GOP officials are mum on Arpaio ruling
Afederal judge’s ruling that the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office systematically violated the constitutional rights of Latinos was met with cheers from both the right and the left this week.
From Latino activists, who are urging the six-term sheriff to resign, and from Joe Arpaio’s supporters, who are urging him to carry on.
But officials in the Republican Party, the one that talks about reaching out to Latinos? Cue the crickets. Last week’s ruling by U.S. District Judge Murray Snow has had an immediate effect, with Arpaio calling a halt to his immigration patrols even as he vowed to appeal.
Sadly, though, it doesn’t appear to have changed many minds about what’s been going on in the county.
“It seems the so-called conservative label the judge espoused under Bush was just a ‘Snow job’ as he seeks to appease those who can protect and feather his nest in the Obama administration,” wrote Gary, one of many Arpaio supporters who contacted me after my Wednesday column on
even though the YMCA’s plan would include some affordable housing, shuttering the facility’s hotel would contribute to a shortage of low-income options.
Brad Bridwell, developer of Victory Place, a Phoenix housing community for recently homeless veterans, said the change would mean “a huge loss to low-income individuals.”
“Without a doubt, it’s one of the best locations, specifically being along light rail,” he said.
Jay Cory, president and CEO of Phoenix Rescue Mission, a nonprofit serving the homeless, said community organizations should expand housing and other services for challenged populations.
“There is certainly a need for housing for those that are homeless or facing homelessness due to the inability to maintain independent housing, so to reduce the inventory is something that will concern me in general,” he said.
About 135 people are renting 99square-foot, single-occupancy rooms from the downtown Y, said Jordan Rose, a YMCA board member.
At $35 a night or $600 a month, rooms at the downtown Y hotel are among downtown Phoenix’s biggest housing bargains. The facility has an 80 to 92 percent occupancy rate, Rose said.
Patrick Bradley, 71, has lived at the Y for six years. The former owner of a used-book store now lives on about $700 a month in Social Security benefits. There are few places downtown with cable television and maid service for a man at his income level, he said.
“I can go anywhere I want by walking or with my monthly bus pass,” he said.
If the Y stops providing affordable hotel rooms, Bradley hopes to find comparable housing in central Phoenix. But Bradley doesn’t want to leave the downtown Y.
“I hope to stay here until I die,” he said.
The national YMCA began providing transitional housing in 1867 for young men moving to the city for work from less urban places who could not afford nicer accommodations. By the 1940s, with about 100,000 hotel rooms, the non-profit was the country’s largest hotel chain, Rose said.
Now, there are fewer than 1,000 Y hotel rooms nationwide, she said. The Phoenix campus is the last Y renting rooms to both men and women in the western U.S.
But the YMCA “has changed with the times, and with the advent of so many short-term housing options, the community need just does not exist in most markets for the Y as a transitional hotel,” Rose said.
The Y’s renters are diverse, Rose said — some in college, some recently released from jail. But the arrangement has presented significant challenges for the Y, she said.
“We’re not quite equipped to deal with some of the folks that come in looking for a room,” Rose said. “We have to be very careful. We have to do background checks. We do have children in our facilities.”
The YMCA is open to development ideas for the site but hopes a builder can incorporate the existing 58-year-old building into a new project. The non-profit’s leaders seek a partnership because “they’re not developers,” Rose said. “They are health- and wellness-service providers.”
The Y could expand its relationship with Arizona State University by providing more student housing, Rose said. Students already have access to the Y’s fitness center, and the university is building a $25 million, five-story addition to the recreation center.
Rose said the Y is open to market-rate apartments for professionals and families or a mixed-income project.
Councilman Tom Simplot, a vocal advocate for more market-rate housing in Central Phoenix, is “hugely supportive” of the Y’s plans and said the non-profit’s proximity to ASU Downtown makes it an ideal property for student housing. Recently Simplot proposed making Phoenix’s city-owned lots available for private development projects.
Current YMCAoccupants would not be forgotten, because federal law requires the organization to find housing for its current residents, said Simplot, who is also president of the Arizona Multihousing Association.
“There are options out there, and I’m sure there’s an awesome organization where they can find new housing for those that have been impacted,” he said. “A healthy community includes a wide array of housing options and income levels, and that is what we should strive for.”
Rich Stanley, ASU senior vice president and university planner, recently reported on ASU Downtown Phoenix’s growth at a Phoenix Downtown subcommittee meeting. The campus will eventually need more housing, he said.
“Right now, we’re not in the market for student housing. We’re getting very close to full with the existing resident hall at Taylor Place,” he said. “On the other hand, the private sector has definitely been showing signs of coming in and seeking to meet any demand for upperclassmen students. We certainly welcome that kind of economic activity in downtown Phoenix.”