Denver mayor candidate Trinidad Rodriguez would declare a “state of emergency” over homelessness and push for “involuntary holds” for mental health and addiction treatment

Standing in entrance of the Statehouse, mayoral candidate Trinidad Rodriguez informed a small crowd of supporters he is able to declare a state of emergency over homelessness in Denver.

One thing in regards to the metropolis’s response to homelessness isn’t working and issues are getting worse, he mentioned. For Rodriguez, who has recognized individuals who lived with out shelter and struggled with dependancy, that’s unacceptable — not only for companies but in addition for individuals experiencing homelessness and psychological well being points.

“A part of my dedication to this trigger comes from my private expertise with family members who’ve battled housing insecurity, dependancy, and psychological well being problems,” he mentioned. “It additionally helped me develop my proposal with an understanding and compassion for the challenges that our persons are dealing with at a person degree.”

When he was 11, he realized his godfather was each homeless and combating dependancy.

“I bear in mind the primary hope and need that popped into my head for him was, wherever he’s, no matter metropolis that he’s in, that there’s somebody there who would shield him from himself and anybody who would do hurt to him when he’s weak,” he mentioned.

The candidate’s hope is that he’s in a position to present that form of safety to the chronically homeless in Denver.

Rodriguez has spent 25 years of his profession working to handle homelessness by way of the Denver Housing Authority and as a board member on the Downtown Denver Partnership and the youth homelessness supplier City Peak. He’s been a member of Denver’s Housing Advisory Council and served on the taskforce for Blueprint Denver, a grasp plan for town.

“I imagine the disaster on our streets is principally pushed by a sequence of well being crises — not affordability in our metropolis,” he mentioned.

The town’s methods for addressing the problems of dependancy and psychological well being of these dwelling on the streets merely aren’t working, he mentioned. Deaths amongst individuals experiencing homelessness are up, and violence is rising.

“Downtown is a shadow of its former self, having been overtaken by individuals in disaster pursuing their drug misuse, laid low with psychological problems, and by those that prey upon them, presenting critical security issues,” Rodriguez mentioned. “Workers of our downtown companies cite security issues amongst their principal causes for not returning to their places of work.”

The town’s makes an attempt to handle homelessness have been lengthy and complex. One in every of Mayor Michael Hancock’s signature efforts in his first time period was the passing of an city tenting ban. The town has seen a dramatic rise of unsheltered homelessness since its passage.

The group round Union Station has wrangled with the Hancock administration’s method to homelessness and psychological well being points on the streets. Some residents have demanded a extra muscular police response. Downtown condominium dwellers have advocated to close down a resort the place unhoused individuals weak to COVID-19 have been dwelling. Companies in Capitol Hill and different neighborhoods have put boulders and fencing on their properties to discourage individuals from tenting in entrance of their buildings.

Rodriguez, who donated to Hancock’s mayoral campaigns from 2013 to 2019, proposed becoming a member of downtown enterprise leaders of their plans for addressing security and homelessness. That follows Hancock’s actions, together with a current compassionate crackdown on crime, with assist from the Downtown Denver Partnership, the U.S. Legal professional’s Workplace, Colorado’s Legal professional Basic and the mayor.

But when elected, Rodriguez plans to take issues a step additional.

“As Mayor, amongst my first acts might be to declare a state of emergency concerning unhoused individuals dwelling on Denver streets,” mentioned Rodriguez, who was a monetary backer of the Hancock marketing campaign.

Doing so, he would train powers from the Colorado Catastrophe Emergency Act and Denver Constitution that might release emergency funding to handle the problem.

“With this expanded authority I suggest to, to start with, construct a brief area remedy heart with the assistance of native, state and federal assets which can be acceptable in a state of emergency, truly using a number of the methods we developed as we ready for a catastrophic COVID surge.”

He would transfer the mayor’s workplace to the sector remedy heart so long as there was “any single particular person receiving remedy,” he mentioned.

He plans to harness state and federal assets to pay employees, together with medical professionals, to confess individuals into medical care who’re a hazard to themselves or others. That might be voluntarily or involuntarily. He additionally desires to push state lawmakers to allow involuntary holds on individuals in want of psychological and substance dependancy remedy.

“We could have a excessive moral burden to make sure our method is humane, and we’ll fulfill it,” Rodriguez mentioned.

He would open navigation facilities, akin to related ones in Houston and the Bay Space, the place individuals could be related to remedy.

“I help the transition of individuals when they’re stabilized from this preliminary remedy to the ecosystem of suppliers in our group to make sure further phases of therapeutic and restoration with suppliers and the providing of extra voluntary choices,” he mentioned.

He believes this method — which echoes New York Mayor Eric Adams’ controversial plan to involuntarily hospitalize mentally sick individuals who seem unable to take care of themselves — will assist individuals experiencing homelessness and Denver’s neighborhoods alike.

“What success will seem like is that unhoused individuals will get compassionate help no matter the place they’re of their journey — voluntarily or involuntarily,” he mentioned. “Our neighborhoods will see seen enhancements in public well being and security circumstances surrounding road homelessness.”