Downtown Phoenix’s residents experienced a glimmer of hope in the ongoing homeless crisis last month after a court declared the city to blame. If the city doesn’t appeal the court’s order, it may be the end of the massive encampment known as “The Zone.”
The decision flies in the face of the precedent set by other cities: plans and spending that yield no favorable results, ultimately forcing the residents to learn to live with the crime and squalor. Yet, Phoenix may no longer be resigned to the same fate borne by most other major cities. Downtown property and business owners were vindicated in their belief: city officials’ plans, spending, and promises alone don’t qualify as results.
Requiring results of the city could mean The Zone may cease to exist in the near future — restoring a square mile of the current wasteland of city-sanctioned slums into a healthy business district — but only if the city of Phoenix decides to follow through on the court-ordered action to resolve the homeless crisis. Cleaning up The Zone would mean finding shelter and services for around 800 homeless residing in the area, according to a census conducted by the Human Services Campus late last month.
Homeless sit outside a business in The Zone.
The first bout of legal relief came for The Zone’s residents and business owners after the Maricopa County Superior Court ruled last month that the city of Phoenix was at fault for The Zone. The court ordered the city to show that it’s taking “meaningful steps” toward fixing The Zone. They have until July 10 to do so, with a trial date scheduled for June.
The ruling came days after the city of Phoenix promised to finally meet to fix The Zone, a promise prompted by back-to-back murders in the encampment.
Vice President for Legal Affairs at the Goldwater Institute, Timothy Sandefur, who submitted an amicus brief in the case, told AZ Free News that this ruling was a good first step toward remedying The Zone — but that the city has a ways to go.
“I think this is a first step and a very important one,” said Sandefur.
Sandefur said that the superior court indicated the best next steps for the city would be to build structured campgrounds and establish treatment programs, rather than continue with their current “housing first” approach.
However, notice of a settlement in a separate, federal case issued recently may complicate matters in finally getting the city of Phoenix to fix The Zone.
In the Arizona District Court case, the ACLU and the city held mediation about three weeks ago.
Details of the settlement weren’t made public. The Phoenix City Council plans to convene April 18 in an executive session — a meeting not open to the public — to discuss the terms of the settlement. At some point after, the Phoenix City Council will announce the settlement terms during a public meeting.
Of note, the city attempted to dismiss the superior court case — but not the federal case. The city also spent just shy of $100,000 fighting the superior court case.
Ilan Wurman, another lawyer on the lawsuit against the city, told AZ Free News that the court’s order to fix The Zone was thorough to the point where he imagined it would be difficult for the city to fight it.
“The court’s ruling is such a thorough victory for the business and property owners that it will be very hard for the city to overcome it at a full trial on the merits,” said Wurman. “We hope the city does the right thing and considers a settlement or simply follows through on the court’s instructions — that will save a lot of expense to taxpayers and it will be better for the unsheltered community as well.”
In remarks to the press, the city stresses that it has allocated around $140 million to solve the homeless crisis. However, there’s a difference between commitment and spending. Of the $120 million in COVID-19 relief funds received to address the homeless crisis, the city has only spent about 10 percent.
Of what little the city has spent for the homeless crisis, the Maricopa County Superior Court assessed that none of this spending has actually mitigated the crisis.
Homeless use drugs inside Phoenix’s sprawling encampment known as The Zone.
“With few exceptions, the action items about which city representatives testified centered around the creation of more bureaucracy, additional staff positions, and obtaining additional funding for programs to vaguely address homelessness in general,” stated Judge Scott Blaney. “The Court received very little evidence — if any — that the City intends to take immediate, meaningful action to protect its constituent business owners, their employees, and residents from the lawlessness and chaos in the Zone.”
However, in a recent interview, Mayor Kate Gallego indicated that the city was attempting to follow through on a “housing first” approach, and claimed that the city was “working very hard” to fix the homeless crisis.
As AZ Free News previously reported, “housing first” — also referred to as “permanent supportive” or “affordable” housing — holds the theory that the homeless will choose to seek employment, become financially responsible, and receive mental health care and/or substance abuse treatment if food and housing are provided. The theory also posits that enabling the homeless to choose their housing and support services will make them more likely to remain in that housing and stick with self-improvement initiatives.
Gallego shared that the city was working on launching seven new shelter options in partnership with various organizations, and that the city is hoping to receive additional help from both the state and federal government. She mentioned that she would meet with the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors.
