Guest Editorial: Please Read the Council Packet on Paiute, Mr. Zubia.

It is difficult to believe Raoul Zubia would purposely mislead voters about events at the Paiute Neighborhood Center. But while Raoul is entitled to his opinion, I believe residents deserve to know the facts about the effort to locate a homeless shelter on the center’s campus.

Raoul took issue with my recent video in which I asked that we protect Paiute from outside agendas — including a homeless shelter next to schools.

I used the word “shelter” because the contract did. Section 2.0 of Contract 2023-130-COS said the parties would add “non-congregate shelter beds for people experiencing homelessness in Maricopa County,” on a second floor of “28 affordable rental and non-congregate shelter units.”

Nearly half of the $16 million for the project was federal or county-administered federal money. Those dollars come with HUD rules, a Maricopa Human Services referral pipeline, and without a “Scottsdale-Only” lock on the door. City staff wrote that the program was for homeless individuals with or without children — not only local parents with children — from anywhere across Maricopa County.

Voters in the 2019 bonds approved $11 million to replace aging buildings at Paiute. They were not asked to approve shelter beds. Staff later proposed combining the repairs with a housing floor. That was a change of purpose that Raoul lobbied for.

Parents of children on that campus and residents in Southwest Village ask for certainty — not a regional intake program looming over the children’s site.

When speaking about or voting on contracts without reading them, it risks misinforming residents and can have unintended consequences.

Respectfully,
Barry Graham