The Sun
Sunnyvale's Newspaper

Advocates for city's homeless win budget fight

Council reverses proposed cut

By Justin Berton

Advocates for Sunnyvale's homeless population persuaded council members to scrap a proposed cut from the new budget at a public hearing June 9.

After a tongue-lashing from a city commissioner and several members of the public, the council voted 7-0 to restore the level of funding for the Emergency Housing Consortium.

EHC, which runs the Sunnyvale Armory shelter for the homeless during the winter months, was facing a loss of $5,609, or about 5 percent of its annual budget.

Joseph Ribera, a member of the Housing & Human Services Commission, was the first of multiple speakers on the issue and promptly chastised the council for ignoring the recommendation of his commission earlier in the year to continue the group's full amount of funding.

Through a federal Community Development Block Grant, the city allocated more than $52,000 to EHC last year. But this year, the city proposed that the number drop to $46,500.

Ribera said the council acted callously by proposing to trim the amount.

"I am disappointed by the action of this council," Ribera said. "I felt like I was used," he added of his commission's neglected recommendation.

After Ribera's stinging remarks about councilmembers, in which he implied that they have disregard for the homeless, councilmembers jumped to restore the funding--even if a few of them felt hesitant to do so.

Vice Mayor Manuel Valerio, who moved that the council take the surprisingly quick action to vote on the issue on the spot, conceded, "I'm not enamored with having to do it in this fashion."

Mayor Jim Roberts suggested from the outset that, if the council did restore the funding with a vote, it should be taken as fair warning for the group to begin its search elsewhere for next year's funds.

Executive Director of EHC Barry Del Buono agreed to the stipulation and assured council if the vote didn't pass, the Sunnyvale Armory would be able to remain open and serviceable.

"It's very easy for us to spend other peoples' money," councilmember Pat Vorreiter said of the federal grant money from which the funding will come. "Our true test of mettle is what we do for our disenfranchised. We have a moral and social responsibility to those people."

Before Councilmember Stan Kawczynski voted along with the rest of his colleagues, he made the point that nonprofits such as EHC should look to sources of funding other than the government, and stop taking "the easy money--the taxpayer's money."

EHC development officer Andrew Benkert said after the vote, "We expected someone would move to resolve this immediately. What we didn't expect was the unanimous vote."

The armory is open from Thanksgiving through March and usually runs at full occupancy, Del Buono said.

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This article appeared in the Sunnyvale Sun, June 17, 1998.
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