Sioux Falls council approves homelessness task force; Neitzert says 'playbook' already exists

Trevor J. Mitchell, Sioux Falls Argus Leader
·2 min read
Carnegie Town Hall stands against a partly cloudy sky on Tuesday, March 1, 2022, in Sioux Falls.
Carnegie Town Hall stands against a partly cloudy sky on Tuesday, March 1, 2022, in Sioux Falls.

The Sioux Falls City Council voted to approve a task force aimed at addressing homelessness in the city Tuesday night — but Councilor Greg Neitzert says he's worried that the city is ignoring solutions they already have.

The resolution, proposed by Councilor Rich Merkouris, passed by a 7-1 vote at the council's June 7 meeting.

Mayor Paul TenHaken, along with council chair Curt Soehl and vice chair Alex Jensen, will name the members of the task force, which will meet over a period of six months.

More: Councilor proposes task force to reduce homelessness over next 10 years

Introducing the resolution, Merkouris said he was aware that the task force would not be the first group to take a stab at the issue, but with recent developments like The Link and the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, he believed there was something to be gained from taking a fresh look at the problem.

But Neitzert spoke up, saying that while he believed homelessness was a huge issue that the city should be leading on, a task force wasn't the answer.

Referencing a 2019 report from the Augustana Research Institute, Neitzert lamented that it appeared to have been shelved, and noted that the report had said the city should stop opting for 10-year plans to deal with homelessness.

More: Report: Sioux Falls losing its battle against homelessness

The task force they were discussing, he pointed out, was exactly that.

Neitzert made a substitute motion, saying he'd like to defer the motion by a week in order to take a closer look at whether this was they way to solve the issue.

"The playbook was already given to us," he said.

While Councilor Sarah Cole seconded the motion, the rest of the council voted against a motion to defer.

Councilor Alex Jensen pointed to the Sioux Falls Municipal Band task force he'd sat on as a success story — though he acknowledged that homelessness was certainly "a much more complex issue."

And Councilor David Barranco said that while "no task force can be a panacea," this was certainly a step in the right direction.

Only Neitzert voted in opposition on the final vote on the resolution. The task force will be required to submit its findings to TenHaken and the council by Dec. 13, 2022.

This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: Sioux Falls council approves task force to address homelessness