Reactions to Potter County Commissioners' Court decision on Homeless Heroes land

Potter County Judge responds to criticism of land donation for veterans community

With Homeless Heroes deciding not to accept the donation of county land for its tiny home community to serve homeless veterans in the area, Potter County Judge Nancy Tanner responded to the opposition of the project that took place during Monday morning's meeting.

Tanner spoke to criticism from Place 3 Commissioner John Coffee and members of the Willow Creek community about the proposed project.

Tanner said that she had spoken with Tiffaney Belflower of Homeless Heroes previously about the possibility of county land being used for the housing project, and that with veteran issues being close to her heart, she wanted to help if possible. She said she came up with the idea of using land, which the county leases near Willow Creek for a $1 a year to the Panhandle Bowhunters Association, and donating some of the land to this project.

More:Potter County reverses course on donation to Homeless Heroes

The land, for the most part, is not in use except for a small portion to the bowhunters, so she thought the land could be put to use to help create the veteran community. Tanner said that while she had the best intentions of making good use of land for a worthy cause, she could have communicated it better with that community and the commissioner representing the area.

"I should have talked to the commissioner of that precinct, but did not think this would be that big of a deal,” Tanner said. “Obviously, it turned into a pretty big deal because the people living there are against it being in their neighborhood. I understand their concerns now, but at the time, it seemed like a very good place.”

Asked if her prior meetings with Belflower were in some way inappropriate, Tanner says that she regularly holds meetings all the time with citizens to hear from them on various issues.

“On this particular matter, maybe I should have talked with the Precinct 3 Commissioner, but at the time I did not think about it,” Tanner said. "In hindsight, I should have included him more in the process. We could see from the public outcry that this project was not likely to go forward."

While taking responsibility for getting this item on the agenda, Tanner said that the idea that she pushed through this idea, without any input from other commissioners is not accurate because each commissioner had the opportunity to ask questions and do their own research prior to casting a vote.

"When I first put this on the agenda, the commissioners had every chance to discuss this with me or bring up concerns,” Tanner said. “I did not intentionally go around anybody on this project, but this falls on me. I should have gone to the commissioners more on this."

Asked if the commissioners' court might get involved with another possible solution to help Homeless Heroes get land for their project, Tanner said that she would be open to helping the organization. Tanner said she hoped that somebody watching or in attendance of the Commissioners Court meeting could reach out to Homeless Heroes to see if they can help make the project go forward. She also expressed that she has learned much from this process regarding getting more input from the community and other commissioners.

“I am going to pray that we come up with a solution to help make this happen,” Tanner added.

Homeless Heroes speaks about project's future

Tiffaney Belflower spoke about how she felt about the commissioner’s court meeting results.

She said it was a surreal meeting, with the commissioners voting not to rescind the donation of the land and then being asked by a commissioner to then not accept the land for the project.

“I see a whole town of opportunities at this point. More people are talking about it, which may get more people involved, with more people hearing and seeing what we are trying to accomplish," Belflower said. “I think that a lot of opportunity is going to head our way, with only good coming from today.”

More:Homeless Heroes holds meeting with Willow Creek residents to address concerns, questions

She said that it felt great to get the support from Commissioner of Place 2 Warren Coble to pledge that he and the commissioners would work to make this project happen. Belflower said that it was a bittersweet pill to swallow to reject the land donation, due to the opposition that she faced.

“There were so many emotions going through my head: If I say I do not want the land, what does that mean for the people that I am trying to work for to get housing? I understand the opposition to the project in the area,” Belflower said. “I have had several residents who strongly opposed this project in the area reach out and say that they want to help. I am grateful for the residents who have reached out and said that they want to help. I do not doubt that the right people will see what is going on and offer support and guidance moving forward.”

During the commissioners’ court meeting and public comment from opponents to the Homeless Heroes project, an accusation was brought up that the Homeless Heroes organization had lost its 501C status for a period of time before being reinstated.

Stacey Van-Tassel, executive director of Homeless Heroes, said that while it is true the group's status had been revoked in May 2022, they were not aware of the issue until receiving a letter in August 2022. She said those issues arose from their CPA’s lack of experience in nonprofit organizations and have now been rectified by getting a CPA who has experience in those matters.

“As soon as we knew the issue, we got things taken care of, and our nonprofit was reinstated and backdated to the original date of the revocation,” Van-Tassel said. “It was revoked originally because certain documents were not filed online. We were under the impression that the documents had been filed."

Van Tassel said that comments that they had never spoken with the Kansas City project, which the program was modeled after, were not accurate.

Belflower said that through this process, her organization had learned a lot that will help them move forward with its plan.

“We have learned how to approach a potential location and work with the people around it so we can hear their concerns and earn their support,” Belflower said.

Willow Creek residents respond to meeting's outcome

Among the many citizens who spoke out against the project Monday was Lavonda Mosely, who said she supported veterans but that this location was not a good fit for the project. She also said that there were still questions about the Homeless Heroes that needed to be answered.

“I think all the issues that we had were brought out in the meeting, brought a lot of facts to light that were not discussed before the court made the original decision,” Mosely said. "The things we said in court were completely factual. I think at the end of the day, with Tiffaney making the hard decision not to accept the land, was very difficult, and I respect that. I think she has a good heart, and somebody will come forward to help get her project started.”

Mosely said that the onus should not have been on Homeless Heroes to reject the land donation, when referencing that the court still stuck by its original decision to donate the land even after hearing the opposition from the community.

“I think the process did not work, with Belflower having to be the one to reject the land,” Mosely said. “The commissioners should have done the right thing for the voters themselves.”

Mosely said that the commissioners overall should have done better due diligence on this proposed project in exploring the viability of the land and the viability of the organization that they were donating land to.

Also present at the meeting was Chrys Griffing, an Army veteran who lives in the Willow Creek area who felt that the outcome of the commissioners' court meeting was the right one. He said he was initially bothered that there was opposition to the proposed veterans home project. Still, after finding out more about the project and the location, he did not feel like the resources for veterans would have been available for those who would be housed in the proposed veteran’s community.

Griffing said that after looking more into the situation, he also did not feel that there was a detailed plan that outlined how the project would work outside of the location. Much of his opposition concerned safety concerns for the veterans and the community.

“These veterans do not have cars or ways to get around, with no resources close by including grocery stores at this location,” Griffing said. "Overall, this was not going to be a safe environment with the resources to succeed and help these veterans. I just could not support this for those reasons.”

He said that he wants to do his part to help homeless veterans in some capacity.

"I am willing to do all I can to help Homeless Heroes in the future, if she can come up with a viable plan. I think something closer to the resources would be a better fit. We need these people off the street. They served their country honorably and should not be worried about having a roof over their head. It is the least we can do."

This article originally appeared on Amarillo Globe-News: Reactions to Potter County Commissioners' decision on Homeless Heroes