Councilors press presenter on sanitation, safety and neighborhood outreach for 11th Street shelter plan

Multiple council members said they had heard strong objections from the Martin Luther King neighborhood and asked what additional outreach the presenter would undertake. Councilwoman Dunne and Councilman Henderson described prior neighborhood meetings that produced questions about sanitation, theft and safety; Dunne said residents had recorded incidents such as theft and human waste on porches and wanted reassurances.

Councilwoman Hill expressed concern about concentrating 400–500 people at one site and asked what capacity the presenter had to manage sanitation and maintain safety. "I'll be interested to hear ... what my colleagues think about that concentration of folks," Hill said, and pressed for written operational details and clearer evidence the presenter can run a clean, safe facility. Baron responded that he spends time in the neighborhood, that an MLK resident sits on his board, and that his organization has 44–45 years of experience in housing and shelter services; he offered to meet again with neighborhood groups once the mayor’s office and council indicate interest.