Safe Outdoor Space Shower Water Temperature Petition

At a glance

Based on auto-generated captions; names and details may be misheard.

What: a citizen petition (item 125) about overly hot shower water at the city's Safe Outdoor Space site for people experiencing homelessness.
Where it stands: staff recommended denial because the Office of Homeless Solutions had already addressed it; the council approved the staff recommendation 8-0 on October 21, 2026. The petitioner did not appear.
Next: a town hall at the site on November 6 (focused on workforce opportunities); staff will follow up with Vice Mayor Hodge Washington on grievance response timeframes.

The water was tested and adjusted after a July complaint, especially in two new accessible trailers; it has been checked daily since the petition was filed two weeks earlier, and will be checked daily for a couple of weeks and then weekly. The only complaint was in July.
Showers are open 5 a.m. to 8 p.m. with a staff monitor. Residents can use a grievance process, including an anonymous one that is answered in general terms at town halls.

In citizen comment, a person staying at the site said the heat was fixed but two accessible bathrooms are sealed, sinks in other restrooms are shut off, and showers and toilets are cracked or broken.

About 6 minutes across 1 meeting (from transcript timestamps; approximate).

Meeting	Minutes
2026-10-21 - City Council Formal Meeting	6

2026-10-07 - City Council Formal Meeting - Citizen comment: a speaker said she is submitting another petition for testing and fixing shower water temperatures (about 120 degrees F limit); several residents said showers were too hot to use.
2026-10-21 - City Council Formal Meeting - Staff recommendation to deny approved 8-0; follow-up conditions raised in citizen comment.