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SALT LAKE CITY — Relocate the state liquor store. Better enforce camping ordinances. Explore closing a portion of Rio Grande Street to potentially provide a temporary, perhaps "tented," service area.
These are all recommendations Salt Lake County officials unveiled Tuesday, hoping to work with Salt Lake City leaders to implement a plan to begin transforming the Road Home downtown to an area that's more service-focused and less conducive to crime — and not wait until the shelter closes in 2019.
Some of the ideas were drawn from Salt Lake County Sheriff Jim Winder's controversial 21-point plan to addresses problems in the area, with the endorsement of Salt Lake County Mayor McAdams and other county leaders.
While Winder, McAdams and Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill highlighted the county's plan to request state dollars to improve public safety through diversion and treatment, the leaders also outlined "on-the-ground" suggestions to city leaders to improve the Rio Grande area starting this year.
Winder, who was selected last month to become Moab's police chief, took the opportunity to again blast Salt Lake City Police Chief Mike Brown and Mayor Jackie Biskupski on their management of the Rio Grande area, questioning why more hasn't been done.
"The only thing I run anymore is my mouth, but I doggone sure have the right and the opportunity to do that," Winder said. "While I'm here and still wearing this badge, I've got a responsibility to continue to advocate for what I think is the right approach."
As he has in the past, the outgoing sheriff criticized Brown and city leaders for blaming county jail booking restrictions for the chaos that has occurred near the Rio Grande shelter. Instead, Winder said Brown could still give his officers the ability to seize narcotics and work creatively to better enforce camping ordinances.
Winder said local businesses, residents and others have "begged and pleaded" for "substantive changes" in the Rio Grande area before the arrival of summer, when lawlessness usually becomes more rampant.
"It's going to be bad this year," he warned.
"Salt Lake County has put their chips in the game. The service providers have put their chips in the game," Winder said. "It remains to be seen if others are going to put their chips in the game."
Following the morning's announcement, Biskupski called a news conference of her own, saying it is "frustrating" to hear the county's criticisms.
"It's easy for people to stand up and stand in front of microphones and act as though they have figured out a path forward that has been vetted and is funded, and that we are somehow not latching on to that," she said. "It's frustrating for the city to have partners that are engaged in this kind of activity."
Biskupski praised the diligence of city staffers across numerous departments who have worked to ensure efforts in the area and plausible, cost-effective and supported by the community. She later called the county's criticisms a disparagement of employees' work.
"Every day we realize victories, we save lives and we arrest criminals. We are getting results. We are helping people who are addicted, and we are getting them the treatment they need and off of our streets," Biskupski said.
McAdams wasn't as critical, acknowledging that environmental changes near the Road Home are the "prerogative" of the city.
But the county mayor also said Salt Lake City's current proposal — which includes transforming a portion of the 500 West median into a secure parking lot for police officers, additional security cameras, among other things — isn't enough.
"The situation is complicated and difficult," McAdams said in an interview. "We're happy to see that they're making some changes there, and we applaud the changes they are making, but we think more can be done."
County leaders have presented their ideas to the City Council and Biskupski, and both seemed "receptive," McAdams said. However, the county mayor said he hasn't been able to schedule a follow-up meeting with Biskupski since their last discussion on the topic in early April.
"We recognize (Rio Grande) is a city responsibility, so we're respectful of their domain," McAdams said. "We just think we have perspective and ideas to offer, and we're eager to collaborate."
Biskupski indicated that the city's efforts are already effective, but that she's open to new ideas. However, she contends that the recommendations from the county aren't funded and haven't been vetted.
Brown applauded the mayor for a budget that allocates $3 million for mitigating problems in the Rio Grande area, along with $7 million toward staffing for officers and social workers.
According to Brown, Salt Lake City police officers seized 58 percent more drugs last year, including 189,000 individual doses of meth, heroine and other drugs. The seizures amount to $1.5 million worth of street-level drugs that have been taken from dealers, he said.
Meanwhile, for those battling substance abuse disorders or mental illness, Brown said that rather than arrests, police are directing those in the area to government services, nonprofit groups and treatment facilities for help.
Brown said "true change" occurs over time, with no easy shortcut.
In an interview prior to Tuesday's announcement, Shaleane Gee, Salt Lake County's director of special projects and partnerships, said the county and service providers are interested in advancing the conversation with the city on how to transform the Road Home to more of a homelessness resource center sooner than when new resource centers open their doors.
"We're not going to wait until 2019 to all of a sudden have a new model," Gee said. "We're asking, 'How can we do it now?'"
"What (the city has) is a good start, but in our view, we need some more aggressive measures," said Noella Sudbury, the county's Criminal Justice Advisory Council coordinator.
The list of recommendations include:
• Explore closing — even temporarily or for a few hours each day — Rio Grande Street between the Road Home and Catholic Community Services to create a "service delivery space" and prevent drive-through drug dealing, potentially with a tented area.
• Alternatively, work with police and transportation engineers to explore making Rio Grande Street and 500 West one-way traffic to prevent drive-through criminal traffic.
• Develop a plan to transform the island strip along 500 West, whether it be a private lease agreement allowing it to be policed more effectively, or a public garden model similar to what the city has suggested to accommodate individuals with community outreach programs, such as the Downtown Alliance's "street team."
• Work with law enforcement to constitutionally enforce the camping ordinances and eliminate the widespread use of camps to hide and further illegal activity.
• Involve Utah Highway Patrol, Utah Transit Authority and other agencies in patrolling the area for criminal activity.
• Relocate the state liquor store at 205 W. 400 South.
Sudbury said the list was compiled from ideas offered by "many private, public and community partners."
The partial or temporary closure of Rio Grande Street could also entail "tenting" portions of the area between the shelter and St. Vincent de Paul Dining Hall so the entire area can be used for homeless services, Gee said.
"The point is: How do we start thinking about that street not as a no man's land, but as a programmable service space? We want to explore that," she said.
Sudbury said the county is also hoping to advance conversations with the city to better enforce camping ordinances.
"There are people who camp because they're homeless; there are people who camp because they like to camp," she said. "But what we don't want to see is camping to hide illegal drug use and other criminal activity that's going on."
In order to enforce the law without violating the Constitution, Sudbury said the city has to provide other places for them to go, which means leaders must work with the city attorney's office and police to figure out a way. The county wants to encourage a conversation to find a solution, she said.
Gee said providers of services for the homeless are also enacting a slew of operating changes to shift the Road Home toward a resource model, including moving families out and into housing by July 15.
Road Home operators have also agreed to "phase out" queuing outside the shelter by making it so people don't have to line up on 500 West to get services, she said.
"We want to work with (service) providers right now to more meet what will be the new model in the new resource centers," Gee said. "So we're thinking about the changing the way individuals come in to receive service."
Contributing: Peter Samore, McKenzie Romero
