CC MIN 2014-10-30 Special Town Hall

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_._.._.� r .�.. I ._.... that she lives with others in order to be able to be able tp pay the rent. She opined that the rent is higM in this area and the salaries don't increase. Rose Peeters spoke about St. Francis Center and she opined that sister Cristina Hestley seems to be purchasing the homes around it for gardens. In her view, this is not fair and she wants control of the area. She believes she has the right to stay involved and wants to be informed. She asked Dr. Bell if he had attended a meeting with her and he said he did not think so. Ms. Peeters said she will be informed from now on. Ms. Teri Chin noted that it might be that it is in the County and not be the City Council that organized such meeting. The Mayor summarized that the speaker seems to be concerned about the St. Francis Center wanting to buy surrounding property for gardens. Mariza Leal said she is a parent leader in Redwood City who for the last three years has been involved and committed. She inquired about what the City Council could do to facilitate the opening of the Rocketship school. She thanked the Council for its presence in this Center tonight. Sarah Matlin, appreciated the opportunity to address Council, and addressing the public said that the Council was gracious to be present here. She said she is an attorney and she is grateful that the City Council has been working hard for the cause of Affordable Housing. She said she would like to see more buildings go up and continue to promote Affordable Housing. She strongly supports the Fire Safety pilot program. She wants to be more proud of Redwood City by saying yes we offer rent control. Martha Ortega said that the community has many needs but first of all she wants to thank the Council for creating this "space" tonight. She has been a volunteer in this Center for a while and has been a volunteer at her kid's schools and with the Dreamers. She said her main concern is for women and in the Hispano community there is little space where women can find a space to come to and work. While a lot of women work cleaning houses they have been abused, have low salaries and the only people that benefit are the ones they work for. She would like to have more opportunities for women and classes maybe in baking, event coordination and other areas. She worries about domestic violence and she hopes we can find a solution for women to get out of those situations. Laura Marquez is a mother of three and she apologized for the repetition but the rent issue is important. She said she has had much help from the Center here, JR Gamez the Red Morton and we have places that are very beautiful and helpful but the high rents are a problem. She is not asking that Housing be provided for free, and sometimes she too cleans houses to help and between the rent and the bills everything goes. She asks for rent control and besides that, she finds everything else is great! Mary Berneir spoke about how she had lived in San Carlos and now she lives in Redwood City and she likes it better. She thanked Mayor Gee for allowing her to speak at the very end of the last City Council meeting on Housing issues. She slept on her car that night, but that was the last night she did so. Someone from Docktown approached her and did an exchange of work for a space to live. She thanked the Council for all it SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL TOWN HALL October 30, 2014 MEETING MINUTES PAGE 3 MINUTE BOOK NO. 65 Page No. 264