City Staff "Talking Heads" Produce Another Scripted Summit

Before you watch this so-called "Summit", let's sum up some data in an infographic from January 2020 Point-In-Time Homeless Count that shows the scattered location distribution and concentration clusters in Maricopa County from the one-day results of counting both the sheltered and un-sheltered homeless: The map is for UNSHELTERED HOMELESS

Source: https://www.azmag.gov/Programs/Homelessness/Point-In-Time-Homeless-Count 

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Point-in-Time Count

The Point-in-Time (PIT) Homeless Count is an annual street and shelter count to determine the number of people experiencing homelessness in Maricopa County during a given point in time. This count is part of a national effort to identify the extent of homelessness throughout the country. The count includes a brief survey to identify the needs of those experiencing homelessness in the community. MAG coordinates the PIT Count each year for the Maricopa Regional Continuum of Care. MAG serves as the hub of collaboration between the Continuum of Care and local communities. The 2020 PIT Count was conducted on January 28, 2020.

Please Note: There are a number posts on this blog for related content from prior years that will help readers assess if the city government - and its administrators - have produced positive outcomes or if the issues and numbers of the homeless population have increased over time. It's a reality-check no matter what they say all the time year-after-year. Obviously they are trying once again to manipulate the news - as you can see right from the start when District 4 City Council member Jennifer Duff has to correct the mayor directly that the homeless are not just visible downtown.

BLOGGER NOTES ON RELATED RESEARCH

Published 12.05.16

1. Homeless Increases Skew toward the West Coast/Pacific

A new NHIP Report using recently released HUD data on 2016 Point-in-Time sheltered and unsheltered homeless estimate show that 13 of the 15 Continuums with the largest increases in unsheltered homeless are all from West Coast/Hawaii states or those neighboring (Idaho or Arizona). The 15 areas include:

 

Source: http://www.nhipdata.org/

 

Published 12.20.16

Homelessness among Adults with Serious Mental Illness rises

In the latest 2016  estimates for one-day homelessness collected in January 2016, data show a rise of 3.6 percent in the estimated prevalence of homelessness among adults with serious mental illness (SMI).  The 2016 estimates from 402 Continuums across the country totaled 107,801 compared to 104,083 in 2015. Increases in sheltered and unsheltered homelessness among SMI persons were reported with a total of 61,846 in emergency or transitional shelters and 45,955 living in the streets, parks and other places not fit for human habitation.

The NHIP has compiled a state-by-state prevalence report from the individual subpopulation reports.

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From December 2018

Homelessness: Just 'A Point In Time' or Lasting Solutions?

Now really, dear readers, how bogus can a count of The Homeless get when it's done once a year (at night)* by a group of volunteers and - at least here in Mesa putting the Police Department to tackle the problem smacks of Criminalizing the Homelessness.
At one point-in-time in a public meeting, District 1 Mesa City Councilmember Mark Freeman, ensconced comfortably in his own family compound-enclave, reacted to seeing the homeless on public transit as 'the awfulness'.
In one of the first reactions to the extension of lightrail service into downtown Mesa, city officials wanted a police bike patrol first of all.

Just recently your MesaZona blogger was told by one person attending a meeting of the Downtown Merchants Association about this year's Merry Main Street festivities that they wanted a bench removed from where the homeless were highly visible right directly across the street from The Mesa Christmas Market Place. Sure enough it was gone the next day! 
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Mesa mayor tells conference there are no homeless in city 

Source: https://www.josephvguzman.com/articles-page/

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17 September 2018

On The Agenda: Today's Mesa City Council Session

Map to the right are locations for unsheltered homeless:

Let's start off with saying that
ENGAGED RESIDENTS MAKE MORE EFFECTIVE GOVERNMENT
Mesa Has A Problem

Many people here in Mesa might consider the homeless a nuisance. That issue was addressed here in a report from Arizona Attorney Digital Mag
One of the major findings > Working to develop more permanent supportive housing is the true answer.*
Nuisance and Vagrancy Laws: The New Exclusionary Zoning    

BY MELISSA KOVACS & JOANNA LUCIO

This article describes the state of nuisance laws among Arizona municipalities and offers examples of California lawsuits as cautionary tales.
< What’s Going on in Arizona?

As shown in the table at left, out of six examined Arizona municipalities, all of them ban sleeping in public, and most of them ban begging in particular public places.

Often, economics and public safety are the justifications for passing such ordinances.

> Municipalities implement nuisance and vagrancy laws to address the public safety, economic development, and aesthetics of communities for business owners and residents. Such laws are seen as solutions to problems. But they don’t advance the goal of reducing homelessness, and they often result simply in the displacement of individuals experiencing homelessness to other parts of the city or neighboring cities—which may have harmful effects on their well-being. Moreover, ordinances directed at the homeless can result in local governments spending resources on legal defense of such legislation as well as consequences for businesses.

See this >

 

 

 

 

 

 

COMING HOME Homeless Summit #2 3 days ago 22 Views Running Time 33:20

https://youtu.be/VcgkKkuT1Y0