Sunnyvale council asks staff to rewrite homelessness strategy after public criticism; commission also amends plan

Sunnyvale’s City Council voted unanimously Dec. 2 to send the city’s draft five‑year strategic plan to address homelessness back to staff for revision and broader community input, after a lengthy joint meeting with the Housing & Human Services Commission and extensive public comment.

Staff presented a framework that would cost roughly $2.7 million annually and emphasizes regional collaboration, shelter expansion, tenant‑based rental assistance (TBRA), mobile hygiene services and pilots for safe parking and supportive services. The city’s hotel‑based temporary shelter program would expand from five rooms to seven with an on‑site staff room and overnight staff, a change staff said would allow more robust case management on site.

"We wanted to get a strategy in place that helped guide our decision making and programming," City Manager Tim Kirby said during the presentation, noting the city is seeking council and commission feedback before returning with an implementation plan. Kirby also said the city’s general fund revenue is in the range of about $275 million to $290 million, and that spending this year is approximately $290 million.

The Housing & Human Services Commission moved to recommend a modified version of staff’s draft that adds several priorities: disaggregated veteran data with VA coordination, an inventory of innovative approaches used by other jurisdictions, a proposal to explore a downtown‑streets‑style outreach program, clearer metrics and targets, school and community college partnerships, improvements for people living in encampments (including consideration of sanitation facilities), and exploration of increasing the plan’s budget. That motion carried on the commission 5‑2 (Commissioners Davis and Duncan voted no).

Members of the public pressed for stronger action on vehicle‑dwelling residents, saying roughly three‑quarters of Sunnyvale’s unsheltered population live in vehicles and urging the city to revive a public safe‑parking site search. "The city seems to have quietly abandoned a safe parking program on public land," said a resident during public comment. Residents and advocates also described deaths among people living outdoors and called for permanent, stable options such as tiny‑home or cabin communities.

Staff told the bodies the plan leans toward strengthening services the city already funds — including TBRA, street outreach, a five‑room hotel motel program, and the Dignity on Wheels mobile hygiene service — rather than creating many new programs, because federal, state and county funding sources are volatile. Staff said current annual investments across homeless services total about $2.5 million (not counting other human services or staff positions) and that the plan’s $2.7 million estimate accounts for the full slate of proposed strategies.

The council’s action was procedural: Council Member Mellinger moved that staff return with an updated, agendized draft in the first half of next year after gathering more community input and evaluating the commission’s requested changes; Council Member Srinivasan seconded. The motion carried 7‑0.

Council members emphasized the need for clearer metrics and accountability from contracted service providers and said staff should present how community feedback will be solicited without allowing potential fund recipients to write program specifications. "We need to be cautious about receiving program design from potential agencies that may later receive city funding," Kirby cautioned during the discussion.

What’s next: staff will return with a revised draft that incorporates commission recommendations and public input and will present it as an agendized item for council consideration in early 2026. The presentation materials and staff remarks stated that future implementation steps — including program details, site selection for safe parking or shelter, and specific budgets — will be developed and brought back to the council for review.