State Representative Matt Gress (R-Scottsdale) is sounding the alarm over a $940,000 state grant to house homeless in a Scottsdale hotel, including residents of “The Zone” and foreign nationals.
Just under $1 million from the $60 million Homeless Shelter and Services Fund, created by Governor Katie Hobbs in the new Arizona budget, will be spent on 10 hotel rooms dedicated to the homeless of Scottsdale.
Speaking to The Arizona Sun Times, Gress said constituents were not adequately consulted over the program and warned that the hotel is “near the largest homeowner’s association in the United States, a school, and other neighborhood amenities that cater to children.” He wrote a letter to Scottsdale Mayor David Ortega (pictured above, right) requesting answers by July 27.
The legislator referred to public reporting that indicates residents of “The Zone” – the largest homeless encampment in Arizona – will receive housing in the hotel as part of the program.
“‘The Zone’ is a disaster area. It is a failure of city policy, and my concern,” he explained, “is that you’re going to basically export ‘The Zone’ to this hotel program in Scottsdale.”
Today, I sent a letter to the Mayor of Scottsdale, David Ortega, requesting additional information on a $940,000 grant the city received from @AZHousing to lodge people experiencing homelessness in an undisclosed Scottsdale hotel. 1/ pic.twitter.com/q7JqeLusbL
— Matt Gress (@MatthewGress) July 6, 2023
Gress (pictured above, left) also questioned Scottsdale’s claim that no foreign nationals stayed at the hotel during the program’s first year, noting the Biden administration’s formal end of Title 42 could impact the situation in Scottsdale.
“I’m not talking about what happened last year, I’m talking about what’s happening this year,” said the legislator, who added that the new contract “explicitly stated that they need to set aside rooms for people in ‘The Zone’ and for foreign nationals that would have been otherwise deported under Title 42.”
Scottsdale, in a press release, insisted that while “these rooms could also offer emergency shelter for migrants who have entered the United States legally under Title 42,” hotel residents over the last year were “those experiencing homelessness locally” and noted that “zero public safety calls” have been reported from the hotel or its residents.
The legislator stressed that his opposition to the program does not stem from insensitivity toward the homeless crisis but concern for the community, those working in the hotel, and those involved in the program.
“This is going to be an operating hotel in a normal sense,” Gress told The Sun Times, “where you could have a family on vacation [next] to someone who is in the midst of the greatest trauma of his or her life and in complete and utter despair.”
Gress questioned, “What about the mental health services and addiction treatment services? What about the vetting, do you do a background check on your residents? What about convicted sex offenders?” He added, “The hotel has a responsibility here,” and questioned what additional training, if any, hotel employees will receive.
🚨FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE🚨
City of Scottsdale’s Plan to House Homeless & Foreign Nationals in Hotel Draws Concerns, Questions from Residents & State Representative @MatthewGress.READ THE NEWS RELEASE & LETTER👉 https://t.co/ZQSkQej1GK@AZHouseGOP pic.twitter.com/Zjfv0h7MxP
— Arizona House Republicans (@AZHouseGOP) July 6, 2023
“The Arizona Tourism and Lodging Association [and] the American Hotel and Lodging Association confirmed what I had suspected,” Gress told The Sun Times, “their employees are not trained to provide social services.”
He added, “They are tourism and hospitality employees, they are not social workers.”
Gress also expressed concern that the grant agreement waives environmental review processes required for normal federal Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) housing.
Comparing Scottsdale’s grant to a similar program in San Francisco, Gress warned, “the city kept the location of these hotels secret, they wouldn’t allow anybody to go in, and the conditions in these hotels were unsanitary.”
Gress told The Sun Times that he remains unconvinced by Ortega’s statements or the city’s press release. He expects a full response by July 27, and urged Scottsdale citizens to contact their city council and mayor to voice any concerns.
When reached for comment by the Sun Times, Ortega provided a copy of a short email he sent Gress, informing him that his questions “will be answered in full by staff.”
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Tom Pappert is a reporter for The Arizona Sun Times and The Star News Network. Follow Tom on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Background Photo “Scottsdale” by Visitor7. CC BY-SA 3.0.
