Advocates, students and civil-rights groups demand Riverside revisit rejection of $20.1M Homekey award

Advocates, students and housing-rights groups urged the Riverside City Council on April 14 to reverse its earlier decision to reject a $20.1 million Project Homekey award for the University Terrace/Quality Inn site and to pursue available state funding for permanent supportive housing.

The appeal grew more urgent during public comment after the ACLU of Southern California and allied legal groups filed a civil-rights complaint with the California Civil Rights Division that same morning, according to speakers who described the filing as an inquiry into whether the council's actions violated fair housing and disability nondiscrimination requirements.

"I'm asking this council to choose a different story," said Adam Wedeking, board president of the Universalist Unitarian Church of Riverside. "One vote can open that path." Wedeking and dozens of UC Riverside students — who circulated petitions and said a student government resolution supports the project — argued the project would provide permanent supportive housing for older adults, veterans and people experiencing chronic homelessness and would not impose costs on the city's general fund because the award is state funding.

Speakers described the council's prior debate as rooted, they said, in community opposition framed by fears about nearby student safety and business impacts rather than programmatic facts. "This project does not require only seniors and veterans," said Ash Davis, who represented housing advocates and staff supporters; "if fewer than 94 seniors or veterans qualified, the units would not sit vacant and would house other people in need." Advocates also warned of legal exposure and lost future funding opportunities if the city does not take corrective steps.

City staff and the mayor reiterated existing procedural constraints: the council's window for formal reconsideration of that vote has passed, and staff are exploring other ways to reprogram or reapply Homekey funding, the mayor said. "We are working with the HCD (Housing and Community Development) to try to reprogram that money into different projects," Mayor Patricia Dawson told the chamber.

Advocates countered that even if formal reconsideration is closed, the city can return the topic as a new agenda item, pursue reallocation or open a new application process. Joseph Anastasio, legislative director for UC Riverside Associated Students, said the student government passed a resolution April 7 urging the council to reconsider and highlighting student housing insecurity.

The impassioned public comment continued through the evening, with students and neighborhood organizers citing research that supportive housing reduces unsheltered homelessness and arguing the city should not forego state funds tied to housing-first programs. The ACLU-led complaint and the advocates' arguments set up potential administrative review and a public-policy choice for the council about whether to re-engage with state partners to pursue housing resources.

Next steps: Council members and staff indicated conversations with HCD and legal counsel are ongoing; no new vote on the Homekey award occurred during the April 14 meeting.