Applause, boos for city's approach to homeless

Sep. 14—For a city with an official "unhoused" count of 64 people, Scottsdale has become a firestorm for the issue of homelessness.

Indeed, the city's acceptance of a state contract to essentially import homeless people from Phoenix and Mexico drew such severe criticism, Scottsdale backtracked on its stated goals of serving some residents from "The Zone" and Title 42 immigrants.

Even so, the city's revised plans for temporary homeless housing drew a boisterous crowd to a town hall on the topic Sept. 13.

The rowdy hearing on how to help the homeless showed a sharp divide in approaches, with both strong support and howling criticism to Scottsdale's strategy of using part of a hotel as a temporary shelter.

State Rep. Matt Gress, R-Scottsdale, drew applause for his opening comments at the packed Civic Center Library auditorium.

"I will not allow the disastrous policies of Los Angeles, San Francisco, Portland, San Francisco and even Phoenix to seep into our community," Gress pledged.

State Rep. Judy Schwiebert, D-Scottsdale, countered with support of a "housing first" model — drawing applause and boos.

If this occasionally sounded like a pro wrestling crowd, Mayor David Ortega was treated as the villain. He was met with catcalls in his defense of Scottsdale's contract with the Independence Hotel.

"Scottsdale has been very successful," Ortega said. "There's over 220 unhoused children in Scottsdale. And that's a fact."

According to SUSD Supervisor Scott Menzel, "Last year (2022-23 school year) we had 222 students who qualified as homeless under the McKinney-Vento act.

The Progress asked Ortega the source of his figure — which is more than the combined "Point in Time" counts of homeless people in Scottsdale in the last two years — 64 this year, 114 in 2022.

Ortega said he formed a joint council on the issue with Scottsdale Unified School District and Scottsdale Community College, which issued a report in August.

"The actual number is 229 homeless unhoused," he said, which includes children that are sleeping in cars, going from "sofa-to-sofa" or are "housing insecure."

According to SUSD Superintendent Dr. Scott Menzel, "Last year (2022-23 school year) we had 222 students who qualified as homeless under the McKinney-Vento act. This year we have 81 year to date — which is higher than we were last year at the same time (74)."

In July, when urging City Council to approve acceptance of a $940,000 grant from the state, Greg Bestgen, Scottsdale's Human Services director, said the grant would allow Scottsdale to serve 120 homeless people — nearly double the Point in Time count of 64 unsheltered people in Scottsdale.

At the Sept. 13 forum, Gress slammed Scottsdale for using the Independence Hotel as "a quasi-homeless shelter" — insisting paying guests have no idea the city houses homeless people there.

But Charles Feeley, general manager of the Independence Hotel, called his contract with the city "a great program" that serves seniors and single mothers with children.

"These clients have been nothing but nice," Feeley said. "We have had zero problems."

Bestgen stressed Scottsdale has focused on single mothers who lack homes.

He and Ortega both said Scottsdale has not served former residents of "The Zone" in Phoenix nor Title 42 migrants as the state contract originally outlined.

A city press release in early July stated, that "three rooms will host senior women, single mothers and their children or families referred to Scottsdale from the City of Phoenix 'Zone' area. Under the terms of the grant, these rooms could also offer emergency shelter for migrants who have entered the United States legally under Title 42."

Two-and-a-half months later, Ortega was clearly moving away from the earlier strategy.

"We are able to rescue Scottsdale residents, Scottsdale veterans and children," he said.

Many in the crowd were not buying that.

"The mayor and Council have not given any thought to this," one woman said during public comments. "This proposal is reckless and damages the reputation of Scottsdale."

Jeff Taylor urged monitoring of the hotel program participants.

"I strongly recommend that you verify sobriety," he said. "Drug tests don't lie."

Tammy Smith said she spoke to Bestgen privately and was struck by his saying "we don't have the manpower to follow up."

Bestgen, who was on the panel, did not dispute her statement.

During the public comments period, several suggested putting homeless people in tents — not hotel rooms.

Ortega challenged

The House Appropriations Subcommittee on Budgetary Funding Formulas held the meeting "to examine housing contracts to convert hotel rooms for use as an emergency homeless shelter."

Three state representatives sat at a table on the left side of the stage. At a table on the right side were four "witnesses: Ortega; Jared Meyer of the Cicero Institute; Lisa Chastain, CEO of Gospel Rescue Mission in Tucson; and Erica Sandberg, a journalist and author.

Sandberg, who lives in San Francisco, had an ominous, Dickensian exhortation: "I am the ghost of Christmas future."

California's homeless crisis was a leitmotif for many critics of the Scottsdale program.

One insisted the city's current hotel program "will destroy Scottsdale the way they did to San Francisco."

The panel featured two Republican representatives and one Democrat.

"As chair of the Judiciary Committee it is my responsibility to question this program through the lens of public safety," said Rep. Quang H. Nguyen, R-Yavapai County.

Nguyen challenged Ortega's statement on Scottsdale's "bridge" program having an 84% success rate.

"How do you track these people?" Nguyen demanded.

Ortega said they are tracked as long as they stay in the program.

Several on the panel demanded to know if there has been crime at the Independence Hotel's homeless program.

"We are using a model we can stand behind," Ortega said.

"The only shootings and crimes have been at short-term rentals," he added.

"Mayor, that's off topic," Gress interrupted. "I don't think people are living on the streets because they can't get a house because of short-term rentals."

Gress demanded to know if Ortega would commit to not serving The Zone and/or Title 42 people.

As he gave a complex answer, dozens heckled Ortega, demanding, "Yes or no?"

Indeed, the no-homeless-hotels portion of the crowd was at times obstreperous.

Cahill stated, "We have lost the confidence of the City Council" — and rousing applause rang through the hall.

Similar boisterous support greeted a man who proclaimed, "Don't kill the golden goose" — suggesting the homeless program could damage the city's thriving tourism industry.

Gress successfully challenged Scottsdale's plan to use state funds to shelter homeless people from Phoenix as well as immigrants.

Scottsdale has a contract with a local hotel for 10 to 15 rooms to be used to get homeless people off the streets while the city's "bridge" program helps them find stable housing.

Gress said he doesn't like it.

"The disclosure of Scottsdale's plan to utilize local hotel rooms to accommodate homeless individuals has caused a great deal of concern with residents," said Gress.

"Creating a micro-shelter within an operating hotel raises several questions, including whether this strategy really addresses the root cause of the problem."

Brian Wright, a Scottsdale engineer who said he is running for the Senate, agreed with Gress.

Placing homeless people in hotels, Wright insisted, "is the least effective use of our money ... We are spending our money on the most expensive solution possible."

Council to consider hotel Tuesday

On the Tuesday, Sept. 19, agenda is a request for City Council to authorize $500,000 for 10 Independence Hotel rooms for 12 months. Funding comes from a $940,000 Arizona Department of Housing grant.

This would extend Scottsdale's Bridge Housing Program to provide temporary shelter for homeless people while helping them find more permanent housing.

According to the agenda, "Human Services staff will continue to focus efforts on the Scottsdale community, providing temporary housing exclusively for eligible participants over age 62 and single parents with children."

"The Scottsdale program will not take referrals through Title 42," the Sept. 19 agenda states."We may receive referrals from the Zone that have been vetted through Community Bridges."