City Hall has been busy since word began to leak that the City of Santa Fe was moving towards a divorce with the Interfaith Community Shelter (ICS) a couple of weeks ago. Protesters marched outside City Hall last Monday preceding a special meeting on Tuesday at which the Governing Body terminated a lease that allowed ICS to operate the shelter known as Pete's Place, 2801 Cerrillos, for the past 15 years.
After agreeing to partner with a new nonprofit in the campaign to find better solutions for folks living without shelter in Santa Fe last week, this week the Governing Body will vote on whether or not to turn a vacant property next to Fire House No. 7 on Richards Avenue into a micro community.
Santa Fe City Councilors could be in for another long night come Wednesday. A spirited throng of residents packed city hall last Tuesday to offer full-throated support for ICS and disdain for the lack of transparency about the action. The oft-contentious meeting last Tuesday carried on more than eight hours and required a 10-minute cool-down period despite the fact that no one disagreed on the principle idea that Santa Fe’s homeless community needed improved support. The public on hand was simply against the city's methods, and there could be more of the same this Wednesday.
After the final vote was taken in the wee hours of Wednesday morning, Mayor Alan Webber and several Governing Body members addressed residents about their vote, foreshadowing the need for this Wednesday's.
District 4 councilor Amanda Chavez said her "yes" vote was a vote aimed at moving forward and adding resources not only for unsheltered residents but also the city workers who support them. Fellow District 4 councilor Jamie Cassutt called the vote "quite the hard decision," saying she'd heard from "a large number of individuals in the community that I know either personally, professionally or both." Cassutt called the Cerrillos corridor where Pete's Place stands untenable. Cassutt said if the Urban Alchemy is able to deliver on its promises, "It will be money well-spent."
Mayor Alan Webber, who directed traffic with his gavel all night, summed up his vote last.
"The only way we're gonna make life better for our homeless residents and for the neighbors and the businesses affected by homelessness, is by adding more resources, more possible solutions, more options, and more models."
Webber said it was important to continue working with everyone who wants to partner on solving Santa Fe's housing and homelessness crises.
"I'm reminded that President Obama used to have a sign on his desk that said, 'Hard things are hard' and this is a hard thing," Webber said. "The decisions are hard and the work is hard, and we are going to keep at it. We're going to keep working to make it better for everybody, whether you're suffering from being unsheltered, or you're feeling the impact of the unsheltered. We want to solve both of those problems simultaneously, and we want to maintain a consistent and bold effort and a compassionate effort every step of the way."
As the dust continues to settle from the changes coming to Pete’s Place, the city will next raise the curtain on its plans for micro communities. In SFR’s current issue, Mo Charnot wrote at length about the city’s plans for micro communities and offered a look inside the yearlong pilot program at Christ Lutheran Church run by The Life Link. Mo’s profile describes how the community operates, the vetting process and an overview of its first year supporting residents.
When the Governing Body gathers this Wednesday at 5 pm, Henry Hammond-Paul will have details and data to share with the public before councilors vote on the resolution to OK the property at 2395 Richards Avenue for development.
Hammond-Paul answered some preliminary questions last week for the city’s Quality of Life committee.
Perhaps the most eye-opening bit of information shared on Wednesday was that the initial micro community proposed will be for specific residents.
"This site is intended to be for families with children," Hammond-Paul told the Quality of Life Committee last Tuesday. "Having it next to city resources is crucial as is proximity to programs at other city resources. The city needs to be held accountable for this type of work, so having it next to the fire station where we have public safety functions as well as critical public health functions operating out of there is great. The site as Christ Lutheran is next to a fire station, and I believe that these site do very well when they're next to city services."
Hammond-Paul said because the city will be serving families with children, it was important for it to be a low-barrier site.
"There is a complicated piece here, too, which is proximity to neighborhoods. I think we're trying to walk a line understanding the concerns that communities and neighborhoods having these types of services near them. At the same time, these are families and children who are members of our community."
He went on to explain that community engagement with nearby residents was a precondition for any of the next steps toward establishing this micro community and any others the city develops.
The big picture plan Hammond-Paul and his staff stand ready to put into action would help avoid the kind of crowd concentration that’s plagued Pete’s Place for years now and help identify unhoused people looking for permanent shelter.
Councilors intended to discuss the micro community site at last Tuesday's special meeting, but Tuesday moved into Wednesday, members agreed to table the discussion. No decision has yet been made about further micro community locations, but anyone with questions about them not answered here should attend Wednesday’s Governing Body meeting, which starts at 5 pm at City Hall. You can also tune in for live coverage on the Government Channel (Comcast Channel 28 and Comcast HD928) or the city's YouTube Channel. Folks can also tune in to KSFR 101.1 for audio.
