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The first step will be to appropriate more funding to the city departments involved in cleanups. Next month the Long Beach City Council will be asked to approve nearly $800,000 to help bolster encampment cleanups across the city.
A recent memo from City Manager Tom Modica to the mayor and City Council asks the council to release funding previously earmarked for small businesses impacted by civil unrest last summer and redistribute it to several city departments that coordinate encampment cleanups. The council is expected to vote on the reallocation in March.
The city created a $1 million grant program for businesses damaged during the protests that followed the death of George Floyd last May, but only $213,206 of that money was approved, according a city memo. Deputy City Manager Teresa Chandler said that the city approved 34 requests for aid with these funds, but it also received over 150 incomplete applications and requests from ineligible businesses.