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Board hears detailed Measure W spending plan for homelessness and essential services; public urges bigger allocations for food and seniors
Summary
County staff outlined Home Together and Essential Services proposals funded by Measure W, including roughly $1.4 billion in Home Together commitments and a proposed $34 million per year essential services allocation. Dozens of public speakers urged more food-security funding and bridge support for senior and clinic programs.
Alameda County staff used the April 28 work session to present detailed plans for Measure W investments in homelessness and essential county services, and to seek direction from the Board of Supervisors on funding priorities for the next two fiscal years.
County Administrator Susan and staff summarized the Measure W framework: the board previously designated substantial one-time and ongoing commitments for the Home Together Fund and the Essential Services Fund. "The measure was ... projected to generate approximately $150,000,000 annually," staff noted in background remarks, and the board has committed a large portion of those proceeds to homelessness and related programs.
Anika Choudhary, Alameda County Health director, and Jonathan Russell, director of housing and homelessness services, outlined the Home Together Fund's near-term plan: roughly $288 million of Home Together investments are planned for the next fiscal year (with a total of about $1.4 billion allocated across the measure's life), staff hiring underway, and five programmatic priorities (housing, shelter, prevention, access and coordination). Russell said the plan includes a front-loaded surge of capital and operating investments: "We are planning to surge investments considerably in the first two years to stand up these operations," he said.
The presentation on the Essential County Services Fund (staffed by Amy Schrager's team) proposed a two-year plan totaling about $68 million (roughly $34 million per year) divided across three categories: stabilize the safety net ($20M/yr), meet basic needs/food security ($7M/yr) and unincorporated-area housing stability and capacity ($7M/yr), plus one-time capital allocations for libraries, sewer projects and major maintenance.
Public testimony was extensive and largely focused on the essential-services proposals. Representatives from senior-service organizations (including Janice Roberts of Mercy Brown Bag and Wendy Peterson of the Senior Services Coalition) asked the board to adopt a $17.8 million two-year package to backfill program cuts and continue expanded senior food services. Nonprofits providing food recovery, feeding programs and community clinics warned that federal and state changes (HR 1 and Prop 1) threaten clinic reimbursements and CalFresh eligibility, and urged larger Measure W allocations or bridge funding to prevent service collapse. "Seniors tend to be invisible," Wendy Peterson said in testimony requesting continued support for senior food programs.
Supervisors debated next steps: several members asked staff to refine the proposals, to provide clearer dashboards and drawdown reporting and to explore tapping one-time reserves or reserve overages to bridge urgent shortfalls. Staff will return revised recommendations and budget materials in May for inclusion in the proposed FY26-27 budget and suggested a further work session to finalize allocations.
