The Berkeley City Council meets Tuesday this week, with a special session on how the city is working to streamline its approach to homeless services at 5:30 p.m., and the regular meeting at 7 p.m.
The special session
Coming up first, an in-depth look at homelessness in Berkeley, including an update about an effort to improve the way people access services the city offers. Earlier this year, the city hired a consultant to look closely at the city’s process for providing services. The consultant highlighted several areas for improvement, noting that the city is providing overlapping and duplicative services to people; that those with the highest needs are not “effectively targeted” for help; that money is not focused enough on helping people get housing; and that the delayed process for data-entry is also leading to inefficiencies. Read the report.
The action calendar
The action calendar includes three old items from Councilman Kriss Worthington’s office related to solar compactor bins, the regulation of ride-sharing companies (such as Uber and Lyft), and a request for the city manager to take a closer look at problems related to illegal construction. See Items 32-34 for details.
On the consent calendar
The consent calendar includes the second reading (final approval) for a range of new Berkeley laws, including the regulation of e-smoking devices, the Civic Center historic overlay and several lease agreements for tenants of the city at the Telegraph Channing Mall. Read more about the overlay, and issues at the mall, in past Berkeleyside coverage.
Berkeley City College is set to be recognized for its 40 anniversary.
The city may also begin looking into adding sick leave, strengthened enforcement “and other necessary features” to its minimum wage law, with a referral from council members Linda Maio and Darryl Moore to the Labor Commission. Read more about the minimum wage in past Berkeleyside coverage.
Councilman Kriss Worthington has asked the city manager to help get a report together from Berkeley’s various business districts describing their vacancy rates and sales tax performance.
Meeting info
The Berkeley City Council meets Tuesday nights at 2134 Martin Luther King Jr. Way. Special sessions generally take place at 5:30 p.m. and regular meetings begin at 7 p.m. Council agendas are available online here. Watch the meetings online here.
Berkeleyside often covers council meetings live on Twitter. Others sometimes do the same and the discussion can get spirited. Follow council coverage on Twitter via hashtag #berkmtg. Follow along in real-time here, and tag your tweets with #berkmtg to join in. You do not need a Twitter account to follow along. Just click here.
Council-related Twitter handles:
@MayorTomBates
@LindaMaio (District 1)
Darryl Moore @BerkCouncil (District 2)
@JesseArreguin (District 4)
Laurie Capitelli @berkcap (District 5)
Kriss Worthington @k__worthington (District 7)
Gordon Wozniak @Gordon_Wozniak (District 8)
Learn more about the Berkeley City Council and how to connect with local representatives via the city website.
Has something else on the agenda caught your interest? Let us know in the comments.
Related:
Council on crime, homeless youth, Telegraph Channing merchants, more (09.15.14)
Council on civic center overlay, cellphone safety stickers, e-cigarettes, parking, more (09.08.14)
Council on South Berkeley pizza plans, e-cigarettes, water shortage, more (07.08.14)
Council on soda tax, medical cannabis, minimum wage task force, BART plaza (07.01.14)
Council on ballot measures, downtown post office, FY2015 budget (06.24.14)
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