Accepts SSHRB Work Plan, limits charges for third-party food delivery, supports LGBTQ community
On May 6, City Council authorized a new agreement with Alameda Family Services (AFS) to continue providing clinician and case management services for the Community Assessment, Response, and Engagement (CARE) Team, winner of the 2024 Alameda County EMS Program of the Year Award.
Council also accepted the Social Service Human Relations Board (SSHRB) Work Plan to improve services for people experiencing homelessness, create a welcoming City, and address domestic violence, and voted to continue limiting charges imposed by third-party delivery services such as Uber Eats and DoorDash.
Council also agreed to ask the City Manager and City Attorney to provide guidance on concrete actions the City Council can take to provide greater support to the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer (LGBTQ) community.
AFS and CARE
Deputy Fire Chief Cody Moxley provided an update on the CARE Team and requested approval to renew the City’s service agreement with AFS for the next three fiscal years.
The CARE Team is a 24/7 mental health crisis response initiative launched in 2021 through a partnership between the Alameda Fire Department (AFD) and AFS. It deploys trained paramedics and licensed clinicians to handle psychiatric emergencies, including 5150 and 5586 holds.
In 2024, CARE received 1,332 calls, of which 86% were mental health-related. Notably, 46% of mental health-related cases were resolved on-site, 28% were transported for further care, 8% involved psychiatric holds, and the remainder were either “good intent” or “unable to locate” cases. The largest age group served was 30-49 years old.
Success stories included preventing the incarceration of a client by enrolling them into CARE Court, which led to a structured treatment program, the launch of a prepaid phone program to support client follow-up, securing a $963,000 Department of Justice grant to support CARE operations, and winning Alameda County EMS (Emergency Medical Services) Program of the Year.
Other client success stories included a 28-year-old with substance abuse issues now attending regular therapy, a teen referred to family therapy following a home crisis, and a student with suicidal ideation successfully linked to youth counseling.
The CARE Team’s future goals include creating brochures for clients and families on psychiatric holds; expanding partnership with schools, health systems, and County agencies; improving data collection and program evaluation; and enhancing clinician availability and follow-up care.
Council comment and vote
Councilmembers raised concerns regarding response delays, particularly related to library-related mental health incidents. Referencing remarks made by Library Director Michael Eitner at a budget meeting the previous day, Mayor Marilyn Ezzy Ashcraft stated, “It was really painful to hear that staff feels fearful. They’re fearful for their patrons.”
Fire Chief Nick Luby responded that he met with Director Eitner that morning to understand better how AFD and the Library could work together to address the issues they’re experiencing.
Deputy Chief Moxley noted, “On average, (the CARE Team’s) on-scene time for (each) call is 43.7 minutes. If they’re on a call, and another call comes in, sometimes there is a delay.”
Chief Luby added, “Many calls are not truly a crisis but still involve individuals who need support.” He cited one example of the library calling the CARE Team when someone was in the bathroom for an extended time, raising concern. However, this did not qualify as a mental health crisis; the situation required a medical welfare check.
Assistant City Manager Amy Wooldridge noted that AFS has provided de-escalation training for Recreation and Library staff, case consultation for recurring behavioral issues, and assistance with creating “consequence contracts” for repeat offenders. Councilmember Greg Boller proposed possible joint training with the police to enhance a collaborative response.
Council unanimously approved the contract renewal with AFS to continue providing CARE Team support through 2028.
SSHRB work plan
SSHRB assesses and reports on Alameda’s social service needs and encourages the formation of private social welfare organizations to serve those needs. President Scott Means and Vice President Samantha Green presented last fiscal year’s accomplishments and their coming fiscal year work plan.
SSHRB helped update The Road Home, Alameda’s strategic plan to end homelessness, presenting the report to local and regional organizations to facilitate conversations about affordable housing and homelessness. They also supported the establishment of a Dignity Village Resident Advisory Board, made up of facility residents facilitated by Scott Means.
