Solutions needed for Kalispell vagrancy problem
I read with interest the front-page article on Nov. 5 featuring a photo of a police cruiser patrolling the Parkline Trail, in which Kalispell City Councilman Chad Graham is quoted using words like “flophouse” and “doormat to Whitefish” to describe what he says Kalispell is not.
Nice try, councilman. Kalispell, only behind Missoula, has the second largest homeless population in the state. Yes, it has become a flophouse.
It only makes sense that providing more services to the homeless will cause an uptick in use and abuse of those services. It is hard to deny the causal relationship here. That said, I realize I am walking a fine line when I posit that perhaps we are helping to create the problem we are trying to solve. We clearly do not have the resources currently to care for all the unhoused people in the area, many of whom have migrated here from other places. There have to be some limits.
Desperate people do desperate things, and we should not be surprised when some of these people act in desperate ways to secure their basic needs and more. That police cruiser is patrolling the lovely Parkline Trail because it has become unsavory, unsafe and unusable for the average citizen of this fine community. Vagrancy of all kinds, assaults, the performance of bodily functions in plain view of passersby, displays of mental instability and distress dot the trail.
I recommend carrying personal protection or at least being able to run fast as a condition of enjoying this trail. Depot Park shares the same fate thanks to the influx of unhoused and largely unstable persons.
What redress can one expect from the average homeless petty criminal picked up by police for theft, vagrancy or assault? The jail is already full and these people have no money, so they are caught and released with no consequences, to go forth and continue their established lifestyle. This revolving door of “justice” is a waste of our tax dollars, not to mention the wasted time and energy of our local law enforcement.
What about those homeless individuals who just need a helping hand, are down on their luck and are willing to work toward a more secure housing arrangement and their own recovery if that is a factor? By all means, help these folks. These are the ones who benefit from the largesse of the many generous and caring individuals who have supported the various shelters and other resources around the valley. These are the ones we need to help.
There must be a vetting process; some way of distinguishing between those who will make use of the benefits extended and take some responsibility for their own recovery, be it financial or otherwise, and those who are simply gaming the system and choosing the life of vagrancy.
Beyond that, getting some help for the mentally ill who so often end up on the streets should be a priority.
Would it be feasible for a person seeking assistance to perform a few hours of community service in exchange for bed and board? Surely we can do better to help people move forward with their lives and become productive or at the very least not a public nuisance.
As a resident of Columbia Falls, I can tell you plainly that our city does not benefit from having unhoused persons camping downtown or in our parks, or harassing folks with their panhandling, or burglarizing cars and homes. We need to take a hard pass on providing further services until a vetting process can eliminate at least some of those who are just here to take advantage of services offered and are unwilling to take any responsibility for improving their lives.
Hopefully these thoughts will spur some conversation in the community about homelessness in the valley and generate some possible solutions to the problem.
Kathleen Procita lives in Columbia Falls.