Local opinion: Common sense, homelessness and housing

Common sense. Even in complicated areas, it often lights the way. Our community has been struggling for many years to deal with the ravages of homelessness. Although we face many challenges in lifting people out of homelessness and ensuring public health and safety, embracing measures shaped by common sense will help us to find the path forward.

When the Board of Supervisors meets on March 4, county staff will report on two requests for information I made earlier this month. First, we will hear about interventions and services that have had positive effects in assisting our neighbors in the unhoused community. This will include how we have addressed situations where people refuse shelter or services when they are initially offered to them.

Common sense tells us that we should make use of the interventions and services that have proven to be successful, while revising the approaches that have been less effective. It is also vital to be ever mindful of the fact that what works with one person or family might not work with others. Our community deserves to know that we will individualize our approaches to meet the unique needs of each situation.

The second request is a detailed report from the private security firm the county has hired to conduct patrols on the Chuck Huckelberry Loop. We instituted these patrols in response to reports of dangerous and potentially unlawful behavior on or adjacent to several areas on this multi-use facility. There can be no acceptance or tolerance for any action that threatens public health and safety. Moreover, common sense tells us that the report we will get on activities on or near The Loop will be reflective of similar behavior throughout our community.

It is my intent to use this report to follow up with our partners in law enforcement and public prosecution to ensure that we are taking vigorous and unified approaches to confronting activities that are both dangerous and illegal. Homelessness is not a crime and it is folly to believe or assert that we can arrest our way out of this crisis. Having said that, no one has the right to engage in behavior that violates the law, or causes risk to others. If we are not acting as one to address actions we know to be wrong and unlawful, they will persist and grow.

Consistent with our common sense understanding that people dealing with addiction need time and meaningful interventions, the Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to direct our lobbyist to pursue legislation at the state level to give counties the option to make use of “court-ordered stabilization” for those dealing with substance abuse, or withdrawal. The bill we support (SB1257) would apply to people already detained at crisis or prescreening facilities, but would give the professionals in those places more time to offer necessary assistance.

The Board of Supervisors has already heard from our staff that Pima County needs approximately 1,200 more shelter beds. Common sense tells us that the needs of the diverse unhoused community make it important to offer a wide assortment of shelter options. We will continue to work with the cities, towns and our partners in the nonprofit sector to ensure this is the case.

The rapidly increasing cost of rent is tied to the fact that we need more housing in the affordable, workforce and market-rate segments of the market. The Board of Supervisors created the Regional Affordable Housing Commission several years ago and it is working on a long-term strategy for increasing housing stock, recognizing the distinct roles the private and public sectors play in that endeavor. We also devoted $15 million over the last three years to “gap financing” for affordable housing that has resulted in the creation of over 1,300 additional units.

Common sense is not rare. If it were, it would not have that name. Even in complex areas of policy, the initiatives and reforms that make the most sense are often the ones that will help the most people. We owe it to the people we serve to use our common sense to lift people out of homelessness and ensure health and safety for all of us.