Solano supervisors short on votes for Vallejo homeless funds

FAIRFIELD – The Solano County Board of Supervisors voted on Tuesday to proceed with funding two homeless assistance projects in Vallejo, but two supervisors opposed the allocations and they will require a vote by four of five at a future meeting.

The supervisors discussed how to allocate a remaining approximately $10.6 million in federal American Rescue Plan Act funds at their regular meeting Tuesday. Vallejo sought $4 million in construction and furnishing costs for a 47-unit permanent supportive housing project under construction in North Vallejo and $2 million for construction of a 125-bed navigation center.

Vallejo city officials told the county they hope to open the housing project in May and the navigation center next year.

But Supervisor Mitch Mashburn, who represents Rio Vista and rural areas of the county, sought to reduce Vallejo’s request for $4 million for the housing project to $3 million and to reduce the allocation for the navigation center to nothing. Supervisor John Vasquez voted with Mashburn on both items.

Both projects were recommended by the Community Action Partnership Solano Joint Powers Authority, a coalition of all seven area cities and the county to manage social safety net services, where Mashburn serves as chair. The North Vallejo housing project was given top priority by the authority.

Instead, Mashburn sought to make a $4 million allocation to NorthBay Healthcare, which is seeking up to $14 million to cover the costs of an influx of ER visits by uninsured people since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Mashburn also sought an allocation to support farmers and other rural businesses.

“I'm trying to meet the needs of as many people as we possibly can,” Mashburn said. He said he sought to make an allocation for each of the cities of Vallejo, Fairfield and Vacaville, and to unincorporated areas of the county.

While the supervisors voted 3-2 to proceed with the allocations for Vallejo, county staff said that both would require a vote by four supervisors at a future meeting, so for Vallejo to get the funds would require either Mashburn or Vasquez to change their vote.

The $10.6 million at issue was part of $86.9 million that was allocated to the county from the American Rescue Plan, a COVID relief and economic stimulus package passed by Congress in early 2021. The county has already allocated most of the funds.

For the remaining $10.6 million, the county sought recommendations from CAP Solano, which prioritized four projects to assist homeless and other vulnerable people in the area.

The top priority was given to Vallejo’s permanent supportive housing project, which is under construction on Broadway. Then it recommended $2.2 million for expanding a kitchen and adding capacity to Fairfield’s homeless navigation center, $2 million for construction of Vallejo’s navigation center, and $381,000 to purchase a home for a transitional housing project in Vacaville.

The supervisors voted 4-1 to reduce the allocation to Fairfield’s navigation center to $800,000, with Supervisor Wanda Williams, who represents the Fairfield area, opposed. They voted unanimously for the transitional housing project.

Several Vallejo city leaders spoke in the public comment period to make their case for Vallejo’s projects.

Councilmember Mina Loera-Diaz said that the supervisors should support the Vallejo projects because of families in Vallejo without homes.

“By not supporting the housing projects that we're asking for we're letting down families and children,” Loera-Diaz said. “Unhoused doesn't just mean a single person on drugs with mental illness, although there's a lot of them out there, it's also people who are out there with kids.”

Both Loera-Diaz and City Manager Mike Malone noted that Vallejo had the largest population of homeless people in the county. “This is a huge impact in our community, it's really important that we increase our capacity to offer services to the unhoused community in our county.” Malone said.

Supervisor Erin Hannigan, who represents Vallejo, advocated for the city’s navigation center project to receive even more than the $2 million requested. “It's a city I do love but I do see the pain in our streets and I see the pain of our unhoused neighbors,” Hannigan said.

But Mashburn advocated for the allocation for NorthBay Healthcare.

Representatives of the hospital also spoke at the meeting in response to a previous request for more information from the supervisors.

According to NorthBay’s presentation, it has been hit with $53 million in COVID related losses in 2021 alone. It has a recovery plan, but still has a $14 million gap, according to the presentation. Its losses primarily happened during the delta and omicron COVID surges that year.

Yolanda Nunez-Bonomo, manager of social services at Northbay, said much of the care for uninsured people was for homeless patients, some of whom went to the ER just to get out of extreme heat or cold. They come in with inappropriate clothes and in some cases no shoes, and the hospital does its best to provide them with clothes, food and other services, she said.

If the allocations the supervisors made today are ultimately passed, the county will have approximately $3.3 million in ARPA funds remaining. County officials did not say at Tuesday’s meeting when the board would take up the issue again.