City of Salinas will no longer support a winter warming shelter

The City of Salinas says it will not support a winter warming shelter this year.

The news came as a surprise to many in Monterey County, as we are just two months away from when the shelter would be opening.

The Salinas city council unanimously voted to send a letter to Monterey County leaders — saying while they would support a permanent year round homeless shelter, they would not support a winter warming shelter on Main Street.

321 North Main could house up to 100 people, but there are major issues that would need to be fixed first. And those could cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. Last week city leaders said spending that kind of money goes against its best practices and doesn’t solve the problem of homelessness. County leaders say they were blindsided and didn’t know about the city’s concerns.

But they plan to move forward with the shelter anyway.

Elliott Robinson with the Department of Social Services says, “the county board of supervisors remains committed to finding a permanent shelter solution and while that permanent shelter solution is developed, to identify an interim shelter solution for the short term. When the city took its position, it makes our effort to move forward more complex.”

KION’s Mariana Hicks will have the latest on this at 5 and 6.