Proposed shelter another wasteful ART project
To many in our city, $14 million in the form of a bond and $14 million more from the state sounds like a small price to pay for a true solution to our homeless/drug addiction crisis, but, to many more of us, it is simply another ART project wrapped up in new packaging.
We all see people on every corner and median, camping on streets, businesses, parks, under freeways, etc. It is a rare area in Albuquerque that is immune to this new urban reality.
Mayor Tim Keller feels the pressure and has already hired an architect through an RFP process to create a plan to house 400 people in a “central location” without one word of approval from taxpayers or a comprehensive plan.
He’s done the media circuit, convinced the newspapers, appeared on PBS, created a slideshow that (Director of Family and Community Services) Carol Pierce and (Deputy Director of Family and Community Services) Lisa Huval show to all the neighborhood associations concerned they will get the shelter in their area. Essentially, he’s done all the PR he could possibly do to “sell” us on an idea that could literally destroy Albuquerque.
His “experts” cry “Housing First,” the mantra they know so well that they keep touting as the only solution — their solution! Meanwhile, we have no transitional housing or real job creation for those who could work (like the proposed) Gabriel’s Village, just a free-for-all in housing, food, services and needles for chronically homeless people.
Our previous governor closed 15 mental health centers. Long-term, affordable or free residential centers for those with mental disabilities or addictions are rare, and this has become a recipe for social disaster that affects our entire state and all demographics.
The answer is not a one-size-fits-all box called a “shelter,” just a fancy overnight stay so folks will be back on the street the next day, bused back to Coronado Park, Noon Day for food, Health Care for the Homeless and St. Martin’s for disability checks in an area already blighted by needles, drugs and crime.
Keller, the City Council, county commissioners, state representatives, senators, federal representatives and our very own governor have all promised solutions and should be addressing these issue in a statewide plan, longterm and comprehensive, by holding meetings that could last many months, bringing all agencies and experts to the table. These meetings are an absolute necessity and are no longer an option for taxpayers in our state. Experts who have solved homelessness and drug issues through collaborative campuses like Haven for Hope could help.
We also need a thorough assessment of services to find the missing pieces and to stop existing nonprofits, Mortgage Finance Authority and city government from wasteful spending like giving the St. Martins/Hopeworks project $10 million to house 42 chronic homeless for life.
Feeding centers a few blocks apart, agencies passing out needles with no drug rehab or disposal, needles dropped in play yards, parks and alleys, and an ever-growing population of folks coming from other cities say something is terribly wrong with this picture.
Reject all the bonds tucked inside our billion-plus-dollar budget, especially the shelter. Ask the mayor to stop wasting tax dollars on slides and logos, and remember the ART is still a glaring misuse of funds, lack of planning and hardship to many small businesses to this day. Let’s not let that happen again.
In the meantime, Bernalillo County’s Behavioral Health Department has some “splaining” to do with the tax money it has collected over many years to address chronic homelessness. Let’s also make it accountable before the mayor steps in to save the day.