COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR ORDINANCE NO. 210432, AS AMENDED

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Authorizing the City Manager, or the City Manager's designee, to contract and remit payment for the provision of hotel, motel and other livable space arrangements for unhoused persons in Kansas City; designating requisitioning authority; appropriating $1,836,468.00 from the unappropriated fund balance of the General Fund; and recognizing this ordinance as having an accelerated effective date.

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WHEREAS, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention defines homelessness as a public health issue; and

WHEREAS, Kansas City is the hometown to as many as 1700 people in the houseless community, according to Project Homeless Connect Kansas City, with 370 people under the age of 18; and

WHEREAS, the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated the public health issue by exponentially increasing job loss and financial struggle, particularly in communities of color and for those living at or near the poverty threshold as established by the United States' Department of Health and Human Services; and

WHEREAS, the intersecting and sometimes competing costs of housing and health create an undue burden on our city's poorest and most vulnerable residents; and

WHEREAS, the reduction of travel caused by the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in an influx of available hotel rooms in the city; and

WHEREAS, the City Council has expressed concerns over the living conditions for persons experiencing homelessness in Kansas City; and

WHEREAS, in accordance with Resolution No. 210316 the City Manager has identified ways to extend and expand hotel, motel, and other livable spaces arrangements for unhoused persons in Kansas City; and

WHEREAS, through Ordinance No. 210392 adopting the City's stimulus spending plan, RecoverKC, the City Council authorized $2,200,000.00 of the City's American Rescue Plan - Local Fiscal Recovery Funds be use...

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