SALT LAKE CITY — Mayor Erin Mendenhall unveiled her public safety and homelessness plan, a response to increasing pressure from state Republican political leaders.
The multi-point plan calls for drug and gang crackdowns, use of city-owned facilities for emergency homeless shelters, addressing jail overcrowding and expanded mental health and substance abuse treatment options. It also calls on state leaders to make more affordable housing available.
Mayor Mendenhall released the plan a day before a deadline imposed by Governor Spencer Cox, House Speaker Mike Schultz and Senate President J. Stuart Adams, who demanded Salt Lake City submit a plan or threatened state intervention on a number of fronts. She made it public at a news conference at the Salt Lake City & County Building on Thursday.
"Despite our city’s efforts to lead the state in affordable housing, homeless resources, additional police officers, temporary shelter, overflow shelter, micro-shelters and tiny homes, it is evident every single day that on-street camping is still a real challenge," the mayor said.
The report, which has been submitted to the political leaders, said "Utah lacks sufficient affordable and supportive housing options, leaving many with no choice but to seek refuge in public spaces and shelters." It also said there were inadequate support services, which prevents people experiencing homelessness from achieving any stability in their lives. There's also poor coordination among law enforcement, service providers, the judiciary and government agencies, which "creates inefficiencies and allows vulnerable individuals to fall through the cracks."
The mayor proposed a plan that immediately called for the Salt Lake City police to take action "reducing crime through targeted enforcement and rapid response to high-priority areas; (2) improving livability by quickly addressing public nuisances, problem locations, and illegal activities that impact neighborhoods; and (3) building trust between law enforcement and our community through highly-visible, accessible, and community-oriented policing practices."
At Thursday's news conference, the mayor was quick to point out that being homeless is not a crime, "but public safety matters and homelessness do intersect."
FOX 13 News is told the crackdown on criminal activity has already gotten under way.
The city also plans to deploy more closed circuit cameras to track crime, the plan said. The city council will be asked to consider an updated anti-camping ordinance including prohibiting RVs from staying overnight on the streets. Salt Lake City will utilize city-owned property for a temporary homeless campus — if the state and wealthy Utahns contribute to it, so long as the state also agrees to construct a permanent, low-barrier shelter.
To address jail issues, Mayor Mendenhall's plan specifically called for something voters had rejected in November: Salt Lake County's Justice and Accountability Center. A $500 million bond to construct it and build a bigger jail in Salt Lake County failed to pass.
Mayor Mendenhall also called for the Utah State Legislature to substantially boost funding for shelters and affordable housing.
"We can achieve the results that we want and need if we continue to work together in collaboration," she said, declining to answer any questions from reporters until later.
Governor Spencer Cox told reporters on Thursday he had been briefed on the proposal and appeared largely satisfied.
"This is more collaboration than anything else," he said at his monthly news conference. "There’s a role for the state to play and we talked about that as well. More will be coming."
Pressed on what state intervention would be if Salt Lake City failed to come up with a plan, the governor told FOX 13 News: "I don’t know that we had in-depth discussions about what would happen if we weren’t satisfied with it, but that doesn’t matter. What we ultimately want is a plan we can work on together."
Asked if the state was micromanaging Salt Lake City, the governor replied: "It could be seen as trying to solve a very big problem and that’s exactly what we’re trying to do."
Mayor Mendenhall's plan will directly impact people like Anthony Damico, whom FOX 13 News encountered at Library Square, where a group of police officers had stationed themselves nearby. The unsheltered man said shelters are needed now more than ever.
"Hurry up with the shelters. We could use them," he said. "We really could. It’s kind of tough out here."
Damico said with word of a police crackdown, he expected officers to begin stopping him just walking down the street.
"There is a certain level, i guess, that you get sick of it. You do. As a citizen, you’re walking out and there’s trash on your doorstep. I understand that," he said. "But you also gotta understand the room for somebody to lay down is slowly but surely diminishing. Nobody wants to get in trouble, we just want to go to sleep."
Read the city's public safety plan here:
