it to the Calli Youth Shelter on Brookside Drive operated by Contra Costa County.<\/p>\n

The city does not have that kind of money, Butt said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s all about money. If I got pledges tomorrow, I think we could have this up and operating. None of it is permanent construction, so it can go pretty quick,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Note from Mike Zint:<\/strong><\/div>\n
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Every resident that stuck with the program gets credit for this. This is how we win.<\/p>\n

Richmond mayor Tom Butt is calling on the city\u2019s biggest companies to foot the bill for a city-sanctioned homeless encampment akin to those in Oakland and Berkeley.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n