Riverside Homekey+ Grant Deadline Extended to Feb. 24 as Reconsideration Push Sparks Heated Committee Clash

Riverside’s rejected $20.1 million Homekey+ housing deal is back on the clock after the state granted a 30-day extension, reopening a narrow procedural path for the City Council to reconsider its 4-3 vote before a Feb. 24 deadline. More than 30 residents showed up to press that demand during public comment Monday at a Housing and Homelessness Committee meeting that grew heated after a speaker challenged Councilmember Sean Mill and he responded sharply from the dais.

Ward 2 Councilmember Clarissa Cervantes said Riverside Housing Development Corporation, the nonprofit tied to the University Terrace Homes project, asked the state for more time after the City Council voted Jan. 13 to reject a Homekey+ award of up to $20,137,410. The funding would have supported a plan to convert a University Avenue motel into 114 studio apartments.

“Originally the grant deadline we had was until January 16,” Cervantes said. “RHDC reached out and asked for an extension and they were granted.”

Cervantes said state officials granted the extension because the city indicated there is still a procedural pathway to accept the award — but only if a councilmember makes a motion to reconsider by February 3 to bring it back to council by the Feb. 24 deadline.

“We shared with them that there is a pathway,” Cervantes said. “The pathway would be if one council member made a motion of reconsideration.”

Cervantes said the reconsideration window is tied to the next two City Council meetings.

“We have a city council meeting on January 27th and on February 3rd,” she said. “If we can get one of them to reconsider before the end of day, February 3rd council meeting, it will then bring the item back to the city council for a vote one more time.”

The Jan. 13 vote halted University Terrace Homes, which would have acquired and rehabilitated the Quality Inn at 1590 University Ave., converting existing rooms into 114 studio units with kitchens, bathrooms and living areas. The plan included on-site operations space, offices for property management and case managers, a resident meeting and training room, a gated perimeter, round-the-clock security and on-site staff.

Under the proposal, 94 units would have been permanent supportive housing affordable at 30% of area median income and 20 units would have been affordable housing at 50% of area median income, with priority for local seniors and veterans. Eighteen units were slated to be reserved for residents with mobility disabilities and 12 for residents with hearing or vision disabilities.

Cervantes voted yes on Jan. 13 alongside Councilmembers Jim Perry and Steve Hemenway, while Councilmembers Philip Falcone, Steven Robillard, Chuck Conder and Mill voted no. After the vote, Inland Empire Community News asked the four “no” votes what influenced their decisions. Falcone responded, “I spoke at length on this topic at the May 2025 City Council meeting when the grant application was discussed. Those comments remain true.” Robillard did not comment; his assistant said he was “unable” to comment and encouraged reviewing the council recording. Conder did not respond.

Cervantes said the project has been repeatedly mislabeled, including being described as a shelter. “People were calling it a homeless shelter,” Cervantes said. “That’s not what this is and that’s not what it was going to be.”

Instead, she said, the units were aimed at people already moving through the housing system and seeking placement.

“These are people on a wait list that are preapproved, that are seeking to be housed, that want to call one of these units home,” she said. “We should applaud that.”

Cervantes said the extension should force a broader re-evaluation of what Riverside’s rejection signals to state funders and regional partners who rely on grant dollars.

“The impact of us getting future state funding has now become part of the discussion,” she said.

“A lot of nonprofits in the region and housing groups — and even developers that rely on state funding for some projects — are now raising doubts and questions as to how this will affect Riverside as a whole,” Cervantes said. “I don’t know if some of my colleagues realized that they weren’t just saying no to $20+ million. They were closing the door for hundreds of million dollars of projects down the line.”

Her warning echoes what she said after the Jan. 13 vote. “When a big city says no to funding, the state usually doesn’t then take your future applications seriously. Why are we going to award you if you’re going to say no?” Cervantes said.

Residents who spoke at Mondays Housing and Homeless Committee Meeting repeatedly demanded that the councilmembers who voted no file a reconsideration motion before the Feb. 24 deadline. The meeting turned contentious during public comment from Becky Watley, a Ward 1 resident who said she lives downtown.

“First of all, I’d like to say that if this city is really serious about homelessness and solutions, they need to give Michelle Davis (Director of Housing & Human Services) more than a 20 minute presentation to do that,” Watley said.

