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Public commenter urges council to block shelter service cuts that would contradict HUD action plan commitments
Summary
A resident told council that the city’s HUD action plan commits to Housing First principles but that planned service reductions at a local shelter would leave unhoused people without 24/7 shelter; she urged council to prevent the changes and align shelter operations with the action plan.
During the consent‑agenda public comment period, Deb Armentar addressed the council about the city’s 2025 HUD HOME and CDBG action plan and a planned reduction in services at a local shelter.
Armentar told council she supports the action plan and its repeated commitment to making homelessness “low, brief, and nonrecurring,” a phrase she said comes from HUD’s Housing First guidance. She said an audit showed the shelter had not been practicing Housing First before, and she said the action plan appears to exclude the shelter from receiving certain HUD funds. Armentar warned council the shelter operator plans to reduce shelter hours and overnight services starting Aug. 1 and Sept. 1 and that the changes would “leave so many constituents out on the street.”
“Please show HUD and your constituents that you mean what you say in this action plan and use your authority to prevent these changes from happening at the shelter that will leave so many constituents out on the street,” Armentar said in her three‑minute comment.
There was no council action during public comment; the item on the agenda related to the HUD HOME/CDBG action plan remained on the consent or staff report track and was not debated further in the work session. Armentar’s remarks were recorded as a public plea for staff and council to reconcile shelter operating decisions with commitments in the city’s HUD action plan.
