Keller House Lease Focus Of Concord City Council Discussion

CONCORD, CA — Two Concord City Council members said Wednesday they support a local social services nonprofit being allowed to remain in a city-owned restored historical house, and not being tossed out to give a local police volunteer program a new space.

Vice Mayor Dominic Aliano and Councilman Edi Birsan, both members of the city's Recreation, Cultural Affairs and Community Services Committee, told a large group of supporters of Monument Impact they'll recommend to the full City Council that Monument Impact be offered a two-year lease — at $1 a month — to keep their main offices in the Keller House on Clayton Road near downtown.

Birsan also said he would help find a new home for the city's Volunteers in Police Services (VIPS) program. The program, whose non-sworn volunteers conduct neighborhood patrols and help with records and administrative duties, has been dormant since being forced from its Concord Police Department space, at least temporarily, because of a lack of room for social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Monument Impact matter came up as part of a city report that supported moving the VIPS program to the Keller House. Monument Impact's five-year lease for the Keller House expires Friday.

A handful of VIPS volunteers spoke or offered written comment, defending their program. Trish Beirne, Concord's emergency and volunteer services manager, said VIPS members routinely ask, "How can we get back to helping the community?"

But more than 50 other commenters Wednesday night voiced support for Monument Impact and the myriad services — economic aid, job and technical training, shuttle services, health and nutrition services — it provides for the Monument Corridor's largely Hispanic and immigrant population. That clientele, the program's supporters stressed, have been hit especially hard, both economically and physically, by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The idea of the nonprofit losing its lease in favor of a police volunteer program was variously described as "mean-spirited," "astounding," "tone-deaf" and "bordering on the malicious."

Several commenters Wednesday said evicting Monument Impact in favor of a police volunteer group flies in the face of what the "defund the police" movement stands for. Some also questioned why no other space could be found for the police volunteers.

A handful of speakers, including Nicole Zapata, went further, saying Monument Impact's threatened eviction is retaliation for some of the nonprofit's organizing work, including ongoing tenants' rights advocacy.

"This feels like a targeted action I can guarantee won't be taken lightly," said Zapata, a community organizer with East Bay Alliance for a Sustainable Economy.

Laura Nakamura of Concord praised the work of both the VIPS and of Monument Impact. She asked why this conflict has even come about at all.

"Why are two community service organizations being pitted against one another at this time?" Nakamura asked.

Ultimately, both Aliano and Birsan said they support Monument Impact's main offices remaining where they are. They said they would recommend to the City Council, probably in September, that Monument Impact be given a new lease. Both Aliano and Birsan said the timing for this change is especially poor, given Monument Impact's increased workload during the COVID-19 pandemic.

"This is a no-brainer for me," Aliano said. "Right now is not the time to have this conversation."

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