By Tommy Acosta
Sedona, Az — Yet, another attack on the integrity of Sedona was launched in a November 15 Arizona Republic opinion by EJ Montini, titled While Sedona tourists stay in luxury, the help sleeps in cars.
In the article, Montini denigrates our town, claiming that Sedona, rather than it being a spiritual Mecca, is more of an “aristocratic principality without affordable housing.”
He writes that while well-heeled visitors dine in the most expensive restaurants, embark on spiritual adventures, enjoy the benefits of world class spas and retreats, the workers that serve them, the cooks, servers, hotel employees, tour guides, etc., that keep the town going, sleep in cars because rents are so expensive and there is no workforce housing.
He writes that the financially comfortable patrons of Sedona’s bounties and beauty are ignorant that those who serve them, are basically half-homeless.
He expounds “These people probably don’t notice something about the place [Sedona]that is not enriching and even a little ungodly.
Ungodly? Is that a not-too-veiled besmirching of Sedona’s reputation as a world renown spiritual destination?
It’s obvious that Montini tries to paint a Tale of Two Cities picture about Sedona, penning bristling sarcastic remarks, insinuating that Sedona’s hypocrisy is unveiled by its failure to create workforce housing, instead offering the barely homeless a sugar coated pill by allowing them to park and live in a park, in this case The Sedona Cultural Park.
Sedona is not alone suffering a labor shortage and for those brave employees who endure the challenge of having to sleep in their cars because they can’t afford to rent here, we should take off our hats.
They can’t be classified as homeless, because their home is their car.
And for the compassionate city leaders who would wish to provide a safe haven where employees can park their vehicles safely, have access to water, faculties and even showers, I say “Bravo.”
The city has been trying for years to create affordable housing for workers. For those living in their cars and working, you can bet they can’t afford to live in neighboring Cottonwood either.
For sure the number of “employed” Sedonans living in their cars is not huge. But until someone can figure out how to create affordable housing profitably, at least the city can provide some semblance of community for them. At least we can provide for them a safe place to reside until the city digs deep into its coffers and builds workforce housing
We should be grateful they are here to serve us and our visitors, and not wandering the streets or begging like the Sedona, un-employed homeless do.
Montini ends his diatribe by stating that he is not convinced if the word “sacred” is a word a janitor living in their car would use to describe Sedona.
He says rather than call our town “sacred” the term “Holy Hell” would better describe it for those with no real homes.
Maybe for you Montini living in a car while working would be a Holy hell, especially if you are living in Arizona’s low country.
Living in their cars in Sedona may not be heaven, but at least they have a little piece of it.
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23 Comments
The writer of this opinion piece, Tommy Acosta, believes that people who are living in their car are not actually homeless. I suspect that Tommy also feels the same about people living in a tent. Affluent people living in Sedona should be focused on helping those who work in their community but are not able to afford a place to live other than a car. Helping them get affordable housing. Hypocrisy is not spiritual.
Affluent people tend to be extreme Hippocrates who claim to be religious while breaking every rule in their story books.
Jesus’s whole thing from what I’ve read was to condemn the wealthy squanderers and help support his fellow man when they had nothing, were handicapped and or diseased. But those principles have been lost over time and now we have mega church blight in every community were people go to compete in their sins of gluttony, lust, jealousy and greed rather than repent them.
I’m pretty certain from what I know and have read of the man that he would look down upon many of those who claim to be of his faith today with utter horror, shame and disgust of them.
But hey it’s just a story in a story book written by the people who for some reason never quite got the message of their own writings? Sure makes for convenient excuses to start wars, genocide, human and animal suffering though.
Come on, people! When are private citizens responsible for affordable housing? I live in a 3 bedroom, 2 bath trailer for $3000/month….I git lambasted for charging $850 for a room! That’s just economics!
Just a few short years ago $850 would cover rent for a 2 bedroom unfinished apartment and that was difficult to cover living on minimum wage especially with family to support. Now we have people charging $850 a month for a single room/closet with zero amenities including.
It’s not a civilian responsibility it’s a civic one!
