The debris picked up at homeless camps by the city Department of Facility Maintenance amounts to 4.5 million pounds, as much as 184 school buses weigh. It’s the kind of statistic that grabs one’s attention, which was the reason why Mayor Kirk Caldwell cited it. It’s persuasive, and the mayor needs backing to fill four more positions to enforce stored-property and sidewalk ordinances. Can he find similar arguments to support other positions he wants to fill elsewhere in City Hall? We’ll see.

Moving a satellite city hall

The Fort Street Business Improvement District is set to move into the subterranean site now housing a satellite city hall. That holds promise as a good move because the 17-year-old BID can help provide security in a neighborhood that has long contended with vagrancy-related issues.

The Fort Street satellite, meanwhile, will relocate this summer to nearby Chinatown Gateway Plaza — a move prodded by a warning that the city must make use of long-vacant commercial spaces at the plaza or return nearly $8 million in federal funds tagged for the building. The city has struggled to find tenants, in part, because the plaza lacks parking space.