SOUTH DAKOTA STRAIGHT TALK

A different sort of drifter came hat in hand to the Sioux Falls City Council at Monday’s “Informational”.

Monday, Minnehaha County Government came with their hand out seeking a financial partnership with the City of Sioux Falls to provide not only what they believe will help address the homeless problems in Sioux Falls but also provide permanent housing for perhaps up to thirty five homeless persons.

As reported in Monday’s “Argus Leader”, County Human Services Director, Hugh Grogan, was seeking municipal government support saying, "My perspective would be, we need to know from the city that they are committed to the idea of providing permanent housing as a possible solution to the homeless issue, and to the idea of jointly funding that solution,"

County Commissioners, Carol Twedt and Jeff Barth also spoke to the need to deal with the Homeless and more specifically a program technique referred to as “Housing First.” While the County Officials emphasized they were not locked into any specific proposal they seemed anxious to have the City pursue owning the current Army and Navy Reserve Center on Russell Avenue and using it for essentially an apartment building for the (my term) most chronically homeless. The permanent housing was described as a Hospice for the Homeless. It was suggested that such a permanent solution thus was usually a last stop for many. It was stated that have a permanent home then gave social workers an opportunity to make real progress on other problems the client had. It was noted that these chronic homeless were in generally in failing health and their life expectancy was poor.

The County Officials were adroit in using a common negotiating strategy of arguing about details while just assuming that the City would be their financial partner.

From the discussion of the six City Councilors (Beninga and Costello as well as the Mayor were not present) they all seemed open to discussion and listening to the Q and A, watching their body language, and reading today’s press report probably are divided on their feelings and support on this issue.

Homelessness is an issue in our Community and is an important issue that should be dealt with. Answers are not easy as the problem has many facets, social, economic, mental health and substance abuse among others. Without question the City Council and the Citizens of Sioux Falls and Minnehaha County want to deal with this problem.

A Few Observations

Generally the State has designated the County responsible for welfare and social services. This is not a City Government responsibility.

City Government has its own obligations and challenges that they are responsible for. What would County Government be expected to do if they were approached by the City and asked to pay for street maintenance or water and sewer?

County Government is financially challenged perhaps more so than the City because Counties have growing responsibilities with recently rapidly escalating costs (Law Enforcement, Courts and Welfare) without the smorgasbord of revenue options that City Government has (property tax, sales tax, fees, and revenue funds).

The City of Sioux Falls however has plenty of its own demands at the moment. Obviously Lewis & Clark Water System is #1, the need to fund the Levee upgrades, Street repairs and maintenance, and even the so called quality of life issues (libraries, parks, and sports fields) for a growing City, For example, making the choice of using funds for a Library for West Sioux Falls or apartments for homeless, the money spent on a library (a City responsibility) will positively effect many and by waiting even two or three years actually impacts many more people.In the case of young people not having ready access to a library can be a missed opportunity to nurture learning that is of lifetime benefit.

As I often postulate, when you subsidize something it gets bigger – in this case putting the chronic in permanent housing (that does perhaps solve the immediate problem) will in my judgment by its existence create the need for even more permanent housing.

Finally if the County or the City and County do decide to proceed with the Reserve Center or another property – they should consider partnering with non profits such as Habitat for Humanity, Salvation Army, other non profits and Churches. I would also employ Convicts to help with construction tasks as was done when our Schools were wired and the State Fairgrounds renovated.

We ask a lot from our Government, sometimes too much, but at the end of the day Citizens must insist that Government stay prioritized and on task.