Rodríguez criticizes emergency homelessness order; council approves quarterly report 12–1

Councilmember (Concejala) Rodríguez used a special call for item 9 on June 4, 2025, to criticize the City’s emergency order addressing homelessness and to explain why she voted against the quarterly report summarizing actions under that order. The council nevertheless approved the report by a 12–1 vote.

Rodríguez said the emergency declaration has not produced measurable gains in housing production. “Si miramos al primer informe trimestral... nuestra caída de alojamiento ha crecido por 5 por 100,” Rodríguez said, arguing the declaration had not improved the city’s ability to build new housing and had not addressed structural factors such as land and construction costs, supply problems and long permitting timelines. She thanked colleagues for filing a motion calling for a compensatory analysis by city departments on the emergency order’s impacts and said she expects that analysis to inform next steps.

Rodríguez also said the declaration had enabled the mayor’s office to hire service providers and owners but that the broader metrics used to justify an emergency—especially housing production—have not improved. She said she would continue to vote “no” on the quarterly report until questions raised by her motion and committee discussions are answered. The clerk closed the public‑comment list and recorded the vote as 12 in favor and 1 against.

Separately during the meeting the council considered item 16 (a continued closed‑session matter) and voted to continue the closed session to June 6, 2025, with a 13‑vote count and also recorded 13 votes when a request was made to send item 16 immediately without protest, as announced in the chamber.