HomeMy WebLinkAbout11-05-19 Public Comment - G. Owens - HRDC Warming Center SiteFrom:G Owens
To:Sarah Rosenberg; Agenda
Subject:Public comment on proposed Westridge shelter
Date:Tuesday, November 05, 2019 5:17:53 AM
For three years I did contract work for a non-profit where I played a tiny part in helping to bring millions of federal dollars
into Montana to support homeless service providers. I never did anything like the difficult work people do in the shelters and
running the organizations that struggle to meet the most critical human needs in our community. But I know the data and I
believe that HRDC is failing in one of the primary areas for which it should be held accountable: demonstrating awareness of
the potential dangers of the project, and assuring neighbors that this awareness is backed up with planning and preparedness.
HRDC did everything required for notification and a little more. They did nothing wrong, except to make a monumental error
by sending their representative to that barely transparent, non-inclusive first meeting so unprepared to address absolutely
predictable concerns and questions. (“We don’t see a lot of those worst-case scenarios that were brought up, but it’s a good
exercise to talk about them,” quoted in Bozeman Chronicle, 10-17-19.)
Please allow me to tell you about the “just one time” I saw one of those worst-case scenarios up close: As part of my job was
to input data from Montana’s homeless survey into HUD databases, I felt I should go to the Warming Center when the survey
was being administered so I could better understand the people I was trying to help as well as to observe the environment in
which they were surveyed.
One of the first things I had the opportunity to observe was a violent physical altercation involving a person who hadn’t been
checked into the facility yet. There happened to be a volunteer with a military background who restrained this person until the
police arrived. I’m a big guy and I grew up in a place where you had to know how to fight. I was scared. I’m ashamed to say
it, but I haven’t been back. If that volunteer hadn’t been there, and if this person had had a weapon, it could have been far
worse. I didn’t feel safe.
I’m not saying this will happen every night on Westridge. I’m not saying it will ever happen. But I’ve spent hundreds of
hours looking at HUD data and I know that a lot of people do not just experience homelessness. Trauma, mental illness,
domestic violence, substance abuse and other challenges often co-occur. If you Google any of those words and exclude
homelessness, you will see that anyone who suffers from one or more of these conditions is highly vulnerable and potentially
volatile - even those who do not carry the additional, unimaginable burden of being homeless.
Basic intellectual honesty requires acknowledgment that things like this happen sometimes and that, given the experiences
and challenges of the three dozen souls under that roof any given night, even when it doesn’t happen, it’s a constant
possibility, as is the appearance at the facility of an abusing spouse looking for someone staying there, people leaving the
shelter, etc. I would, therefore, like to hear what the plans are for preventing these things. I’d like to hear someone address
whether they think a location this far from police, etc. presents liabilities in the event of an unlikely - but possible -
emergency.
I’d frankly like to hear anything even slightly more thought-out than being told these concerns are “legitimate but unlikely.”
The primary responsibility of HRDC in this matter should’ve been to demonstrate that they’re prepared to deal with the
unlikely. Instead, we’ve seen inexcusable deflection on that crucial point and HRDC staff minimizing the concerns of
neighbors with airy dismissals not even well-formulated enough to qualify as platitudes.
I believe there’s an alternate reality where I could’ve supported something like this idea, but I can’t support anything that
shows this much disregard for communicating in good faith about basic, legitimate security concerns.
It’s not enough to reject the proposal. I humbly suggest the city look at amending the special use permit process to see if
projects of a certain magnitude and impact shouldn’t have a different, more strenuous, path to approval. I’d also like to see
the city make it part of this process to help nonprofits and other community groups with some Communication Strategy 101
assistance. Damage has been done to the reputations of the city and HRDC as a result of this process that was completely
preventable.
I volunteer to help with everything I complain about, and encourage others to do the same.
Greg Owens
63 Hitching Post Road
Bozeman, MT 59715