Watley called for more time and public participation around the city’s homelessness action plan, then turned to an invocation Mill delivered at the Jan. 13 City Council meeting and repeated portions of it aloud, saying she was unsure “if you were being sincere or sarcastic,” but that she chose to believe he was sincere.

“I’d like to revisit the invocation from the January 13th City Council given by Councilman member Mill,” Watley said. “I’m going to repeat his words.”

Watley then referenced Mill’s “teach a person to fish” parable and tied it directly to Housing First. “Housing first is a philosophy that you provide the basic need of safe and secure housing so that they have a place to sleep and eat and cook and bathe and rest,” she said.

As Watley walked away from the podium, Councilmember Mill responded abruptly.

“Ms. Watley, since you wanted to make this personal and direct this at me, let me just say you. You bear as much responsibility for the failure of this as anybody up here,” Mill said. “You made it personal. You were inept and disrespectful. You were inept and disrespectful in your actions. And it was actually malpractice on your part in your actions.”

Watley shouted back, “Well then lets have this dialogue.”

Cervantes intervened and addressed the chamber.

“We need order in the chamber,” Cervantes said.

Cervantes told IECN the project could house people quickly because a pipeline already exists.

“We have enough people pre-approved to literally move them in the moment this project is complete,” she said, adding that the 94 permanent supportive housing units would have been “primarily seniors.”

Riverside resident Dan Hoxworth, a Ward 3 resident, spoke with IECN on Jan. 23 at the “ICE Out for Good” protest in downtown Riverside. “The Riverside Housing Development Corporation asked the state for an extension of the grant,” Hobsworth said. “Therefore, if one of the opposing city council members votes to reconsider by February 3 and the motion passes by February 24th, the project will be built.”

Hobsworth identified the councilmembers who voted no as Falcone (Ward 1), Robillard (Ward 3), Conder (Ward 4) and Mill (Ward 5). He said opponents centered their arguments on fear about nearby businesses and skepticism of Housing First.

“We heard two big things from the opposition,” Hobsworth said. “The opposition was for some fear based impact on businesses … and then Mills questioned housing first, which is permanent supportive housing, which is evidence based.”

Hobsworth also asserted that Housing First has “an 86% success rate” in helping people stabilize, and said rhetoric attacking Housing First has stirred backlash among housing providers.

Cervantes said arguments that reduce homelessness policy to “housing versus mental health” often miss what supportive housing is designed to do once people are housed, and she warned that “mental health” is frequently used in ways that deepen stigma.

“Folks that again would qualify would have some type of potential mental health or substance abuse,” Cervantes said, adding that “mental health could mean literally having a proven record of anxiety or depression.”

She said residents would have assigned caseworkers, and described a service model that would coordinate onsite and offsite support, including helping residents access medical care and other social services.

Cervantes also pushed back on the claim she said was voiced by a colleague during public debate — that Housing First is a “failed model.”

“That is actually not true,” she said. “There is plenty — there’s countless research and studies that have shown that Housing first is a proven model.”

Both Cervantes and Hobsworth said the debate has been clouded by assumptions that people targeted for supportive housing do not want stability. Cervantes said that framing ignores who is actually applying for these units.

“These people don’t want to be kicked out. They want a unit so that they can stay housed,” she said. “They are desperate to be able to get housing.”

With the extension now in place, advocates are urging residents to contact the four councilmembers who voted no and press for a reconsideration motion before Feb. 3, while also encouraging turnout and public comment at upcoming City Council meetings at Riverside City Hall, 3900 Main St. Cervantes said community members are asking the public to reach out respectfully and keep pressure on the council while the extension window remains open.

“I respectfully ask and urge one of my colleagues to seriously reconsider,” Cervantes said. “The funding tied to this project has greater implications for Riverside.”

Hobsworth framed the decision in human terms and urged councilmembers to weigh the stakes of the extension.

“I would tell the four councilmembers who voted no, to think about the 114 lives that have an opportunity to be saved and turned around by this project and removed from our city streets,” he said. “This is not a temporary solution. This project will last for 55 years. It will make a difference in reducing homelessness for two or three generations of Riversiders.”