MISSOULA — This edition of Current Events with Missoula Current editor Martin Kidston takes an in-depth look at the issue of urban camping in Missoula.
“This isn't an issue that's gonna go away anytime soon, but the mayor [who] came into office pledged to come up with a solution. She has [set up] the Task Force on Urban Camping. This is a group of about 25 to 30 individuals. Very diverse group,” Kidston explained. “They've spent three last three sessions trying to reach consensus. Each session lasts about five hours. The next session will be the fourth and they think they might have a resolution on a possible proposal that the City Could adopt.”
The question is what solutions the group is coming up with to address urban camping.
“Well, you got 12 city councilors, you got the, the political pressure, you got homeless advocates, you got business advocates, you got legal representatives, you got economic representatives, it's a very diverse group,” Kidston said. “The challenge is going to be [for] 25 people in a room to come up with agreements — on an ordinance or a proposal…generally agreeable to the group. It has to be socially acceptable to the residents of Missoula.”
One issue that is being looked at is the operation of the Johnson Street Emergency Shelter.
“Well, economic. realistic have to come into play — economic viability, I should say. And the mayor, during the last session, did bring up things as she's heard from members of the public,” Kidston said. “One: fatigue, people are tired of the conversation. They feel stressed out, they want to solve the problem, but they don't feel like it's, it's within reach sometimes. There's concerns about the environment, there's concerns about the impacts on business and the economy,” Kidston continued. There's concerns about human safety, cleanliness, all kinds of issues at play.”
One person experiencing homelessness in one of the parks MTN talked with said their area had just been cleaned and they just told said they were tired of being moved around.
“The homeless advocates argue the same thing that people are just pushing these homeless individuals from place to place to place,” Kidston said. “Some of the ideas might be to, for example, to establish a homeless camp — an authorized homeless camp — where you go tell people by the river, you can go camp here legally instead and we'll, you can go there. “We won't… move you anymore or maybe rotate homeless camps or find a parking lot somewhere with services, you know, toilets, trash bins, things like that — that represent safety and cleanliness.”
Some of these solutions have been tried in the past, but there wasn’t money for it, or it wasn't implemented the perfect way. Some nonprofits didn't even want to be a part of some of them.
“It may happen, possibly we'll see again. It's going be hard to find that consensus with so many people at the table,” Kidston pointed out. “We'll find out here in about a month when the group meets for the last time and hopefully recommend the proposals.”
