r/mesaaz • u/timesmediagroup • 7d ago
Mesa again debates homeless hotel’s fate
https://www.themesatribune.com/news/mesa-again-debates-homeless-hotel-s-fate/article_9c0ad33c-ab9c-495d-a97f-4edd6047ad40.html40
u/bbonzo123 7d ago
We have already bought it. We have already renovated it. If we sell it, we lose millions. The city should go ahead and get the people off the streets. Stop wasteing our money and use whats already been set up!
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u/Afterism 7d ago
An organization I volunteer with has been mobilizing around this issue since 2023, when Spilsbury ultimately cast the deciding vote in favor of the purchase and rezoning. I would really hate to see this program (especially one with such strong outcomes and metrics) fade away when it continues to address a critical need in Mesa. After everything surrounding this issue, I’m seriously considering running for Council in 2028 or 2032. It’s reassuring to see this thread and know that, at least in part, our media efforts are helping bring more attention to the issue.
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u/Sad-Elderberry-8574 7d ago edited 6d ago
Any of the seats would be good gets in 2028! Go for it. I think Willis will beat Johnson for D4 this year (good thing imo) but there will be no other shakeup. My nightmare scenario is then that no one good steps up for Heredia’s terming out in 28 reducing the margin of reasonable people further, and that no one even challenges Adams or Taylor.
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u/StudMuffinNick 7d ago
I hate this so much. Is it really such a fucking hassle to operate a hotel for maybe a million/year to help desperate people temporarily? From a city that has a $3 BILLION dollar revenue last year alone?
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u/Sad-Elderberry-8574 7d ago
I agree with you. This wasn’t a logical or financial decision. Most Councilmembers have their tail between their legs because of the Spilsbury recall situation. That’s why we need to vote July 21!!
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u/Chimneychilla 7d ago
I am very familiar with some of the homeless population of West Mesa, especially those on Broadway and up and down Country Club and Dobson.
I can’t tell you how many times I and other coworkers have tried to help out them whether it be addiction and detox treatments, housing assistance, access to medical care, etc.
These shelters are strict (as I think they should be), you can’t get drugs or alcohol in and as result most of the unhoused stay out of the shelters. Edit: There is also a lot of theft and incidents that occur in these shelters or places such as halfway houses. Fights, theft, overdoses (more so in halfway houses). The shelters aren’t truly a safe place for the unhoused.
I don’t have a solution to homelessness, but it’s not a housing or even a money problem since many are on access and don’t pay for healthcare and detox program. It’s mental illness and addiction. We don’t mandate treatment unless they are fully incapable of making decisions for themselves.
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u/CaptainofChaos 7d ago
The problem is pretty clear, and it starts with the strict restrictions on housing. If they don't have a place to live, then detox and Healthcare are impossible to actually use, but if they aren't already entirely clean they can't get housing. There's a pretty clear contradiction there with a pretty obvious solution. I doesn't and shouldn't be full tolerating of drugs and alcohol, but it can't be 0 tolerance if you want any of this to work
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u/Chimneychilla 7d ago
Yeah this is how it is. We assist someone into rehab, they go to one of the rehab facilities in the area. They complete it and get housing, and then get kicked out when they relapse. There are even some unhoused that aren’t addicted to drugs/alcohol who just don’t want to be in a shelter. I just don’t know what the best way to break this cycle is. You can’t force someone to stay at a home or shelter all day, it’s basically prison then.
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u/buppus-hound 7d ago
You’re wrong, addiction and mental illness is not the primary cause of homelessness. Just because you work in the space doesn’t make you an authority especially when you’re flat out wrong.
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u/phelps_1247 7d ago
What is the primary cause?
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u/buppus-hound 7d ago
You’re free to look at the research if you’d like to but it is economic. This mental illness and drug use is bs that people keep repeating.
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u/BryanThePoet 5d ago
It can be a reason but I think it's a side effect of being homeless because drugs help you escape and once you're homeless and doing drugs you've created that nasty cycle that's difficult to escape.
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u/buppus-hound 5d ago
I don’t know about that but the idea above as it being the leading cause is not supported by the data and it is absolutely a harmful false belief to have. I don’t know why this person above refuses to believe the data when changing your mind is the better thing to do.
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u/Sonoran_Ghosts_81 6d ago
You’re gonna have to do better than “just google it”. I also work in the space and addiction and mental illness are the number one factor for homelessness. Followed by housing insecurity.
Maybe you should go put your mouth where your fingers are and go volunteer or work in the community to see for yourself?
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u/Sorry_Ad475 7d ago
Mesa's budget deficit has doubled this year and that is because of spending on infrastructure for new housing. Interestingly, Mayor Freeman's campaign donors are largely in construction and real estate. There are no affordable housing options among the approved new construction that does specialty residential housing for professional baseball training camp that will only be occupied during the off season.
