RICHMOND — Richmond mayor Tom Butt is calling on the city’s biggest companies to foot the bill for a city-sanctioned homeless encampment akin to those in Oakland and Berkeley.
Over the weekend, Butt sent out the request to the companies with the largest amount of employees in Richmond, including Chevron Corporation, Kaiser Permanente, Blue Apron and Costco Wholesale. He asked each of the 10 companies to donate at least $154,000 to establish and operate a managed homeless camp that will serve at least 100 people.
By Monday, he hadn’t gotten any bites, Butt said.
Plans for a city-managed homeless encampment are in the very beginning stages, he said. The idea hasn’t gone before the City Council, and Butt is working to secure the funding first before working out all of the logistics and find a location.
“I’m not saying (the companies) should be paying for it; I’m just saying this is a purely philanthropic thing they can do. It’s not a tax; I’m not trying to compel them to do it, I’m just saying there’s a major problem in the community, and here’s a chance to be part o the solution,” Butt said.
His suggestion for the encampment is to have it be in a place that is “visually isolated from main streets,” but close to transportation and other services, he said in a blog post. A two-acre site could handle at least 100 people, he said.
The site would include water, toilets, hand-washing stations and trash disposal, he said, as well as a “day-room” for dining and one or more cargo containers for storage.
He suggested tents or recreational vehicles be used to house people on the site. Any other structure, he said, would be subject to California Building codes and housing laws.¹
