Councilors used the manager-evaluation session to highlight homelessness and sheltering work, praising the administration’s support for a temporary women’s shelter and urging faster, longer-term solutions for people without housing.

Councilor Hajjak said the city manager had actively advocated to state leaders for winter shelter space and for the creation of a day resource center, calling those steps “a bare minimum” but important progress. “I applaud you and compliment you, mister manager, for making that happen,” she said.

Several councilors urged the administration to move from short-term winter shelters to year-round options and to present a 12- to 18-month emergency plan showing service gaps and how the city will manage increases in family and individual homelessness. “We need to see a year-long shelter as opposed to scrambling every year to set up a winter emergency shelter,” Hajjak said.

Councilors also asked the manager to ensure outreach teams have exit options — such as transitional housing, bathrooms and water — for people living in encampments, and to use code enforcement and the rental registry data to identify problem properties and incentivize better landlord behavior.

Manager O’Neill said the administration had been working with housing and homelessness providers and state officials, and that the day resource center remained a priority. No new funding decisions were made at the meeting; councilors said they expect staff to return with a written plan and timeline.