Earlier this week, the Redding City Council put off a vote to fund a plan to address homelessness.
The Redding Continuum of Care on Homelessness is a signature issue for Councilwoman Kristen Shreder who asked the council to put up $65,000 a year for the next two years to fund the project. The council seemed receptive to the idea, but the majority decided to wait and see what Shasta County, Anderson and Shasta Lake do first.
Councilman Gary Cadd questioned the amount of money that would be allocated to the project. He also wanted to wait and see who else helps support it before Redding commits any funds.
"If the Continuum of Care has a larger membership, why aren't we asking the membership to put the money into this?” Cadd said. “And keep in mind this money we're talking about is not going to take anybody off the street. It's for administration."
But Shreder said the time is now to get working to helping the homeless. And she said that the city’s money would be matched by federal and state grants.
"The state initiative that the governor signed is going to put money into housing,” she said. “But we have to have a plan. We have to be able to support it with better data, and a plan that they see that we're serious about working as a community to address homelessness."
No date was set for a re-vote.
The council also voted to allocate $25,000 to help a new real estate firm with marketing of the Stillwater Business Park.
And they allocated funds to reinstate the Electric Utilities Solar Rebate Program.