Despite appeals from more than a dozen local mayors asking for all of the $1.8 billion in expected Measure W funding to be used to address homelessness in Alameda County, the Board of Supervisors voted on Tuesday to direct 20% of the money to fill gaps in food security, mental illness initiatives and healthcare.

The debate over the money from Measure W — a one-half percent general sales tax approved by the voters in November 2020 that had been tied up in litigation until April 2025 — comes as state and federal funding cuts threaten critical safety net services.

The board’s decision came despite 14 mayors from Alameda County cities arguing that the funding should go entirely toward homelessness, but Fremont Mayor Raj Salwan told Bay Area News Group he’s not entirely unhappy with the outco

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