MISSOULA - Mayor Jordan Hess announced he will allocate funds to reopen the Johnson Street Shelter, but Missoula City Council members say they have been left out of this decision.
At the Public Safety, Health and Operations Committee meeting on Wednesday, June 14, 2023, city council members expressed their frustration at their lack of information on the Johnson Street Shelter reopening.
They made moves to make sure they won’t be left in the dark about these decisions in the future.
Mayor Hess said on Friday that he has been working for months with Community Planning, Development and Innovation committee and community partners to find a solution to shelter shortages in Missoula.
They decided the best course of action was to reopen the emergency winter shelter on Johnson Street.
Two representatives from the Community Planning, Development and Innovation committee — director Erin Pehan and houseless program manager Emily Armstrong — spoke at the Wednesday council meeting, explaining how they came to their decision and why.
They worked with a list of 12 local providers, including United Way of Missoula County, All Nations Health Center and Human Resource Council.
“We pulled this group together earlier this year, recognizing the need for provider-driven solutions, and wanting a space where we could hear directly from our leaders,” Armstrong said at the meeting
Armstrong gave a presentation to the council, laying out trends in houselessness and barriers they have faced in providing shelter solutions.
The Community Planning, Development and Innovation committee said they recently gave a similar presentation to all of the City Council, though Mike Nugent said a lot of the information was new to him.
“The biggest thing I want to get out of today is to start having these conversations at the council level. I appreciate the updates because while Miss Pehan had kind of said a lot of it would be repetitive, very little of it was repetitive as far as what we’ve gotten the chance to talk about in council,” Nugent said.
Following the mayor’s announcement on Friday, several council members said they received concerned phone calls from their constituents with questions they could not answer.
“The Johnson Street Shelter, and any of these shelters, directly and negatively affect the surrounding community members,” Kristen Jordan, city councilwoman for Ward 6 said. “I have had so many calls from constituents who are having genuine safety and health concerns about the shelter and how it was run previously. It affects the quality of life of my constituents.”
Jordan was particularly frustrated about being left out of the emergency shelter meeting as her constituents reside in the neighborhood surrounding the Johnson Street Shelter, some of which were present at the Wednesday meeting.
“My neighbors and I recognize that this is a serious issue at hand, but band-aiding it by the use of the Johnson Street Shelter is not a long-term solution. And we would like to see a long-term solution be formed before it is too late,” Kevin Farmer, a resident in the Johnson Street neighborhood said during public comment.
Nugent introduced new motions at the meeting, which asked the administration to investigate other avenues of solving the shelter issue, rather than just the Johnson Street Shelter.
One solution Nugent suggested was similar to actions taken in Austin, Texas, where they established assigned campsites and RV spaces for long-term transitional housing.
Armstrong and Pehan both said they have already looked into the ideas listed by Nugent and because of various barriers, were unable to successfully operate them.
Armstrong emphasized funding, loss of interest from volunteers and space as some of those barriers.
At the end of the 2½ meeting, the City Council voted 11-0 in favor of implementing Nugent’s motion, 3.3,
The motion reads:
“Direct administration to Develop Short-Term and Long-Term Solutions to assist the unhoused and address urban camping to Protect Public Health and Safety
Recommended motion:
Direct administration to provide a menu of long-term community partnership shelter options for council consideration, including costs and potential challenges. These options should include but are not limited to:
- A long-term transitional community with tiny houses or shelters, assigned campsites, and RV spaces similar to the planned community in Austin, Texas. https://mlf.org/community-first/
- A permanent shelter for year-round one-night accommodations operated similar to traditional shelters in Missoula.
- Creating an additional 30 units of transitional housing and wrap-around services similar to those to be opened this summer”
The council asked Community Planning, Development and Innovation to prioritize providing updates on shelter progress and solutions every three to four weeks, or as soon as possible.
While Pehan and Armstrong admitted they are short-staffed and providing regular updates may be difficult, they agreed to try and comply with the council’s request.
The council did not address the State of Emergency on houselessness, or the emergency mill levies but plan to do so at a later date.
The council members will need to vote to approve the mill levies, which asks for about $500,000 before the Johnson Street Shelter plans can move forward.
