Commissioner Murman mentioned in this Tribune article on latest homeless solution:
By KEVIN WIATROWSKI | The Tampa Tribune
Published: May 18, 2012
The City Council got its first look Thursday at a public-private proposal aimed at getting the region’s most chronic homeless people off the streets.
Known as “housing first,” the proposal by the Chronic Homelessness Solutions Committee calls for buying and renovating small apartment buildings to put roofs over the heads of the county’s chronic homeless.
The plan calls for using more than $2 million in unspent federal money to buy and fix up an apartment building on North 15th Avenue.
That building will become the core around which the broader housing program will coalesce, said Thom Snelling, the city’s planning and development director.
Over the next five years, the group hopes to house 500 of the county’s 700 or so toughest homeless cases at sites scattered across the county and the city.
Snelling works with the committee, which includes Hillsborough County Commissioner Sandy Murman, Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn and Tampa Bay Lightning chief executive officer Tom Leiweke, among others.
It does not include anyone from City Council – much to council members’ irritation.
“We want to be at the table,” Councilman Frank Reddick said.
Councilwoman Yvonne Capin will meet Tuesday with Murman to make the city’s case for joining the committee.
The plan stresses the need to get the homeless into housing. After that, charities and government agencies will be able to provide counseling and other services to those who qualify, Snelling said.
“The most important thing is to get the housing first,” Snelling said.
The city has failed to create its own “housing first” program because it lacks property suitable to the task, Snelling told council members in January.
Buckhorn said this week that the city may use its own federal funds to contribute to the Murman-led project.
“What we’re looking for is a potential site that could be acquired through bankruptcy or foreclosure,” he said.