Gallego disclosed that she recently spoke with Gov. Katie Hobbs about the homeless crisis — a conversation that had last occurred during Hobbs’ inauguration week in January. The mayor said that Hobbs was looking for additional resources to provide the city.
“Residents should feel confident that they’re going to see changes,” said Gallego. “The message we want to send to the public is that we recognize it’s a problem and we want to solve it.”
When questioned, Gallego didn’t directly deny that the city wouldn’t appeal the superior court’s decision.
In another interview, Gallego claimed that adequate law enforcement was taking place in The Zone. Gallego’s claim conflicted with the various investigative reports and witness accounts that depicted minimal law enforcement in The Zone.
“We treat every member of our community the same when they commit a crime. We want to be consistent and to enforce breaking the law,” said Gallego. “If you commit a crime, it is the same regardless of your housing status.”
However, the “Gaydos and Chad Show” testified to witnessing a myriad of criminal activity during a recent excursion in The Zone — including drug use, public defecation and urination, and prostitution — but not seeing any police presence. In response, Gallego claimed the city’s police were “too aggressive” when handling the homeless. The mayor cited the Arizona District Court case against the city as justification for her claim. However, that lawsuit concerned whether the city could enforce camping and sleeping bans, as well as whether the city had a right to seize or throw away items from homeless encampments as part of cleanup efforts. The lawsuit does not address police response to criminal activity.
Watch: The Zone – Homelessness and Crime Rampant in Phoenix
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
Following the latest two homicides to occur in The Zone, downtown Phoenix’s notorious homeless encampment, city leaders say they plan to convene to take action. There were no further details offered of when or where this meeting will occur; the next policy session, scheduled for April 11, was canceled.
A city spokesperson toldAZ Family that these latest violent acts prompted their pending meeting.
“Our urgent priority is helping connect unsheltered individuals around [the] Human Services Campus with safe, indoor housing options and resources to end homelessness,” stated the spokesperson.
The spokesperson also noted that the city added nearly 600 new shelter beds last year, and projected that 800 will be available through this year. There are over 1,000 estimated homeless individuals in The Zone.
The first victim of the latest murders, a man, was discovered around 8 am on Tuesday. Police toldFox 10 Phoenix that they were unable to identify the victim due to the burn injuries. Two men were arrested as suspects in the crime: 18-year-old Isaiah Baskin, and 22-year-old Larry Scott.
Baskin alleged that he played a role in the crime: he allegedly witnessed Scott and another, unidentified individual assault the victim, then assisted them in bagging, transporting, and dumping the victim into a dumpster. Baskin reportedly told police that he could hear the victim moaning inside the dumpster. Then, Baskin admitted that he retrieved a lighter which Scott used to set the victim on fire.
Around 48 hours after the first victim’s death, the second victim of the latest murders, a woman, was shot. Officers responded to a call from a man alleging that someone hit him in the head with a gun before shooting the woman. The woman later died due to her injuries at a hospital. A suspect has yet to be named.
Vice Mayor Yassamin Ansari, whose district encompasses The Zone, didn’t issue a public statement on the two murders. However, she did share a New York Times article highlighting the plights of several homeless and business owners in the area.
When I took office amid the pandemic & housing crisis, our homeless population was increasing rapidly- far outpacing available shelter beds.
Chipping away at this crisis has required a monumental community effort. And often, it’s been frustratingly slow.https://t.co/J28A0i8U6k
— Vice Mayor Yassamin Ansari (@District7PHX) March 21, 2023
There were over 700 homeless deaths in the area last year — an uptick of several hundred from 2021.
Per AZ Free News reporting on The Zone, the incessant daily crime has reached levels unmanageable by police. First responders have assessed the area as too dangerous to enter without police escort. Gangs run the streets, making the homeless pay for tent space and assaulting them as punishment.
Not all leadership appeared to be as fazed by the state of The Zone.
Secretary of State Adrian Fontes, hours after the initial murder — a man burned alive in a dumpster — called the area “not great” and suggested that constituents “go buy a sandwich” from a restaurant located within The Zone.
I had lunch at the Old Station today with a couple people from the office. Things are not great nearby, but the restaurant itself was pretty good. #6 Double meat Diet Coke Chips. Give them some love. Go buy a sandwich! https://t.co/Rek5cRLcgt
Comparatively, attorney general candidate Abe Hamadeh compared Phoenix to Gotham: the fictional, crime-ridden city of Batman lore.
