News Release - Mayor Patricia Lock Dawson Urges Riverside to Reach for Greatness, Eliminate

– Riverside is poised for greatness and can achieve that through a renewed focus on economic development, but it must also continue to make progress on reducing the incidence of homelessness with a focus on eliminating youth homelessness in the coming year. [...] “I didn’t run to be the Mayor of Riverside to just be good,” Lock Dawson said. [...] Let’s propel Riverside to greatness!” Lock Dawson officially launched the Mayor’s Challenge to End Youth Homelessness, noting that prevention is the key to reducing homelessness overall. [...] We are going to design a Riverside that works for all of us.” Noting that homelessness was identified as the top concern in the most recent Quality of Life Survey, Lock Dawson emphasized that Riverside has sought to strike a balance by continuing to offer services to people experiencing homelessness while investing in programs designed to ensure public safety in public spaces. [...] Other investments include the new Parks and Neighborhood Specialists (PANS) program; the continued investment in the Public Safety and Engagement Team (PSET); and a new PSET for wildland areas like the Santa Ana River bottom, Hole Lake, and Sycamore Canyon.