Our taxes pay for far far more stupidity like armored US military vehicles that consume 3.5 gals of fuel per mile and Stealth Fighters that are anything but Stealthy-just ask the Serbian Army.
Moamar Qhadaffi sick bastard that he was at least created housing for every one of Libya’s citizens. Germany does the same and also includes, social medicine and paid vaccinations annually for all citizens.
When un housed working Americans ask for a living wage, ability to afford a roof over their heads, sense of physical security and food in their stomachs they are considered a burden, blight, unsightly, unhuman and get run out of town.
How American, how Christian a nation we claim to but fail miserably at being!
Who said you were? So get all worked up but not see the big problem? Are you real or just loving a Corporate takeover of Sedona? I find it strange all the ones speaking up and making excuses for the big players in town!
I find it different that handful who speak up, dosent add up…If you were around long enough you could see the traffic, and know the people its hit!
@JB Leave Heidi ALONE. It is not a civic responsibility. The sheer number of people who flock to Sedona any given month without housing or a job in place is not sustainable.
Taking our “hats off” to Sedona’s homeless employees is the equivalent of “thoughts and prayers” for the dead and their families following our out of control problem that isn’t going away-mass shootings! Both sound nice but are in effect hollow gestures, day late and a dollar way too short!
Pretty certain they’d appreciate being treated humanely and given the same opportunities that anyone else who works is attempting to garner and nothing more. Not everyone was old enough or financially able to secure housing before the market went insane and stayed there.
Also pretty certain they’d really appreciate respectful conversation and a in person thank you when merited.
Well lets face it, we never had any of this till the Air B&Bs and corporate money rolled in the town! I sure hope that article pointed out where and why the problem exist?
Yep Republican Governor Ducey sure made a mess of things by authorizing and welcoming an out of control and highly un regulated industry into every town AZ!
Thank you Tommy for having the guts to defend Sedona against writers like this Montini bully from the AZ Republic. Notice the mayor has said nothing. The Red Rock News has said nothing. The city is just cowering and appears to be afraid to fight back. Glad that you are not.
The City has and is responding. Hence the Cultural Park debate.
Or do you expect them to get into a childish PR war with people based upon opinions?
When did the city of Sedona hired the Sedona Red Rock News to be its public relations firm? A newspaper has no obligation to defend city council and city staff from legitimate criticism from 30 years of bad decisions screwing over Sedona’s working class. Several council members are multi-millionaires with homes worth millions and millions of dollars and many city staffers make more than $100,000/year, double the average income of $57,000/year. Some, including the editorialist of Sedona.biz — live in gated communities so they won’t be touched by the poor, dirty workers living paycheck to paycheck and aren’t dealing from the scourge of Air-B-N-Bs as landlords evict them to make a quick buck turning longterm rentals in to STRs. With millionaires running Sedona and workers getting pushed out to live in their cars, council deserves all the shame every other newspaper and tv station and radio station in Arizona can muster. Shame is all that motivates our leaders to act. It’s no surprise major newspapers attack our city leaders and the legislature and forest service ignores our demands for special treatment. We’ve lived here 40+ years and yup, we deserve every ounce of criticism normal folks throw at us because the new residents (I’ve been here 4 years! I’ve been here 6 months!) are spoiled, rich brats who demand special treatment because their address reads “Sedona”.
Mary Ann, The City is the one who put this out there. It is part of their PR plan.
“While Sedona tourists stay in luxury, the help sleeps in cars.”
Instant solution, require Sedona employers to only hire employees with addresses. If they are running a luxury operation , the should pay a living wage. These so called luxury employers want to hire slaves living in their cars or company housing. Yes massa ! No Massa !
Pay a living wage !! The food and lodging prices have certainly gone up !!
I agree fully with that. But it will never happen and even if it did there simply isn’t enough housing to go around. And everything is way overpriced and cheaply made from the construction of our homes to the replacement parts and overly priced contractors to maintain them. It’s not like after WWII when homes were built en mass and on the cheap.
Perhaps a good start would be hotels to provide some of their rooms for workforce housing. As I recall that was a requirement for some new developments that was never enforced by the City of Sedona.