The Alameda United Against Hate workgroup, which aims to create a welcoming city, participated in a poetry slam during National United Against Hate week and supported a student Season for Nonviolence and Speech Contest. The workgroup’s progress toward a revised anti-hate resolution continues into 2025-26.
The Domestic Violence workgroup completed a list of service providers working to alleviate domestic violence in the community. It partnered with the Alameda Collaborative for Children, Youth, and Families to host the list on their website. Recognizing the link between domestic violence and limited mental health access, the workgroup also initiated a review of health insurance providers to better understand challenges faced by the mental health system locally and begin developing recommendations for Council action.
Going forward, SSHRB’s work plan (link downloads document) aims to create an age-friendly Alameda, emphasizing making Alameda livable for residents of all ages with plans including stakeholder meetings and a community survey. They will bring a revised Alameda United Against Hate resolution to Council and continue to promote The Road Home strategies through community presentations and other media. SSHRB will support a City-led task force to coordinate domestic violence prevention goals across service providers.
Council unanimously accepted SSHRB’s work plan.
Third-Party Food Delivery Services Ordinance
The Third Party Food Delivery Services Ordinance, which caps third-party delivery fees at 15%, was adopted in September 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. At that time, platforms such as UberEats and DoorDash charged restaurants 15-31% of the purchase price in addition to the 15-30% fees charged to customers. Many restaurants found this unsustainable given their dire financial straits during the pandemic. The ordinance remained in effect until February 28, 2023, when California’s State of Emergency officially ended.
City outreach to restaurants at this time revealed that retail food establishments continued to struggle with financial concerns, as there was a lack of return to in-person dining at pre-pandemic levels. Some restaurants went so far as to say that they would no longer be in business without the ordinance and fee cap.
Consequently, in March 2023, the City amended the ordinance to cap delivery fees at 15% of the purchase price, limit increases to fees by the percentage of the Consumer Price Index, and disallow new fees or commissions not defined in the ordinance. The updated ordinance sunsetted on May 1, 2025.
Staff requested that the ordinance be readopted and extended by one year while they researched the impact of food delivery services post-pandemic.
Councilmember Tracy Jensen moved that the ordinance should be readopted without a sunset clause and that staff return in one year with the evaluation results and any suggested changes. The motion passed unanimously.
Strengthening support for the LGBTQ community
Councilmember Tony Daysog made a referral or request that a proposal to strengthen the City’s protections for LGBTQ residents be scheduled as a future agenda item. Daysog framed his request in the context of national events: “We’re discussing this today when the Trump administration got the support of the courts to…kick out anyone who’s transgender from our military forces.”
He said the referral was also in response to an email from an Alameda resident who noted that while most of their time in Alameda has been positive, they have also experienced harassment at work and on the street. They asked the Council to declare Alameda a sanctuary city for LGBTQ people.
Although Alameda already has a sanctuary city policy that includes references to LGBTQ protection, Daysog proposed explicitly declaring Alameda a sanctuary city for members of the LGBTQ community, especially the transgender community.
He encouraged other specific actions such as;
- Drawing from the Alameda Unified School District’s policies that provide strong protections for LGBTQ students.
- Involving SSHRB and the Parks Department in considering how City-operated public spaces could better support and signal inclusion for transgender residents.
- Promoting and institutionalizing resources, such as a victim’s advocate proposal discussed in a prior meeting.
- Requesting that City Manager and boards give City Council feedback on taking affirmative steps to make the City more welcoming to the LGBTQ community.
The Council expressed general support. However, Mayor Ashcraft supported the specific actions without overhauling the Sanctuary City policy: “We need to be careful not to put targets on our back that could have unintended consequences in this administration, in the form of causing us to lose funding to support the very initiatives and program you would like to see…”
Councilmember Daysog conceded that the action steps were the most essential part of his request. He motioned for the City Attorney to work with the City Manager to suggest affirmative actions at a future meeting. The motion passed unanimously.
Contributing writer Karin K. Jensen covers boards and commissions for the Alameda Post. Contact her via [email protected]. Her writing is collected at https://linktr.ee/karinkjensen and https://alamedapost.com/Karin-K-Jensen.