Building affordable housing often encounters nimby opposition, which is why Taylor was able to eject Julie Spillsbury with the help of Turning Point. The contractors also seem hesitant to deal with affordable housing. A few years ago, the vacant lots at Transform 17 at University and Mesa Drive had a developer pull out when neighborhood residents actually asked for affordable homes in their own neighborhood.
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u/rosstrich 7d ago
You don’t necessarily have to build housing with affordability in mind. When you build housing of any kind, it makes the previous housing more affordable as people move out of their existing housing to the new housing. Some of the most affordable housing is the existing supply.
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u/unfrikinblevable 7d ago
The city got all the funding for this from county and federal government grants.
Now that it’s spent it all and canceled the new building it’ll have to pay back the $14 million. Which means it’s the cancelation that’s created the hole in the budget, not the renovation itself.
The city might as well run the program for the 3 years it has funding for so it doesn’t have to pay back any of the money.
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u/Cactusandcreosote 7d ago
I live across the border in Tempe, but I sincerely hope that Mesa residents sound off about this in droves! Their rationale for not continuing to use Sunaire is complete BS and sounds like a talking point from the far right. The council cannot have it both ways: they can’t complain about the increasing number of homeless and then act as if their hands are tied in doing anything about it.
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u/Sad-Elderberry-8574 7d ago
They made the decision during a “study session” where there is no public input. The public would’ve turned out and they knew it!
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u/Ok_azweekender 7d ago
If I was homeless I sure wouldn’t do it in mesa I’d go to Tempe or phoenix
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u/Prestigious_Major349 7d ago
They travel the light rail end to end. They'll start in one city then they get threatened with arrest the next time they are stopped within a set period of time, so they move to the next city. By the time they get from one end to the other, their time on the other end has normally lapsed and they ride all the way back. I've talked to many and heard this, it's crazy how it works.
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u/Ancient-Collection64 6d ago
For real, it’s insane that it’s just sitting there after all that money and work already went in. Mesa loves to argue about “solutions” while ignoring the one literally ready to go. Use the damn building and get people inside instead of throwing more cash at studies and delays.
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u/southwestheat 7d ago
From the article:
"...and is ready to shelter families with young children, seniors and veterans."
So, if you're a man without kids or old people in tow, you can sleep under a bridge. Everyone else gets a free hotel room.
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u/Sad-Elderberry-8574 7d ago
Specifically, those are populations that had a gap in beds in the city when they initially started the program. Those population sets require solo rooms due to being a family or having violent trauma, etc., placing them in a shelter with bunks or multiple residents per room would scare them away or not be fit for their needs. There are mens shelters in the city operated by nonprofits.
To your point though, and this part is gross, but there is a political element to it where the city and certain councilmembers wanted to expand resources but knew it would be harder for the far right to attack those groups, and it did work for a little.
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u/Prestigious_Major349 7d ago
Yet you go there and it's almost exclusively single men and women. I think it's good either way, I think they could make better use by maybe filling more rooms and maybe using the old hotel conference center dormitory style for those waiting for rooms. Wouldn't be ideal, but at least it would get more people with a roof over their heads.
If they actually keep working with other programs like the staff there does, it could actually be a great commodity. I have a friend who finally ended up there after a decent amount of time with the cities and county paying for rooms to keep him in when he had lost his job due to being put in disability. They had him working with a program run by a group from ASU, they ended up finding him a roommate, and got them into an apartment in Phoenix. There's 1 successful story I know. Now if only they'd use more of the rooms
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u/Sonoran_Ghosts_81 6d ago
Just because that location is like that doesn’t mean they all are. We have services for just single men as well. I can point them out for you if you’d like or you can continue to play the “ poor men card”.
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u/Sad-Elderberry-8574 7d ago
That hearing made me so mad.
On Taylor, she claims the city shouldn’t be in the “shelter business” without voter consent, but that’s exactly what elected councils are for, making decisions on behalf of voters! She’s 100% hiding behind that since TPUSA got her elected. She also conveniently ignores that Sunaire costs less annually than the Windemere alternative while serving more people, with three years of federal funding already identified and zero General Fund impact. Her Oregon comparison is a red herring and dumb… Mesa isn’t throwing money at an unsolved problem, it’s sitting on a fully renovated, ready-to-use building it already owns. The fiscally conservative position here is actually to use the asset you paid for, not pay more to rent someone else’s aging hotel indefinitely.
On Adams, he said Mesa shouldn’t provide shelter beds and points to Scottsdale and Gilbert as models for not providing, but those are smaller cities with a more affluent population. Mesa represents 10-11% of Maricopa County’s population yet only provides 5% of its shelter beds, meaning the city is already punching BELOW its weight. His “if you build it they will come” logic isn’t policy, it’s just dumb slogan. For a man governed by facts, he sure doesn’t actually follow them. The program already has documented results: 85 families, 235 children, and 202 domestic violence survivors housed in the last 12 months alone. All Mesa residents who lost housing and then were helped. Calling that a bad investment while voting to pay more money to keep renting hotel rooms isn’t fiscal responsibility. More ideology dressed up as math!
Rant over for now. Write your councilmembers!!!