By J. Graber | Scottsdale Independent
The controversial plan to use 10 rooms at a local hotel as transitional housing for the homeless will move forward this year.
The Scottsdale city council voted 6-1 during its Sept. 19 meeting to pay the Independence 47 Hotel $500,000 in state grant money to rent the rooms for the coming year.
The rest of the $940,000 grant will be used to pay for wraparound service like food assistance and case management.
Opposition to the program came to a head when state Rep. Matt Gress, R- Dist. 4, held a public meeting Sept. 13 attacking it.
Mayor David Ortega noted he invited Gress to come to Scottsdale to learn about the program, including visiting the hotel, five times but Gress refused each time.
“Unfortunately the reach that he took in bringing people in from 800 miles away, from San Francisco, is mischaracterizing the participants, including 52 children who are finding a place safe until they can be finding their way to a better situation,” Ortega said.
City Councilmember Tom Durham addressed many of the concerns expressed during the Sept. 13 meeting.
“Has anyone from the zone been allowed in this program?” Durham asked Scottsdale Human Services Director Greg Bestgen.
“No, they have not,” Bestgen said.
“Any foreign nationals been allowed in the program?” Durham asked.
“No, they have not been,” Bestgen said.
Bestgen went on to state that the only criminal incident created by program clients involved someone who did not return a rental car. “It didn’t involve the use of illicit drugs or anything in the program,” Bestgen said.
He also confirmed by police that a man who recently led police on a chase and pulled into the Independence 47 had no affiliation to the program, Bestgen said.
All but two of the public speakers at the council’s Sept. 19 meeting urged support for the program.
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