8A Consent 2008 0519 - Laserfiche WebLink

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DRAFT MINUTES Page 9 May 19, 2008 City of San Leandro City Council and San Leandro Redevelopment Agency Joint Meeting Cost: $400,000. Funding: $284,099 from General Fund; $115,901 from Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Fund. Councilmember Grant acknowledged the difficulty experienced by the commissioners in making funding decisions. She compared the processes for awarding Community Assistance Grants and Community Benefit Grants outlined in the staff reports for Items 8.G. and 8.H., and she noted a lack of standardization and equity between the two processes. Councilmember Grant gave as an example the importance placed on attendance at a mandatory meeting for the award of Community Assistance Grants, but not for the Community Benefit Grants. Councilmember Grant commented that a large portion of funding is granted to regional- serving agencies, and she suggested that future staff reports list the number of San Leandro residents served by the agencies. She noted that Spectrum Community Services was recently awarded a planning grant, and that the agency is also recommended for a grant for direct services. Councilmember Grant suggested that in the future, it would be helpful to know what other funding the City is providing to the Councilmember Souza concurred with Councilmember Grant, and requested that in the future, the Council be provided with a list of all the City funding the agencies receive. She expressed appreciation to staff for providing the short descriptions of the agencies services. Councilmember Souza inquired about the four organizations/programs that are automatically funded, and asked whether they could be required to apply for funding. Mr. Jermanis indicated that these are organizations for which the City has traditionally provided annual support. He suggested that the Finance Committee may want to review the grant funding process, and staff can provide a more comprehensive report on the funding received by the agencies to the Committee and the Council in the future. Mayor Santos commented on the many social service agencies serving the large senior citizen population in San Leandro. Councilmember Gregory commented that he recently visited the Family Resource Center in Fremont, which offers social services in coordination by several agencies under one roof. He suggested that it might be a model for San Leandro. Vice Mayor Stephens noted that the centralization of services is necessary in a city the size of Fremont, but may not be as important for San Leandro. Public Comments on Item 8.G.: Hattie Jones, Executive Director of St. Peters Community Adult Day Care Center , addressed the City Council, commenting on the need for the services provided by her agency. Ms. Jones commented that she felt she had adequately addressed the questions posed by the Human Services Commission, and she appealed to the Council to consider continuing to fund her agency at the current annual level of $15,000.