EVERETT — A community meeting on a 70-unit housing project for homeless people devolved into a heated exchange on Tuesday night.
About 75 people came out to Evergreen Middle School for the meeting. One hour in, many people in the audience began shouting questions at city officials and others involved in the project. A few constantly interrupted the speakers with a stream of criticism.
At one point, Will Rice, vice president of Catholic Community Services, which has been tapped to build and operate the project, showed his frustration.
“Please, I’m trying to answer the question,” he said over one of several interruptions from the audience.
Rice and other staff from the nonprofit tried to assure the audience that the building would have a locked door with 24-hour staffing, that no sexual offenders would be admitted, that criminal behavior would not be tolerated and that all guests would be screened.
“What we’re looking to house here are the most vulnerable, and those aren’t the people that are going out and causing trouble,” said Steve Powers, a director with Catholic Housing Services, the nonprofit’s property management arm.
There were several reasons why the crowd was angry, but one common refrain was the city’s decision to put the project in a neighborhood of single-family homes and not tell the residents until the deal was finalized.
The announcement in May of the city’s preferred site on Berkshire Drive, a short walk from Evergreen Way, touched off opposition from neighbors who fear that their quality of life and property values will suffer if the project is completed.
Signs opposing the project now dot the neighborhood. People attending the meeting said the city’s approach wasn’t acceptable, even if they supported the project in concept.
“The city has already made their decision. I hope they listened,” said Renee Stober, who attended the meeting with her daughter Charlotte, 12. They live about six houses down from the project location.
“I just continue to have concerns about the crime level in our neighborhood,” Stober said.
Hil Kaman, Everett’s director of public health and safety, said the city wanted to partner with a developer that had a track record of working with neighbors. Typically they don’t go into neighborhoods asking to build there, he said.
“We knew that no matter where we were going to site this, there would be individuals who had concerns, who didn’t want it in their neighborhood,” he said.
“So because you knew it would bother us, it wasn’t worth asking us?” one of the attendees shouted.
Supporters of the project were few, and no one defended the city’s choice of location.
Margaret Steen, who lives about a mile away from the site, wanted to know how the residents would be held accountable for their actions. She suggested they might help maintain the grounds or do other services in return for their stay.
“I think it’s going to work OK,” Steen said. “I’m thankful I’m at the other end of the street. That could be a real concern about property values.”
Mayor Ray Stephanson opened the meeting with a confession that he was a late convert to the cause of helping homeless people.
“Twelve years ago when I came into office, I spent zero time on the homeless and the street issues we see here today,” Stephanson said.
He said that at the time he believed that homeless people were responsible for their own condition, and that it wasn’t something he as mayor thought he should be concerned about. He now sees things differently.
“Without supportive housing, without a roof over their head, their chances of getting the help they need for mental health and drug addiction are slim to none,” he said.
Stephanson then left the meeting, something that apparently irritated some enough that they commented on that later.
The project is considered low-barrier supportive housing. That means that the residents would not be required to be in any treatment program for substance abuse or mental health issues. It also means that there will be staff on site to provide those social services to the residents.
These kinds of projects have been catching on across the country in recent years as social workers and officials realize that those homeless people are more likely to get the treatment or other services they need if they have a safe place to sleep at night.
In November, the city brought in Lloyd Pendleton, the architect of Utah’s successful housing program, to address another community meeting of more than 300 people.
The mood at that event was more positive than the one on Tuesday night. Many people, including Stober, remained unconvinced.
“I see this as a very pretty tent city being built in my neighborhood, where my kids are growing up and walking,” she said.
Chris Winters: 425-374-4165; cwinters@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @Chris_At_Herald.
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