After multiple delays, help to homeless Kansas Citians is finally on the way

Despite the best efforts of Kansas City Councilwoman Katheryn Shields to delay concrete plans to help house the homeless, the fed-up City Council finally found a way forward anyway on Thursday, and it’s about time.

Thursday’s action authorizes the city to spend $2.5 million on social services in preparation for a 200-bed village of individual little shelters for people experiencing homelessness.

No location for the village has been identified, and that was one problem Shields said she had with the plan, which she delayed for a third time at Wednesday’s meeting of the Finance, Governance and Public Safety Committee, which she chairs.

But finding a location was made more difficult by Shields’ own opposition to what she called “open zoning citywide for homeless camps that will be determined administratively with no appeal anywhere.” More than a month ago, she warned against “granting unlimited and unappealable power to staff in the selection of locations for camps that could house hundreds of persons.”

Week before last, roughly 200 homeless people, some with young children, were evicted from temporary housing in hotels back onto the streets. On July 18, an encampment in Westport, where many of those kicked out of hotels had pitched tents, was busted up by police. They were told to pack up their belongings and leave the area. They were not, of course, told where it would be OK for them to be.

Shields kept saying she supported the plans but didn’t think they were ready to be voted on. They didn’t seem to be getting any readier, either, and Shields had her mind made up to further delay movement on the proposals even before the committee meeting got underway on Wednesday.

She joined the meeting virtually. Because of technical difficulties, Shields could not be heard in council chambers, and may have thought no one else was listening. While waiting on the fix, in a conversation with another council member who was also tuning in remotely, she said she was going to delay yet again all of the actions related to aiding the homeless. “I’m going to hold all three,” Shields told Councilman Dan Fowler.

After Wednesday’s committee meeting, Mayor Quinton Lucas tweeted, “We should not delay action on necessary housing/homelessness solutions.”

Others felt the same way, and committee members — led by council members Ryana Parks-Shaw and Heather Hall — scrambled to clarify language in the legislation. They combined an ordinance with a resolution to get around the committee’s hold on any action. The plan to move ahead was proposed from the floor at the full council meeting, and was unanimously approved.

Shields didn’t vote. She was absent from the meeting and did not respond to an email asking why. Council members Kevin McManus and Teresa Loar were also absent and did not vote.

The let’s-just-get-started resolution/ordinance passed on Thursday also allows the city to consider proposals from owners of vacant private properties that could be purchased and rehabilitated to house homeless residents. Council members said they had heard some promising ideas, including using a former long-term care facility and vacant hotels.

Now the council has to follow through, without any further delays, on finding a location for the village of tiny shelters.