Because Mayor Rick Denison was absent at last night’s meeting of the Yucca Valley Town Council, the council postponed its discussion about the $4.9 million contract with the Sheriff’s Department to its next meeting on June 5. Managing editor Tami Roleff says the council heard presentations about homeless students in the Morongo Basin and discussed the cost of the recent redistricting…
While the county’s official count of homeless residents in the Morongo Basin in January 2018 was 98 people, Wayne Hamilton, the school district’s homeless outreach coordinator said there are 357 homeless students in the Morongo Unified School District. These students, 90 percent of whom live with at least one parent, are often living doubled up with another family, or in motels, campgrounds, and RVs. Hamilton said the proliferation of AirBnBs in our area has contributed to the loss of affordable housing, leaving the homeless and the impoverished no place to live.
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In other business, council members brought up an amendment to the budget, a shortfall of almost $98,000 due to legal fees, and expenses for a demographer to change the town over to district-based elections.
And Hi-Desert Nature Museum Supervisor Stephanie Ritter showed before and after photos on the museum’s recent remodeling.
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