Sedona, AZ — Maybe I should write something about the airport and the city, or simply let sleeping dogs lie, which is what I think I should do.
However, the issue that needs to be discussed is Cultural Park.
It’s hard; it’s going to be a major decision. I think the soul of Sedona will be revealed by which way the proposition goes. Is it about compassion and keeping the employees nearby, or is it an affront to the community?
Having a place where the homeless can safely rest, could be a good idea. It would also be nice to revitalize the park, maybe build a new amphitheater, which would increase traffic in Sedona and be good for businesses. The infrastructure should be able to handle it — I think.
There are two camps: one believes it’s about doing good for their fellow man, and the other sees it as a threat to their lifestyle and the safety of their communities. Some think it’s not the most effective use of the property compared to having a stadium there. Others see the opposite.
So, what is this going to reveal about Sedona? Are we a city of compassion and nurturing light, or a citadel for the elite? One must put themselves in the shoes of the homeless — or, in this case, workers who sleep in their cars. That’s a better way of saying it.
Putting myself in their shoes, I don’t think, if I was in that predicament, I would accept the invitation. Sure, I’d like to park and take a shower, but being stuck there wouldn’t work for me. I couldn’t heat my car on cool evenings or cool it on hot days, nor could I socialize with my neighbors. It just wouldn’t work for me.
Everyone in the un-housed-that-sleep-in-their-vehicles community, know where they can sleep and how to stay out of trouble. They are good at making themselves, invisible.
They’re not a burden to the community because they’re out of sight. So, why would the city want to create a homeless encampment for people who probably won’t use?
Many of those against the parking proposal fear what those using the facility would blemish, the community.
Then there are those who think that reopening the Cultural Park or rebuilding it might be great for concerts and community enjoyment.
The city government came up with an idea they believed would help the homeless workers as well as the businesses they work for.
But the PEOPLE decided to test the government’s ability by putting the parking issue to a referendum.
It will be interesting when the election is over to see who wins.
One could say that through their elected representatives, Sedona citizens wanted the safe parking and eventually housing
Others might say the bottom line is that the will of the people, must prevail.
For Sedonans, this is one of the most important issues the town has ever.
Will compassion for others win?
Or will the anti-safe parking people win?
My bet? The antis will, by a long shot.
By Tommy Acosta
Publisher, Sedona.biz,
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14 Comments
Tommy, the premise is wrong. It isn’t about workers. That is a strawman argument. It’s open to all homeless people with a car. If it were about workers only, the handful of employers could easily address it on their own, as it would be their responsibility. The residents are not responsible for employee housing, the city is certainly not responsible for employee housing. But then we go a step further and fund a car parking lot at a cost of $1MM dollars and the game becomes clear: this is a laundering opportunity for the homeless industrial complex. That one million dollars doesn’t go to the homeless but to a gatekeeper. The more homeless who come, the larger the lot gets expanded, the longer the program gets extended, the more money gets laundered.
And when the Cultural Park as a whole eventually gets the 1200 units of affordable housing built on the Western Gateway to Sedona, the ridiculous Segner campaign of “Less Traffic” will be glossed over by the same people using that slogan today. And when the 2 yrs of the homeless car park is over, where will your compassion go? Will the homeless workers still need a parking lot or will that be finished as well?
Using the slogan that it is for workers is only the wedge phrase to lie to voters. You and the City know that it cannot be limited to workers under any circumstance. It would be refreshing to hear you all argue that ALL homeless deserve a million-dollar parking lot at taxpayer expense.
“homeless industrial complex“
Please provide a link for such nonsense!
And NO the park would not allow any and all homeless persons stay there! That’s complete bullshit! The City cannot discriminate against which EMPLOYED Homeless stay there based on race, religion, handicap etc. They CAN stipulate residents be employed and work x amount of hours per week to be eligible. They city can patrol it and enforce ALL existing laws in and around it!
The facility already exists and would only need minor modifications to make it safe and habitable. NOT the million plus USD you claim!
If you say you don’t want our homeless employees staying in their cars and tents as they already are but without the security of community, lighting and law enforcement then you definitely will vote against any and all brick n mortar options, so that excuse is also pure horse shit! Truth is you don’t want to see them nor hear of or from them but somehow want them to magically appear and provide services to you while you stuff your faces, play golf and look down your noses at them! Your fellow M’ericans!
If this is still a question for you in 2024, I suggest you do more research. And I’d encourage you to look at California specifically, where they spent (literally) billions of dollars over the past several years “fighting” homelessness only to have extremely poor results. SF alone spent over billion in just a few years with little to show. To pretend it isn’t a cottage industry is a lie or a celebration of total incompetence. I don’t recall the exact numbers, but they could have just given every homeless person something like $150k instead. If you have a subscription to NYT, you should check out this book review. (I’m not advocating the book per se.)
