The truth about how Scottsdale handles homelessness at a hotel

With much fanfare, state Rep. Matt Gress in mid-September choreographed a hearing of a House Appropriations subcommittee at the Scottsdale Civic Library, which he characterized as an “ongoing fight against Scottsdale’s taxpayer-funded homeless hotel plan.”

Scottsdale answered, point-by-point, a detailed inquiry Gress made earlier this summer, through which city staff explained the specifics our specific program.

And since July, I personally reached out to brief him about the Scottsdale program, which has operated successfully for over a year.

But Rep. Gress did not respond to any of the numerous requests to meet and when he did take my call, he told me bluntly, “I will not meet with you.”

Scottsdale leases just 10 hotel rooms

Instead, at the Sept. 13 hearing, a reporter from San Francisco whom Gress invited railed about homeless populations “warehoused” in 80 hotels in that city. Gress also called on a Tucson nonprofit “homeless hotel” operator and an out-of-state consultant, to cite national statistics.

Sadly, the hearing dwelled on San Francisco’s failed approaches to homelessness and tried to tag Scottsdale with those disasters.

The meeting was used to promote distortions and disparage by innuendo Scottsdale’s renowned hospitality and tourism reputation.

Let’s set the record straight.

Scottsdale’s Bridge Housing Program has been operating successfully for more than a year, leasing a total of 10 rooms at a local hotel to provide safe and stable temporary lodging for eligible participants: seniors over age 62 and families with minor children who have been displaced from their Scottsdale homes.

Each person is evaluated to ensure their needs and circumstances are a match for the program, and they receive ongoing support from professionals specializing in providing a full range of support and services for people in need.

The goal: To make tenants self-sufficient

Participants are required to work with a caseworker from the Scottsdale Human Services team or Community Bridges, Inc., our nonprofit partner, to become self-sufficient and secure stable housing.

Participants are provided with assistance navigating through programs and services, searching for employment, applying for housing vouchers and searching and applying for affordable rental units.

Persons who are considered chronically homeless (a person has been homeless for more than a year), or repeatedly in and out of homelessness, with disabling conditions such as serious mental illness, substance use disorder or physical disability, are not eligible for Scottsdale’s Bridge Housing Program — those individuals are referred to programs elsewhere designed for their needs.

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Last year, this program assisted 120 individuals in Scottsdale — a number the city expects to duplicate in 2023.

The Scottsdale Bridge Housing Program helps to prevent homelessness to ensure that being unsheltered is brief, rare, and non-recurring. Scottsdale does not operate detox housing.

Why we renewed the program for a year

The hotel manager publicly stated that he has never had a problem with any participant, there have never been any calls to police and the participants keep to themselves and do not disrupt hotel operations.

Curiously, many of the speakers at a September Scottsdale City Council meeting also submitted cards to testify at the Gress hearing but were not allocated time. The city council did listen and, acting responsibly, approved operating the Scottsdale program for another year.

There are 10,000 hotel rooms in Scottsdale. Utilizing a block of 10 with rules of conduct, access to nonprofit navigators and social worker contact is the tested, successful Scottsdale model.

City and state leaders should work together to work toward, and listen to, solutions. Scottsdale will continue to do its part.

David D. Ortega is the mayor of Scottsdale. Reach him at dortega@ScottsdaleAZ.gov.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Scottsdale is not San Francisco. How we're handling homelessness