I believe in the police department and supporting this organization, who’s banner reads, “Protect and Serve.” However, recently I came across two incidents that alarmed me regarding safety and security on our streets and in our neighborhoods.
My neighbor, an elderly man, reported to the nonemergency police number that he had a homeless man sleeping on the side of his house and asked if they would come out, check on this man and have him removed from his property. They never came.
On another occasion, I was ordering some take-out on Cerrillos Road and had to wait 12 to 15 minutes to have the food brought to my car. Within this 12 to 15 minutes, four men at different times approached my car and asked me for money. When the food was delivered, I asked if this was ongoing in the area. The reply was, yes. I then asked if this had been reported to the police and, yes, they had called the police.
I know this was non-violent behavior and seemingly low on the list of community police responses. However, if things are left alone and unattended they will tighter to the point of active violent criminality.
The piecemeal way the Santa Fe city administration has handled the homeless epidemic in Santa Fe has been deplorable and has affected the well-being of our great city. We have for many years seen the unmitigated growth of the homeless population in Santa Fe.
Yes, we have the midtown campus that has garnered attention for the homeless, and city plans are to make a tent encampment there. Have we not seen what these tent encampments have done to California? Recently the Albuquerque City Council passed a resolution for such a project, and now, the person who sponsored it has asked for it to be recalled.
In the last three years we have seen thousands of apartments go up in Santa Fe, but where is the planning for the homeless? How could these many apartments be built before our eyes and no stable real focus on building a site for the homeless? The new low-income artist apartments on Siler Road would have been an ideal place to start a homeless apartment initiative; what happened?
The midtown campus is just off Cerrillos Road. This campus measures just feet away from Milagro Middle School. We also have Santa Fe High not too far away. Do we really want a tent city to be just a short distance from these school institutions? Do we want to expose this to our impressionable youth?
Yes, homelessness is a problem, and we have a responsibility to focus on it and explore creative solutions. It has been noted the city has funds collected from the building of apartment complexes that do not wish to participate in having a small percent of the units at affordable pricing. That sounds all well and good. But this money does not show up in the city’s focus of building a planned structural site for the homeless.
Again, there are federal dollars and great nonprofits that could join in on the biggest and brightest solution for the homeless. This is truly a problem bigger than a village. But it will take a city to solve it.
What if the city initiates a three-day Homeless Summit, thereby inviting all federal, state and city agencies combined with our loyal and most helpful nonprofit organizations? The city should also invite some homeless to participate in this collaboration. Our Santa Fe is known to have distinguished think tanks that could be invited to share their perspective and expertise. This could be the catalyst for a model that we would be proud of for our city and state.
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