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City To Offer Mental Health Services To Employees, Residents

The Santa Clara City Council has approved a contract with a mental health provider. The three-year $390,000 contract works out to $1 per resident annually.

“This effort is to provide connections to mental health care, and it is a priority of the city’s as we all know mental health significantly impacts not only the individual experiencing the mental health issue as well as our community at large,” said City Manager Jovan Grogan.

The service will enhance already-existing services such as the city’s wellness coordinator and the police department’s partnerships with county resources, Grogan said.

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The provider, Care Solace, will offer round-the-clock care companions to put city employees and Santa Clara residents in contact with mental health providers — at no additional cost.

Anita Ward, Care Solace’s chief growth officer, described her company’s service as “social glue.” Care Solace works with patients to meet their needs, be it finding the right type of therapist, someone who takes their insurance or has skills tailored to their particular issue, she added.

Ward called care companions “sherpas” through the mental landscape.

Settlement money from lawsuits against pharmaceutical companies for the opioid crisis funded the service. This is the first significant withdrawal from that fund, which had roughly $500,000 prior to Tuesday.

“In today’s world, to help with mind, body and soul is important, and this is one of those missing pieces that will help us fill some of the gaps,” said Mayor Lisa Gillmor.

The council unanimously approved the contract.

Police To Get New Incident Vehicle

The Santa Clara Police Department (SCPD) will also add what state law designates as “military equipment” to its inventory of vehicles. The vehicle in question, dubbed a mobile incident command vehicle, provides police with shelter, access to computers and toilets during long events.

It comes equipped to enable police to respond to terrorist attacks, hostage situations, natural disasters and major accidents, said Capt. Luis Martin, with the SCPD.

The vehicle will be available to the department in time for the FIFA World Cup games and Super Bowl at Levi’s Stadium in 2026.

Police Chief Cory Morgan called the vehicle “foundational equipment,” adding that the department’s active mobile incident command vehicle used to be the city’s bookmobile and is more than 20 years old. Having such a vehicle is standard practice across the country, he added.

“They give us command and control of critical incidents,” Morgan said.

The $586,213 vehicle, categorized by Assembly Bill 481 as “military equipment,” will appear on SCPD’s next inventory of such items, which the department must make publicly available.

The council unanimously approved the purchase order.

Food Vending Pilot Program Becomes City Ordinance

A pilot program regulating food vending near Levi’s Stadium also got codified.

The program has seen success, said Lt. Dustin Silva, having “significant positive impact on compliance” of illegal food vendors on event days. Partnerships with the council health inspector have allowed seizure of the food and equipment, something Silva said has helped eliminate bad actors who often don’t have the proper permits.

Former Santa Clara City Council member Kathy Watanabe, who was instrumental in getting the pilot program up and running, called in to applaud the effort by the police department and city employees.

“When we are looking at FIFA and Super Bowl next year, we need to make sure that our vendors that are doing the right thing have the opportunity to earn a living out there at the stadium and also protect the residents and the attendees that are coming to the events,” she said.

The motion to approve the program passed unanimously.

Council Passes District-Specific Newsletter Policy

Finally, the mayor went on a diatribe about how the city’s governance and ethics committee spends its time. The committee — made up of Council Members Suds Jain, Kevin Park and Raj Chahal — brought to the council a policy that would allow each council member to tailor messages to their constituents via the city hall newsletter.

Mayor Lisa Gillmor took issue with the suggestion, calling it a “problem that did not need to be solved.” Not only does the proposed ordinance, with its lack of limitations on message length, have “no guard rails,” Gillmor worried that residents would feel “spammed” by district-specific messages, adding that the city needs to “keep the integrity of city hall news.”

Adding further insult, Gillmor said the committee is only focusing on “self-serving stuff” and that such a policy would put a tremendous burden on city employees. The committee, she said, should be focusing on the grand jury’s recommendations.

Vice Mayor Kelly Cox implored the council to “do the right thing for the right reasons,” engaging in “constructive conflict” instead of bickering. She urged the council to air its grievances, calling the dispute “an issue that is masked as an issue of a newsletter.”

“We are not talking about a newsletter right now,” Cox said. “We are talking about people feeling silenced. We are talking about people feeling oppressed. We are talking about people manipulating a system.”

That said, Cox said she doesn’t feel many residents are complaining about the newsletter.

The council approved the policy in a 5-2 vote, with Cox and Gillmor dissenting.

Consent Calendar Spending

The council approved the following spending in one motion via the consent calendar:

  • A $2.23 million agreement with Kastech Software Solutions Group for PeopleSoft upgrades and functional improvements in purchasing and warehouse operations.
  • A $754,674 purchase order with LEHR for computers for police and fire vehicles.
  • A $600,000 purchase order with Atlas Copco Rental for the rental of an air compressor at the Donald Von Raesfeld Power Plant.
  • A $90,000 increase to a city loan — from $4.95 million to $5.04 million — for repairs at Belovida Apartments.

The next regularly scheduled meeting is Tuesday, Feb. 11, in the Council Chambers at City Hall, 1500 Warburton Ave. in Santa Clara.

Members of the public can participate in the City Council meetings on Zoom at https://santaclaraca.zoom.us/j/99706759306; Meeting ID: 997-0675-9306 or call 1 (669) 900-6833, via the City’s eComment (available during the meeting) or by email to PublicComment@santaclaraca.gov.

Related Posts:
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Santa Clara Seats New Elected Officials
Council Gets FIFA Documents

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1 Comment
  1. James 3 weeks ago
    Reply

    I believe every police vehicle has extensive computer equipment and provides shelter (most are huge SUV’S) so the only thing the new military vehicle adds are toilets. Rather than build and maintain a rarely used vehicle that doesn’t add anything except toilets, even though it will probably look “cool” with a fancy paint job, would it not be cheaper to get a porta potty on wheels like so many contractors use?

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