There is no disputing the need for temporary housing, but there was a dispute about how to properly address the issue as some elected Scottsdale officials point to a convoluted problem.
This conversation was prompted by a newly-formed East Valley coalition consisting of representatives of the state of Arizona, Maricopa County, Valleywise Health, and the cities of Scottsdale, Mesa, and Tempe regarding possible solutions and programs to address homelessness in the East Valley.
Although temporary housing and addressing the overall issue of homelessness was the official agendized topic, one council member took issue with artist renderings of a “high-rise homeless shelter.”
The concern was refuted as there are no concrete plans to build any such structure at this point, officials said.
Scottsdale Mayor David D. Ortega made a motion to address homelessness as a collective and develop a framework to construct a model to address the matter.
The motion carried 6-1 with council member Linda Milhaven dissenting, during an Aug. 26 City Council meeting.
“To the immediate issue at hand, I’m very concerned that the very last slide is a picture of a high-rise homeless shelter. And, I think people need to understand that the mayor’s conversations around this partnership and this program have included putting this in south Scottsdale or potentially in the county island not far from our southern border,” Milhaven said, referencing the slide presentation given by Scottsdale Human Services Department Director Greg Bestgen.
She was not alone with concerns as Tammy Caputi, council member, also expressed a “layer of things” necessary to provide a solution to the homeless population.
Ortega disagreed with Milhaven’s statement and described her alleged history of voting “against affordable housing.”
“That’s incorrect and you seem to be stuck on H’s there. Homeless high-rise is a construction that you have just made on your own. To be fully aware, you are also the council person that voted against affordable housing when the council — yes, you did,” he said, adding council members put in the budget anyway.
“... This came out about five days ago as a drawing, and you are completely off-base, and we will move to other people that want to comment. So I will not let that stand. You can oppose what is on the table. What is on the table is not a final project. It is a collaboration and a partnership among people that know that many of their friends or business people have lost their homes recently with COVID.
There are homeless veterans who have lost their way and there are many needs that can be understood and better addressed with the funds available. So the characterization is consistent with your voting against affordable housing and I will leave it at that and move on to comments for others.”
Milhaven later explained the difference between “homelessness and workforce housing” that went into her previous vote against what Ortega deemed was a vote against affordable housing.
“I want to clarify that I did not vote to put money in the budget because there was no clarity,” Milhaven said, adding she once initiated the motion to establish a community conversation about ways to improve affordable workforce housing.
Caputi agreed with moving forward with conversations to help the homeless population but did not want those who are experiencing problems with increased housing costs to be negated, or force others to move out of the community if it possibly becomes overrun due to an overwhelming homeless situation.
“We, of course, need to take care of our homeless population but the goal will be to get them out of homelessness, right, and into permanent shelter,” she said. “So we are going to get people out of that homeless situation and then where are we putting them — in a large single family lot in Scottsdale?”
She encouraged a more holistic conversation to have and that “there needs to be a pipeline of housing.
“I just think as a community, we actually need to look at the whole pipeline, not just one side, and the other side. But, yes, absolutely, I’m going to agree with the motion that’s about to be made to continue the conversation. I just want to make sure we think about all the parts of this conversation,” Caputti added.
Speaking from personal experience Bestgen said his parents were once without a home.
“I mentioned my parents came to me homeless several years ago with no place to go and I was lucky enough to have the space to be able to accommodate them for a good number of years and I was very happy to pay that back,” Bestgen said.
He and key staff from each of the other cities’ entities were tasked to create preliminary recommendations to share with the public for review and discussion in time for the Aug. 26 City Council meeting, awaiting the possible directive from the mayor who initially met with other East Valley elected officials on July 30 to discuss efforts “to identify solutions that address the growing population experiencing homelessness.”
Representatives within their municipalities and set groups met to address solutions to a growing homeless population. Emphasizing the importance of what Ortega described as a “unified collaboration,” he and representatives envision a project to serve as a “model of engagement, ‘not just containment,” according to a Aug. 6 memo, noting the importance of the project to be close to public transportation, provide wrap-around support services, and access to employment, healthcare, and educational opportunities.
Those experiencing homelessness to be served:
Recently evicted individuals/families
Chronically Homeless Seniors
Veterans
Serious Mental Illness
Potential services for those experiencing homelessness:
Emergency Shelters
Bridge Models
Non-Congregate Housing
Permanent Supportive and Rapid Re Housing units
Substance Abuse and Behavioral Health related programs
202 Properties
HCV, EHV, and Mixed-Use Developments
Scottsdale already partners with Phoenix Rescue Mission, Community Bridges, ELAINE, New Faces Partnership, and From the Ground Up that offers homeless programs.
Funding sources for Scottsdale’s homeless programs come from CARES Act and federal funding; tribal communities; and from general funds.
However, proposed funding for the East Valley Homeless Partnership would come from the city’s general contingency funds; county and city contributions from partnering municipalities such as Tempe and Mesa.
Depending on a model selected, a proposed timeline to complete the project would take from one to four years.
“It’s time that we did these types of structures. We have kicked the can down the road far too long. So now is the time to do something, and do something positive towards the end of homelessness in our area. We are always interested in preserving our city and our stakeholders and everyone else concerned with the city,” said Barney Gonzalez, a city Planning Commissioner, during public comments.
“It’s to our benefit — all of our benefits that we address the situation and cure the situation as much as we can. It’s going to be a long process. It’s not a top priority for anybody, however, these people can’t wait. So the importance of this type of program and your ability to tackle this on at this time period, shows bravery, and the ability to solve problems that the city faces.”
Delarita Ford Lead Reporter | Surprise @AzNewsmedia
Meet Delarita Delarita Ford originally joined Independent Newspapers Incorporated, now Independent Newsmedia, Inc. USA in 1997, as a general assignment reporter for the Delaware State News daily paper after starting her journalism career in Maryland in 1994, where she honed her skills by writing obituaries, covering community news from births to deaths, education to legislation and more. As a reporter, she has had the opportunity to cover sitting and former U.S. presidential visits in Baltimore, Delaware, and Arizona.
Community: One of the few seasoned journalists who still enjoys covering community events, she can be found with a reporter’s pad taking notes, her phone taking pictures while capturing life’s moments to memorialize them in print for the local newspapers and for the active-adult community where she lives. She maintains a presence with the Black media and the National Association of Black Journalists to encourage peers, socialize, and mentor younger writers.
Education: Life learner who learns from life. Aside from the collegiate education received, she got the best training from on-the-job experience with former editors who went through copy with a red pen and demanded the best writing for hard news and feature stories.
Random Fact: While a Delaware State News reporter, she could call then Sen. Joe Biden and his wife, Dr. Jill Biden, usually late at night if a quote or input was needed for varying topics, including legislation and education.
Hobbies: Adopt rescue dogs and give them a nice home. Continuously read and critique news stories from various platforms.
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