This discussion is bizarre, it’s like the coal mine asking the city to provide housing for their workers. “If you taxpayers are stupid enough to fall for it, I as the employer am brazen enough to ask you to pay for my workers.”
Wake up dummies. Rich people charging $500 a night for rooms are asking you to pay for their room cleaners and gardeners.
It’s not a discussion about housing per sei so much as it is providing portable showers, porta potty’s, trash removal and a security guard to the lot being considered as a safe place for Sedona’s homeless employee population since there are zero affordable homes for sale anywhere for them to consider.
However, a more permanent solution will eventually need to be addressed because an area of land that small becomes inhospitable rapidly regardless of how well it is maintained by its residents.
I have said and fully agree that the larger monopolies here in Sedona who employ homeless workers should be required to pay the bulk of the expenses required to make safe living for their employees possible.
We can also use tourism profits in general to solve these issues.
Joe citizen living on a normal pension in a regular sized home (not McMansion) should be exempt from this unless through voluntary tipping or donation similar to the ones requested at the grocery store check out?
Firstly, the challenge of lower-income housing wouldn’t be near as much of a problem if hospitality staff were paid a living wage. But even so, Sedona (proper) homes have gotten expensive. And it’s not just the STR’s that are at fault for expensive or unavailable housing. There are a lot of million dollar houses. Why? Because there are buyers at those prices. It’s the simply the influx of owners from California and elsewhere (who we love!) who can get much more value for their housing dollar in Arizona, even beautiful Sedona. But it’s easiest and apparently politically-expedient to blame the STR’s, even the small ones like mine, which is a casita suite connected to my home. I am retired and planned to count on that income along with Social Security and a small AZ State Pension to make my own ends meet, along with whatever else I might do in the gig economy (I clean a local medical office each weekend). But please DO penalize me for buying low, in 2011, making a few bucks on a small STR, paying all appropriate legal taxes, including to host wonderful out of town guests who generate income for countless Sedona businesses not to mention paying bed taxes to Sedona and Yavapai County. Come on, Sedona (esp. the mayor), stop with the cheap shots at STR’s already. Sedona is a destination, for both guests and homeowners with investment money. Lastly, how about when the next lower-cost Sedona housing idea/opportunity comes up, adopt it, and don’t let the local cranks and curmudgeons shoot it down. The mayor and council need to show their true metal, or else we’ll just keep on going round and round.
You are not the normal Air B&B owner! Are you familiar with the corporation who is building 6,8, and 10 bedroom homes all around us? I know of 3 built, and 4 more ready to go. Did you know 16% of all homes are now short term rentals? Do you also know there are more Air B&B rooms than all hotels combined?
Now if you dont think, that effects quality of life, and add to already horrible traffic problem I dont know what else to say? We had on the books no short term rentals, but they did pass a AHU law that allowed people to legally rent part of their home. That was all smashed with the worst Air B&B law in the country. No state control, no county control, and no city control.
Some of you may recall a scene from the movie Dr Zhivago, where the mansion was divided and had 1 room per family. I propose Sedona does the same thing. Every Sedona home is allowed to have one bedroom for the owner and every other bedroom is given to a working family.
It is more just.
That is called Socialism.
Actually the Socialism ideology is equality for everyone at every level for everything and that has never ever been nor will be because man is inherently greedy, violent and ignorant too ignorant to understand that life equality and quality of life is something everyone should have not a select few but you seem to feel the exact opposite is best and that the haves should have and the have nots should not exist.
Comrades, when you have the “city”, which means TAXPAYERS pay to subside workforce housing your charity is not going to the workers, it is going to the mostly rich employers.
When we allow millions of working age illegal immigrants, we depress wages. Those that are no longer young or don’t work as hard are forced to live in their cars.
Do you know that the laborers at Windsong are now asking $25 per hour CASH and a free lunch?
If you want to help labor, vote in a Sedona minimum wage of $50.00 per hour. Trust me, hotels and bed and breakfasts charging $500.00 per night can afford to pay $25 for the half an hour it takes for the maid to clean the room they got $500.00 for the night before.
Share the wealth . Greedy people always expect someone else to pay.