by Travis Mateer
I read this “exclusive” interview Dennis Bragg brags about snagging with our outgoing Mayor and it’s mostly what you would expect, like blaming our State Legislature AND things done during the 1980’s. This is considered by some as great leadership.
Hess believes the core of homeless issues began when federal mental health funds were reduced in the 1980s, and when the Montana Legislature cut back case management.
“Those seeds that were sown in the 2017 Legislature bearing fruit now. And we have people in homelessness because of the actions of the legislature.”
Are you as tired as I am of hearing excuses like these? But wait! Near the end of the article, I may have found some acknowledgement of reality (emphasis mine):
Hess believes Missoula will continue to fight the problem, although he’s hopeful a new ordinance in ’24 will help the city re-assert its ability to enforce rules over urban camping.
“The structure we need to take is relatively simple, which is that you have services that are evidence-based that help people get a hand up and then the other piece is that you have to have some accountability for problematic behavior. And we need to have a very compassionate approach to getting people into services.”
If Jordan Hess wants to examine how another western state is dealing with this issue, I found a sign in Spokane that may give our outgoing Mayor something to look into:
If you zoom in to the sign, you will see that it cites Public Lands Ordinance SMC 12.02.1010 (A)(3)(a). Is our Mayor aware of this? Does it matter?
It probably doesn’t, but I’ll keep pretending for a little while longer.
Thanks for reading.
