homeless

Dozens of cities in the western U.S. asked the U.S. Supreme Court to weigh in on a decision by the Ninth Circuit that makes it all but impossible to enforce ordinances against homeless camps.

The Bozeman City Commission provisionally adopted an ordinance at its Tuesday night meeting that will put restrictions on urban camping on city streets.

The encampment was days away from being cleaned out by Clark County, and providers were working to connect as many of the unhoused folks living there to services.

Missoula County this week approved a $900,000 contribution to help fund the operation and management of the Johnson Street shelter through next October, when the money runs out.

A proposal to place rotating homeless camps in each of Missoula's six voting wards was tabled in committee on Wednesday, even after an amendment that removed parks and rights-of-way as potential locations.

One month removed from passing a budget that included a tax increase of 9.7%, members of the City Council on Wednesday considered a new spending proposal that would require the city to place $200,000 more each year into the Affordable Housing Trust Fund.

Members of the Missoula City Council on Wednesday moved a proposal from committee that would commit the city to begin master planning the Johnson Street shelter property for redevelopment within one year, with a goal to remove the building within three years.

Clint Whittle-Frazier writes, "By focusing on one aspect of the proposal, that city owned land does include parks, it misconstrues the meaning of Jordan’s overall intention."

Faced with the potential of not being able to fund the shelter next September, city leaders and homeless advocates have begun exploring any options that may be available to them next year.

The open house served as a forum for the neighborhood to contribute their voices to the shelter’s future and seek solutions.