Motion calls for end to off-site apartments for homeless
Council's community and protective services committee is slated to vote Thursday on a move by two councillors to have the city terminate its long-standing and controversial arrangement with a Vanier hotelier to house homeless families in off-site apartments for about $100 per night.
Rideau-Vanier Coun. Mathieu Fleury and Somerset Coun. Catherine McKenney are bringing forward a motion to have the city launch “a proper procurement process” to house the families living at the Tabor apartments, located on Vanier's St Denis Street, and end its per-diem relationship and use of the apartments by July 1.
Since 2012, the city has had an agreement with the Ottawa Inn on Montreal Road to use rooms at the hotel proper for temporary emergency accommodations
It's one of 23 hotels, motels and post-secondary institutions the city can call to house families, at a pre-negotiated rate, when the shelter system is at capacity.
Unique to the Ottawa Inn, however, is that owner Ahmed Syed also houses city shelter clients in off-site residential units — an option that city staff say is cost-effective, since large families can be placed in one unit instead of multiple hotel rooms, and gives families kitchens, bedrooms and more space than the typical hotel room.
A report submitted by Fleury and McKenney to the CPS committee flags three major concerns with the off-site accommodation arrangement, which included 41 non-hotel units across eight addresses when it began in 2015, but has since been reduced to 15 units in a U-shaped apartment block on St Denis Street. A report submitted by Fleury and McKenney to the CPS committee flags three major concerns with the off-site accommodation arrangement, which included 41 non-hotel units across eight addresses when it began in 2015, but has since been restricted to units in a U-shaped apartment block on St Denis Street.
Those concerns involve zoning, the lack of a competitive procurement process, and the fact that residents at these properties don't have leases and rights that tenancies provide.
“One landlord is benefiting from city business and taxpayer money without a transparent procurement process ensuring the greatest use of taxpayer dollars. The per diem costs of the Tabor Apartments could be better utilized to provide permanent housing for families,” the report notes.
As area councillor, Fleury has long been critical of the decision by city staff to utilize the Ottawa Inn's off-site units — an arrangement that has also been scrutinized by the auditor general and community members.
Last October, the Citizen reported that the placement of new emergency shelter clients at the apartments had been temporarily suspended while the city investigated concerns about poor living conditions.
“If the AG report and the media attention, and the community's concerns over the site are not enough to get staff to react, and with my ongoing political pressure on it, (which) for years and years hasn't been fruitful … OK, well, we'll bring it to committee,” Fleury said Tuesday.
In a written response to the councillors' motion, Housing Services staff note that last fall, “some families and service providers brought issues regarding the non-hotel units to the city's attention.”
Units were inspected, and issues identified by Bylaw and Regulatory Services, Housing Services and Ottawa Public Health have been addressed, staff wrote.
In response to a question from the Citizen about what the issues were, residential service program manager Marion Connolly said that, inside, “general repairs, maintenance and required pest control measures were identified … while work required for the exterior of the building included the repair of a retaining wall.
“Everything was found to be in order following completion of the repairs, pest control measures, maintenance and cleaning undertaken by the landlord.”
In their response to the councillors' motion, staff mounted an extensive defence of their use of the Tabor apartments: They've confirmed it's in compliance with zoning; all households receive case management services and access to 24/7 support through the city family shelter; furnishings, linen and cleaning services are provided; and the auditor general found the rates for the apartment units were competitive.