The Homeless Outreach Guy

It's WEDNESDAY, May 18. It's the second day of Doug Stewart's homeless outreach blog, and I hope you're reading it. Stewart is one of those people for whom admiration comes easily - he just goes out, night after night, and hands out clothes, blankets, and other items to people who otherwise wouldn't have anything. He gives people rides to shelters, to BART stations, he knows the names of those living in their cars, and those who have no cars to live in. He's not there to judge, or admonish, or save the world - he's only trying to help those people who are often in desperate need of a little help, for whatever reason. Doug's blog is a way for everyone to keep up with his experiences out there, and I'm grateful he's agreed to write one for us.

Tonight is the City Council meeting. Here is what's on the agenda:

1. A special budget workshop will begin at 5:30 p.m. City Manager Phil Vince will present the proposed budget, and the council members will discuss the various items. If you are interested in city government and the kinds of hard decisions that need to be made these days, you don't want to miss this particular portion of the meeting - it's a bald view into the workings of local government.
2. A motion to approve the annual status of the city's eight Landscape and Lighting districts, which have a separate levy on the boundaries of the districts to pay for maintenance, weed abatement, street lighting and other amenities will be considered. Only one is up for an increase - Alhambra Estates is proposed for a 1.4 percent Consumer Price Index increase.
3. Police Chief Gary Peterson will make a presentation on the Neighborhood Policing Program.
4. The council will consider a request to sell city owned property at the end of Glendora Drive to the homeowners next door to the property, who want to use it for their children's 4-H activities, like beekeeping.
5. Aside from the budget, the big ticket item for this meeting will be the status of the Sharkey Building at 630 Court St., a building owned by the city and now being considered for renovation by a company specializing in rehabilitating historic structures. This will be the sixth attempt to get a tenant in the building, which requires seismic retrofitting in addition to other work. The council will consider the proposal, which won a favorable impression from the Economic Development Subcommittee last week (Lara DeLaney and Janet Kennedy).

The council meets tonight beginning at 5:30 p.m. for the Budget Workshop, and reconvenes at 7 p.m. for the regular meeting, in the City Hall Council Chambers, 525 Henrietta St.