Community Homelessness Advisory Board Votes To Pursue Its Existence and Work To Help Those in Need
The regional Community Homelessness Advisory Board with representatives from Reno, Sparks and Washoe County has voted unanimously to continue its work, while two current members who have spoken out against its usefulness due to the existence of the Cares Campus, Reno council member and mayoral aspirant Kathleen Taylor and Sparks Mayor Ed Lawson were not present at today’s meeting.
Sparks City council member Joe Rodriguez who was sitting in as an alternate for another Sparks council member Dian VanderWell said Lawson was “not feeling well,” but he himself spoke for the board’s ongoing existence especially in a time of safety nets being cut.
Brandi Anderson, another Reno council member on this board, also spoke in favor of the board’s continuation saying it presented “opportunities to improve our services.”
Current chair County Commissioner Mike Clark said even though as an advisory board it might not have “much clout,” he said it was important so the community “can share their experiences and thoughts.”
Both Anderson and Clark called for possibly having non elected officials join the board, with Clark saying residents with lived experience of homelessness could bring some “street knowledge” and “street sense.”
Washoe County Deputy District Attorney Herb Kaplan said that idea was “not as concrete as it should be”, including the exact number of people to be added, from where and whether they would be voting members, so it wasn’t voted upon, but could be brought before the body again with more details.
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