Lt. Miguel Ibarra, Alameda County Sheriff's Office - Homelessness Programs
Lt. Ibarra began the presentation by reviewing how the Alameda County Sheriff's Office (ACSO) has been responding to homelessness in Castro Valley and the surrounding areas.  Homelessness is a very complex and complicated problem that requires more than traditional law enforcement activities. Even if ACSO arrests an individual, that person will spend perhaps eight (8) hours at Santa Rita Jail before being released with a citation. The solution to homelessness requires much more than an arrest and a citation.  Lt. Ibarra and his team are implementing a carefully planned strategy that looks at the root of crime and homelessness.
 
The team began by meeting with many of Alameda County's service providers to see how ACSO could combine access to those services with law enforcement, when needed, as a means to address the problems.  The team also studied the legal constraints under which they must work in order to understand completely those constraints.  Their next step was to determine the scope of the problem which involved mapping all of the homeless encampments and how to access them. Then the team met with the property owner or the agency responsible for the property, which in many cases is CalTrans, and toured the areas with the property owners and tried to convince them to keep the areas cleaned up.
 
ASCO continually patrols these areas to ensure they are safe. While they are patrolling, they encourage the homeless people to take advantage of the services that the State and County provide with housing, healthcare, behavioral services, and many other services.  These efforts, however, often meet with limited success since many of the homeless have substance abuse problems that limit their ability to take advantage of those services.  Watch the Lt. Ibarra's entire presentation here.  See the Meeting Highlights for January 11, 2022, regarding the ACSO Community Policing Program or click here 
 
Mikey Ochoa, Owner of Oculto
The business speaker today was Mikey Ochoa and owner of Oculto and Hermanos Verdes in the Castro Valley Marketplace.  Mikey is a Castro Valley native who wanted to establish a fine restaurant in Castro Valley. He had served as a chef at great restaurants in San Francisco before returning to Castro Valley to open Oculto, which features a unique mix of Mexican and Venezuelan dishes. Oculto started as a pop-up at the Marketplace and at several other locations before settling at the Marketplace.  All the food is made from scratch using produce from the Farmers Market and local farms.  Watch Mikey Ochoa's presentation here.
 
Announcements
Rotary Banner.
Obse Lubo presented a Rotary Banner from the Finot.Rotary Club in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia who was the host Club for Breathing for Life.  Obse had presented a Rotary Club of Castro Valley banner during her recent visit.
 
Marble Game.
President Dwight asked for input on the marble game and drawing that the Club has had at meetings.  Since the drawing is no longer funded from the cost of lunch, Aaron Lewis suggested that the Club follow the example of the San Leandro Club and charge $2 for any person who wants to play. A drawing will decide the winner who will take all the money. This plan will be tried for a while and evaluated.
 
District 5170 Conference.
President Dwight announced the District 5170 Conference is scheduled for April 22-24 at the Blackhawk Museum and the San Ramon Marriott.  Click here for more information and registration.
 
Mixer
Aaron Lewis announced that the Club will join with the Castro Valley Eden Area Chamber of Commerce to sponsor a mixer at Dig Deep Farms on April 28.
 
Chili Cook-off & Rodeo Parade
President Dwight announced that the Chil Cook-off (May 13) and Rodeo Parade (May 14) are in the planning stages with Chairs Lytrel Carter and Randy Vanderbilt respectively.  The Committees meet the first Tuesday of the month at Direct Sales Floors at 5:30-6:30.