Thread by @shayshinecastle

Weaver, Joseph and Young apparently have no understanding of what it means to have a "holistic discussion" on homelessness.

That's not me saying it... that's literally what they are saying in a scheduling meeting now about the followup to Tuesday's meeting.

"I don’t really comprehend what that means bc in the end we make discrete decisions. ... I don’t understand what a holistic (discussion) means."
boulderbeat.news/2021/01/21/bou…

Council decided last week that camps will keep being removed BUT they didn't weigh in on staff's recommendations for more enforcement. Members Brockett/Friend said they didn't want to vote on those without also considering more services....

....which might reduce the need for removals.

Basically, you can spend on removals or you can spend on services. So to uncouple these discussions doesn't make sense, they argued.

Council members will be polled about when they want this Part 2 meeting to be, but Weaver and Joseph are both in favor of later. Council needs time to "digest," they said. So possibly March or later.

If it IS March, it will be late March bc of board and commission appointments.

Forgot to attribute the quotes above. Those were Weaver.

Here's one from Young which shows the way council might be tending:

"I myself think a holistic discussion needs to be defined and we need to remember we can only do so much in Boulder. Boulder doesn’t have entire purview over Homeless Solutions Boulder County, so it’s very limited what we can do."

Young is correct about HSBC setting the policy. And giving funding. They've already said they won't pay for safe camping or parking, as they don't believe those can be part of a housing-first approach. (National and regional experts disagree.)

But Boulder can pay for things itself, and does have some control over the programs/services it offers. That's the issue Brockett/Friend are raising: Boulder's being asked to spend $$ on more enforcement. Why not spend the $$ on services instead? they say.

Especially given the apparent ineffectiveness of removals to address root causes of homelessness, as outlined by staff Tuesday.

However, council has already turned down these services before, so.... *shrug*

Anyway, short thread, and basically what I said in my article (linked above). But interesting news RE: scheduling, scope.

@threadreaderapp please unroll. Thank you!