This week at City Hall: Aug. 17

From a number of items on the agenda for today’s 1 p.m. Riverside City Council meeting, a few notable presentations are outlined below.

Item 10

In a five-minute presentation, Mayor Patricia Lock Dawson will address City Council on policy regarding American-Islamic relations. She will be joined by Advocacy Coordinator Shaheen Nassar from the Council on American-Islamic Relations in Los Angeles. He will be present to acknowledge August 2021 as Muslim Heritage Month in Riverside.

Item 14a

In a last-minute addition to the agenda, the Office of Homeless Solutions is asking the council to approve the use of up to $32 million of Emergency Rental Assistance grant money (ERA), given to Riverside by the state, to assist low-income renters with past due rent and utilities. The office will also ask the council to accept the second round of ERA funds from the state totaling $7.7 million. The council will first need to approve the late agenda item, thereby waiving the city’s Sunshine Ordinance.

Item 15

The Land Use, Sustainability, and Resilience Committee is recommending that the council approve the progress of potential development of a downtown hotel, rehabilitating what was once the 1957 Central Fire Station.

The committee is specifically asking the council to uphold an appeal made by Greens Ehrenberg LLC to approve a Certificate of Appropriateness that was denied by a split vote at the city’s Cultural Heritage Board.