Phoenix is now Gotham…
On March 21, a man was burned alive after at least two suspects placed his body in a dumpster and lit him on fire. According to sources, his moans could be heard by homeless individuals who occupy “The Zone”https://t.co/RBRUuT97oK
Secretary of State Adrian Fontes weighed in after the latest tragedy to hit The Zone, a dead man burned in a dumpster, by calling the area “not great” and recommending his favorite lunch order from a local sandwich shop.
“I had lunch at the Old Station today with a couple people from the office. Things are not great nearby, but the restaurant itself was pretty good,” said Fontes. “#6 Double meat. Diet Coke. Chips. Give them some love. Go buy a sandwich!”
I had lunch at the Old Station today with a couple people from the office. Things are not great nearby, but the restaurant itself was pretty good. #6 Double meat Diet Coke Chips. Give them some love. Go buy a sandwich! https://t.co/Rek5cRLcgt
The homeless encampment, nicknamed “The Zone,” covers an area spanning several miles in downtown Phoenix that has made headlines nationwide over the past year.
The sandwich shop, Old Station, resides in the heart of The Zone. Fontes retweeted an interview snippet from “The Gaydos and Chad Show” featuring the shop owner, Joe Faillace, discussing the dire state of the community due to the ongoing homeless crisis. Hours before Fontes sent that tweet, and likely around the same time Fontes was eating his sandwich, first responders were handling the latest dead body to be discovered in The Zone — a man thrown into a dumpster and burned.
The business owner whose property abutted the dumpster, Angie Ojile, told AZ Free News that she doesn’t know why the city or county isn’t taking a different approach with The Zone, considering the daily patterns of crime and death.
“It’s hard to imagine: a man found in this dumpster, burned,” said Ojile. “It’s like — are we invisible? They say they care, but what I see is indifference.”
Where a memorial may have been laid for the life lost, the city brought another dumpster instead. Ojile said that the residents almost mistook it for the same dumpster where the man was found.
“Instead of any kind of memorial — being that there was a burned body thrown in there — the city’s display of compassion is to replace it with another beat up, burnt-out dumpster with similar graffiti that most swear was the same. I can’t imagine that it was,” said Ojile.
As AZ Free News reported earlier this month, The Zone has become so overridden with crime that residents and business owners say that their calls to police go unanswered or unheeded. The Zone lies only around three blocks from the Phoenix Police Department headquarters: just over half a mile.
In the last year, there were over 700 homeless deaths in The Zone. One of those deaths was that of a premature baby, approximately 20 to 24 weeks old, whose remains were discovered burned by a dumpster just weeks before Thanksgiving. Several locals told AZ Free News they believed that the dumpster from that tragedy was the same one in which this most recent death occurred. Whether they were the same dumpster is unclear.
“If they put a memorial up for every person that’s died in The Zone, it would look more like a graveyard than an industrial and residential district,” said Ojile.
🧵INBOX: Welcome to The Zone, the epicenter of the homeless crisis that @CityofPhoenixAZ refuses to solve. This man is one of many that will likely live and die on these streets under the city's current approach to homelessness. I investigated & uncovered shocking details… pic.twitter.com/snb8QkvjsA
Arizonans enacted a major incentive for local governments to address homelessness.
Voters approved Proposition 312, which requires local governments to compensate its property and business owners for damages caused by the homeless. Governor Katie Hobbs certified the proposition on Monday alongside all other election results.
Proposition 312 would secure compensations through a refund on property tax payments up to an amount matching costs incurred by local government’s “failure to enforce laws and ordinances prohibiting illegal camping, loitering, obstructing public thoroughfares, panhandling, public urination or defecation, public consumption of alcoholic beverages, and possession or use of illegal substances.”
Should the cost of damages exceed the property tax bill, the proposition gives the owner the right to apply for a refund from their next property tax payment(s) in perpetuity until that initial balance is paid.
“Property owners would be eligible annually for refunds until the taxing entity begins enforcing the relevant public nuisance laws,” stated the ballot summary.
Policy experts anticipate the Arizona proposition to inspire other cities to adopt a similar policy.
The Goldwater Institute, which crafted Proposition 312, said in a statement on Monday that the measure provided another tool in addressing the homeless crisis facing Phoenix and major cities in other states. Victor Riches, Goldwater Institute’s senior communications manager, said in an opinion piece for The Wall Street Journal that the proposition should serve as sufficient motivation for local elected officials to act with more urgency.