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/23/books/review/san-fransicko-michael-shellenberger.html
And if it weren’t so cruel, I’d find it funny that you think having workers sleep in cars is compassionate and nurturing. It’s not. But it is a sweet gift to runaway development that will only exacerbate the situation.
Furthermore, you’re missing the absolute disdain the council and staff showed to Sedona residents by rezoning and passing such a contentious project without FIRST doing a public referendum. I think it’s because they are getting a little too comfortable in their power. And I, for one, intend to check it with this vote.
Not about homelessness in general. So stop making that an excuse. It’s about doing right by OUR un housed EMPLOYEES not every homeless person walking the streets. And NO not just any homeless person would be permitted in the safe park. They ALL would have to meet a minimum number of weekly or monthly work hours here in Sedona to stay in the park. The city cannot discriminate against any person who meets the hourly employment requirement regardless of race, faith, age or disability. That’s what the laws stipulate for any place of public service.
So you’re equating Sedona’s un Housed EMPLOYEE issue with that of SF’s overall homeless problems, it’s apples and oranges!
BTW- 99% of what you saw on Faux Mews or whatever Russian Propaganda website you subscribe to when they showed you images of “alledged SF street crime” it was actually either images from overseas, images from other US cities or old file imagery. They’ve shown multi story buildings in SF with Terra Cotta roofs. The images were from Germany!
Yes the safe park is safer than living out in BFE, where you risk being run off by law enforcement every time you close your eyes to sleep or you risk theft, assault or worse living far outside the ear shot of others. The car park would have community, lighting, running water and security of Sedona PD and YCSO sheriff patrols.
I’d say that is far better and safer than living in the boonies which the city has advised against.
You want roofs over peoples heads? You have to start somewhere and that starting point is the safe park not a multi person multi family brick n mortar facility that may or may not work. The car park would be an excellent test case of what can work and what doesn’t.
Saying no to the park but offering no better immediate solutions is just a vote against any and all assistance to our vulnerable employees.
See ya at the ballot box flapjack!
OK, I will do your research for you since that is above your pay grade: Homeless Industrial Complex
“The alliance of special interests that constitutes what has now become the Homeless Industrial Complex are government bureaucracies, homeless advocacy groups operating through nonprofit entities, and large government contractors, especially construction companies and land development firms.”
Think HAG for the local example: Housing Advisory Group, which was the front group of special interests, conspiring with the City Council to ram this homeless car park down Sedona voter’s throats.
Here’s how the process works: Developers accept public money to build projects to house the homeless – either “bridge housing,” or “permanent supportive housing.” Cities and counties collect building fees and hire bureaucrats for oversight. The projects are then handed off to nonprofits with long term contracts to run them.
“This label has been around awhile, and has bipartisan origins. In 2012 a guest editorial appeared in the liberal Washington Post entitled “Dismantling the social services industrial complex.” In it, the author explains “an odd mirror image of this huge complex has emerged in the very ‘industry’ that seeks to feed, clothe and otherwise meet the needs of the poor and vulnerable in our society. It’s a social services-industrial complex, if you will, one that could prove even more difficult to subdue than its military counterpart.”
In 2013, writing for Poverty Insights, author John Roberts asked “Is There a Homeless Industrial Complex That Perpetuates Homelessness?” And in January 2017, a former homeless activist published in the ultra-liberal Huffington Post an article entitled “The Homeless Industrial Complex Problem.”” https://californiapolicycenter.org/americas-homeless-industrial-complex-causes-solutions/
Or here is a video titled Homeless Industrial Complex where you can see the absolute taxpayer giveaway: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNxQ8JWxWMA
Or here is the Austin, Tx Homeless Industrial Complex in case you are not able to grasp the nationwide sprawl of the Homeless Industrial Complex you seem never to have heard of: https://austin-network.com/austin/breaking-down-the-homeless-industrial-complex/
Here is the Denver Homeless Industrial Complex: https://denvergazette.com/news/health/denver-homeless/article_305fc9ef-5eec-5b66-97e6-104de53cebec.html
What we have here in Sedona is a handful of businesses that do not want to pay a wage that keeps their workers employed and housed, so they have fobbed it off onto the taxpayer to cover. City Council approves a million dollar boondoggle parking lot and claims it is for workers when the City Atty has clearly stated they cannot limit it to workers.
Your rant above is staggering, given the easily accessible data to the contrary.
Mary Anne
Your links are pure Propaganda! No such thing as the Homeless Industrial Complex except in wealthy jackasses minds (all day everyday) who won’t commit to aiding our most vulnerable employees and fellow citizens. There’s ZERO excuse for the US the so called wealthiest nation on earth to even have homeless people in the first place!
Everything you posted is anti homeless Propaganda! Nothing more Nothing less!
The City Attorney stated they cannot discriminate against un housed employees wishing to stay in the park who meet the set minimum employment standards to live there because of race, age or gender! They CAN stipulate general entry requirements such as a minimum of a 40 hour workweek whether achieved by working a single job or multiple jobs here in Sedona.
