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Candidates emphasize compassion and regional partnerships to address homelessness
Summary
At the forum, candidates agreed Newark must partner with county and regional agencies on homelessness; Mayor Hannon cited hotel conversion and housing vouchers, while Martinez stressed mental‑health wraparound services and Miguel urged a Bay Area–wide collaborative.
When asked about homelessness and recent court guidance, the three candidates emphasized compassion and intergovernmental coordination rather than unilateral city action.
Mayor Michael Hannon highlighted a state grant used to convert an underused hotel and said the city obtained housing vouchers (60) for low‑income residents, adding that tenants are expected to meet standard tenancy rules. “We immediately converted half those units to folks that needed just a little bit of economic help, and we gave them housing vouchers,” he said.
Alyssa Martinez said homelessness requires county and nonprofit partnerships and mental‑health resources: “We have to partner with the county…finding compassionate, wraparound services will be very critical,” she said.
Jason Miguel urged forming a regional collaborative across Bay Area jurisdictions and agencies to align policy and public‑land responses. “Let's partner up with the whole 9 county San Francisco Bay Area,” he said, calling for shared solutions and regional coordination.
Candidates did not propose detailed operational plans at the forum; they described existing voucher and conversion work and urged further collaboration. Specific program sizes, eligibility rules and operating budgets were not presented and should be corroborated with housing authority and county records.
