Boulder Reporting Lab Senior Reporter John Herrick joined us this week to talk about how homelessness is taking center stage in local politics.
Herrick told KUNC Boulder County is seeing more unhoused residents in recent years.
“This is due to a number of issues, primarily the cost of housing, and more specifically, the shortage of affordable housing and housing vouchers,” Herrick said.
Officials say they’re seeing fentanyl overdoses among unhoused people on a regular basis. Methamphetamine use is also commonplace.
“Sometimes people use that as just a means of survival so that they can stay awake for their own safety, and of course all these challenges are compounded by mental illness.” Herrick said, “With this context in mind, I think there's many residents in Boulder who want the city to do more, and some residents have actually proposed a ballot measure.”
The Safe Zone 4 Kids measure would require the city to prioritize the removal of homeless encampments downtown and near schools, sidewalks and multi-use paths.
Five city council seats and the mayor's office are up for grabs in this election. Candidates are mostly split into two factions. Some see a solution in cracking down on encampments and drug dealers. Others don’t approve of the city's camping ban and want to instead offer more city-sanctioned safe outdoor spaces and better access to mental health treatment.
“We need more drug addiction treatment and certainly need more affordable housing, but how to pay for it is an open question,” Herrick told KUNC. “And generally, if you're going to ramp up enforcement of the city's camping ban, that leaves less money for other programs.”