Yes they can make such stipulations for those who stay there. And every law that apply to anyone anywhere else here does, would and will apply to anyone staying in the park. If the City and County elect to make the park “off limits” to law enforcement then you might have a legitimate beef. But that isn’t the case so you have no legitimacy for your fear mongering nonsense.
They cannot violate American With Disabilities Act laws is what the city government has stated. They never said the park would be open to anyone and everyone. Not once! Not ever!
Everything you have stated is just an excuse to treat our un housed Employees like second class or lesser citizens and designed to have all un housed people Criminalized for being homeless. Many of your fellow MAGGOTS in NC, GA and FL have recently become unhoused just like the millions of M’erican’s in CA, OR and NM who lost their homes to back to back wildfires in recent years.
What’s your proposal on how to get these M’erican’s back on their feet and back into their homes? Or are they all supposed to just disappear for your bigoted pleasure?
“My bet? The antis will, by a long shot”
Sadly you are most likely correct here Tommy. Most if not all of the “anti’s” are MAGGOTS who believe everything Chicken Little Liar Dump tells them about the sky falling. Again it’s just Svengali bullshit to get his minions to watch his fear mongering right hand while his anti Democracy left hand plots and plans to destroy our government. MAGAS want to bury their heads in the sand and isolate from reality while eating spoonfuls if not shovel fills of Rusher and Chyyyner propaganda about our own employed but homeless M’erican citizens.
JB is manufacturing fake news as he writes. The City Attorney, Kurt Christiansen, at the Feb 6, 2024 planning and zoning meeting, directly answers the question if mentally ill people who are not employed anywhere at all can still park in the Homeless Car Park. At the 2:28 min mark, Kurt answers the question: “Mental Health, does it qualify as a disability, I will let the City Attorney reply. As far as our admission requirement that folks be local workers, do they have an exemption from that if they are disabled? Yes.”
https://sedonaaz.new.swagit.com/videos/296634
MVB is full of shit and reading into what was stated which is:
the City cannot violate ADA laws when considering residential requirements for our un housed EMPLOYEES to stay at the park.
That can, will, would and should have a minimum hourly employment rate in order to be permitted to stay in the park.
No fake news from me whatsoever but definitely is on your part!
The City also stated that it is unsafe for people to live in cars and tents in isolated areas around Sedona. Never once did they state that staying in a car or tent at the safe park would be unsafe because that is the whole purpose of the park in the first place! To get our homeless EMPLOYEES into a non isolated community based well lit and law enforcement patrolled facility. But you and other anti homeless morons have twisted that into meaning the safe park would be unsafe, which was not their message at all. Just FAKE News Alternative Horseshit on your part.
The Homeless car park is simply a bad idea that does nothing to solve the homeless problem. I will vote NO on this proposition but would be happy to support a meaningful program to aid and treat the root cause of homelessness. Spending close to a million dollars of tax payer money on this program is just plain wasteful. Sedona can come up with a better program we can all agree on and support.
Uh huh so what’s a good idea to help Sedona’s homeless EMPLOYEES? The park is a temporary fix to Sedona’s employed homeless people living scattered all over in and around town in unsafe area and gives them a temporary place to have some security and running water.
So don’t use the excuse that the park is a bad idea because brick n mortar is better. The park is far better than what they have now. Not perfect but better. And Sedona can and should afford it if they want employees.
You actually think the people who staunchly oppose helping our homeless employees by providing them the minimalist humanity the safe park would provide them are going to vote yes on anything bigger, better or permanent? I seriously seriously doubt your logic and think it is just a sad excuse to be a dick to our homeless employees and the homeless in general.
At an evacuation choke point, the City decided to build a ~$30,000,000 (and counting) parking garage for businesses. And now the City is supposed to build another parking facility so that their workers can sleep in cars too? Is this a joke? You really think it’s caring and nurturing? And you think it’s okay that City Council and Staff planned these things without genuine resident engagement? I question the wisdom, ethics, and ideas about democratic norms in all of it.
“You really think it’s caring and nurturing?”
Who said anything was nurturing?
Where do you get your info that the city plans to just build a parking structure for its un housed EMPLOYEES? Provide a link.
Why are you set on casting our un houses employees to the four winds rather than attempting to help them? Don’t you want Sedona’s restaurants, shops and stores to remain open to serve YOUR needs? If so why don’t you have any empathy for those who serve you at them? Who do you imagine is going to replace them? Where will they come from and where on earth will they live if NO facility whatsoever is provided.
I know many Sedonite’s have homes in other states and countries but for those who don’t and can barely afford the homes they have where will they go should Sedona get burned to the ground like Paradise CA or flooded? Where will these un houses Sedonan’s go? You don’t care do you because you don’t want the un housed anywhere you can see or hear them other than standing on the other side of a service counter serving you! Correct? I think so!