Sunday, Nov. 09, 2008

City’s bumbling antics on homeless issue stunning

SOME ON COLUMBIA City Council are completely tone-deaf and out of step on the homeless issue.

The Midlands Housing Alliance has placed a viable solution to the sizable homeless problem downtown on the table, but the council refuses to embrace it. Instead, members are pitting the project, which would not only help homeless men and women but the entire community, against another aspect of homelessness — that faced by families.

While the council refuses to support the Housing Alliance’s idea to build a transition center on Main Street, some council members now want to support programs for homeless families. There is a definite and growing need to help homeless families, but it’s hard to see this as anything but a shameful attempt to distract attention and support from the transition center.

Even providers who serve families question the sincerity of this less-than-fully-formed proposal. Why now? They know the city’s track record on homelessness.

It’s ridiculous that the council would pursue this new course of action before addressing the pervasive problem downtown. There’s no questioning the need to help families, but it shouldn’t be at the expense of the Housing Alliance’s Main Street project that would help homeless men and women reclaim their lives.

Perhaps there are some on the council who believe that if they combine support for homeless families with the city’s efforts involving a winter emergency shelter and the limited Housing First program that puts homeless people into apartments, the city’s work with homelessness will be done. That’s far from true. The homeless problem downtown will still be there.

City Council has squandered opportunities to establish a comprehensive center over the years, and seems determined to do so again. The Housing Alliance has devised a promising plan that enjoys city support.

Instead of joining the effort and providing financial help requested by the alliance, the city presented a counterproposal. City officials offered $500,000 to help build the center plus $500,000 annually to run it. But there was a catch: The alliance would have to move the plan to a city-owned site along the river. The alliance rejected that offer because if it moves, it could lose — or at least have to reapply for — $10 million in grants. In addition, a developer has threatened to sue if an attempt is made to open a center on the city-owned site.

Councilman Kirkman Finlay said under the newest proposal, the $500,000 once offered to the alliance would be used to help support homeless families.

Frankly, it’s hard to determine where City Council, which broke from a communitywide effort to address homelessness two years ago, is headed on this matter. While some members of the council — Mr. Finlay and Tameika Isaac Devine among them — expressed some level of support for this latest idea, others — such as Mayor Bob Coble and Councilwoman Belinda Gergel — said they knew little or nothing about it.

At some point, someone on City Council must say enough is enough. Columbia can’t continue to walk so obviously out of step on this issue. The council would be crazy to cast aside the alliance’s promising project.

The voices of reason on the council — we pray at least one remains — have got to speak up and demand that Columbia support this sincere effort to turn the fortunes of some of the city’s most needy people around.

Get The State newspaper delivered to your home. Click here to subscribe.