By Raoul Zubia
Residents do deserve the facts. That is exactly why I objected to Barry Graham’s inaccurate characterization of The Residence at Paiute as a “homeless shelter next to schools.” The Arizona Republic just fact checked Barry’s claims, Barry please read the Arizona Republic.
Despite his insulting suggestion that as a leader for Paiute, I didn’t read the documentation, the federal funding agreement used the technical term “non-congregate shelter.” But that does not turn the project Scottsdale designed into the kind of homeless shelter Barry’s rhetoric suggests. And he knows that.
The City described The Residence at Paiute as a separately funded project of up to 28 affordable housing units. City materials stated those studio and two-bedroom units would serve seniors and people with disabilities, with several units dedicated to case-managed, temporary bridge housing for parents with children working toward stable, independent housing in Scottsdale.
Barry has also conveniently conflated two separate projects. The 2019 bond project was for replacing aging buildings at Paiute. The Residence at Paiute was a separately funded housing project proposed as a second story on the new building. No bond financing was going to be used for the housing component. Period. That distinction was made explicitly in the city’s public materials. Barry knows that.
And this wasn’t a proposal for rows of shelter beds or a regional congregate homeless facility. It was a residential project with individual studio and two-bedroom units. The city’s capital plan described the proposed residents as homeless seniors, single-parent families in bridge housing, and seniors at or below 60 percent of area median income. And Barry knows that.
Barry can disagree with the project. He did. He voted against the two measures dealing with its housing component while supporting the separate funding for replacement of the aging Paiute buildings. But disagreement doesn’t justify describing 28 apartments for seniors, people with disabilities, and families receiving case-managed bridge housing simply as a “homeless shelter next to schools.” That’s just irresponsible. The city’s own documents provide a much more complete description of what was proposed. Again, Barry knows all of this.
My opponent has already shown he’ll lean into disinformation if it suits him. We’ve seen Barry and his running mate do it on water. It’s no surprise he’s twisting himself in knots on this issue after I called him out.
I supported The Residence at Paiute because I believe Scottsdale should help seniors and families facing housing instability remain part of the community they call home. Barry opposed it. That’s a legitimate policy disagreement, and voters can decide which approach they prefer. But we should have that debate based on the entire record, not the most alarming phrase someone can pull from a federal funding agreement and jam into a short video on social media.
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