“Proposition 312 should be a wake-up call for elected officials forcing law-abiding businesses and residents to pay the price for a crisis they didn’t create,” said Riches. “The message to politicians couldn’t be clearer: Do your job. Enough is enough.”
Riches identified Phoenix and its infamous downtown area unofficially cordoned off for the homeless (“The Zone”) as a prime example of the “government malfeasance” that allowed the adverse effects of homelessness on properties and businesses in the area.
“Property values plummeted in the Zone. Small businesses suffered. People lost their livelihoods as dozens of business owners had no choice but to close up shop,” said Riches. “And even as the city spent over $180 million to address the crisis (only a fraction of which is publicly accounted for), the number of homeless people in Phoenix rose 92% between 2018 and 2023.”
Nearly 59 percent of voters (1.8 million votes) approved Proposition 312. The legislative vehicle for the proposition, HCR 2023, passed in both chambers with bipartisan support earlier this year.
Major leftist organizations said in their arguments against Proposition 312 that the cities and counties shouldn’t face financial punishment for the acts of the homeless, and reduced tax revenue would hinder funding for community assistance geared toward homelessness.
Among those to oppose Proposition 312 were Civic Engagement Beyond Voting, Lutheran Social Services of the Southwest, Opportunity Arizona, Fuerte Arts Movement, Living United for Change in Arizona, and the ACLU of Arizona.
The Common Sense Institute Arizona (CSI) found in a report released last month that the proposition would likely improve property values.
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A ballot measure to protect Arizonans from the rise of unabated homelessness in communities was overwhelmingly passed by voters in the General Election.
Earlier this month, Proposition 312 received almost 60% of the vote, cruising to a smooth victory on Election Night. The measure, which was referred to the ballot from the Arizona Legislature, stipulates that “property owners may apply for a tax refund for expenses incurred due to a governing authority’s failure to enforce certain public nuisance laws on or near the owner’s real property.”
The legislative vehicle for the measure, HCR 2023, was sponsored by House Speaker Ben Toma. It passed both chambers in the Arizona Legislature with bipartisan support and was transmitted to the Secretary of State’s Office in March of this year.
In a statement after the successful passage of the bill out of his chamber, Senate President Warren Petersen said, “There are instances where local governments routinely and repeatedly fail their citizens by not enforcing laws. An example of this would be the City of Phoenix’s handling of the former homeless encampment known as ‘The Zone.’ This area was not only a public safety and public health disaster for those who camped there, but it was also a detriment to the livelihoods of small business owners who set up their shops in the area.”
Petersen added, “Money talks, and as a way to encourage municipalities to enforce the law, Speaker Toma and I teamed up to sponsor HCR 2023/SCR 1006. This measure is a ballot referral that would protect law-abiding citizens. If approved by voters, property owners would be allowed to request a refund for expenses incurred to mitigate the problem, up to the amount of their property tax liability. The funds would be deducted from the local government’s state shared revenue.”
Speaker Toma also had said, “Business owners and residents alike are having their property stolen, vandalized, or terrorized and are desperate for help. That’s why I sponsored HCR2023, to hold our local governments accountable to our community members and to help provide some relief for property owners who have suffered damages because of a city’s purposeful failure to provide the public health and safety services we all pay for.”
The Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry, which was instrumental in promoting the proposition, issued a statement following the General Election win, writing, “Arizona voters have sent a clear message: Government, do your job. They do not want our state to become the next San Francisco or Los Angeles. Prop 312 is a win for property owners, businesses, and everyday Arizonans who too often shoulder the costs of unaddressed homelessness.”
“Arizona voters have sent a clear message: Government, do your job. They do not want our state to become the next San Francisco or Los Angeles. Prop 312 is a win for property owners, businesses, and everyday Arizonans who too often shoulder the costs of unaddressed homelessness. pic.twitter.com/IPLhHq5UAf
The Goldwater Institute, which also pushed for Prop 312’s passage, also took a well-deserved victory lap after the positive result. The organization’s President and CEO, Victor Riches, stated, “The voters sent a clear message this election cycle: they demand their tax dollars be used to enforce the law and address rampant homelessness. Now that Prop 312 is law, business and property owners will not be left holding the bag when municipalities refuse to do their job.”
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
