MESA, AZ — A controversial transitional housing development in Mesa faces potential opening delays after the city council took a final vote off the agenda. One group is now pushing to make sure the project stays on course.
The old Grand Hotel off East Main Street and Power Road has been the center of much discussion among Mesa neighbors these last few years.
The city needed a place to permanently move its Off the Streets program, which provides emergency shelter to individuals and families experiencing homelessness. They found that place at the Grand Hotel.
“The vote was going to be close on the purchase of this hotel as a transitional shelter for the city,” said Barbara Quijada, a Valley Interfaith Project leader.
The vote passed four to three about two years ago. Some residents were worried about the impacts on their homes and property.
Sunaire, as the project is now called, is just two miles from where Mesa currently leases 85 rooms at the Windemere Hotel for their program.
The city says Off the Street has helped more than 1,700 people.
“We have seen a considerable increase in people looking for food, people needing rent assistance," said Rev. Sandy Johnson, another Valley Interfaith Project leader.
“We actually have a waiting list right now, usually runs anywhere between 10 to 20 families are waiting to come into our program,” said Mesa Deputy City Manager Candace Cannistraro.
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With construction slated to finish early next year, all the project needs now is a city council vote to finalize furnishing the new apartments.
But the recall election last month, which saw the unseating of Councilwoman Julie Spilsbury to Turning Point USA-backed Dorean Taylor, is throwing uncertainty into what happens next.
Valley Interfaith Project tells ABC15 the vote to furnish was taken off the city council agenda recently, with no explanation as to why.
“We understand that the council makeup is different, that the new councilmember has just come on. It was her first meeting, she had just been sworn in, so our position is give her time,” said Quijada.
ABC15 took some of VIP's questions to Mesa's deputy city manager, who says it is not unusual to give a new councilmember more time to review before they vote on a complex project. She also says questions about the procurement process and state contracts led to removing the vote from the agenda.
“The furniture might have a one- or two-month delay on getting the furniture in, but overall, that’s very small in a project this complex,” said Cannistraro.
Before she was ousted, Spilsbury said approving Sunaire was one of the hardest decisions she had to make on the council. And just like her, the project falls within now-Councilwoman Taylor's district.
In a statement to ABC15, Taylor says:
“Cities across the country are grappling with homelessness, and Mesa is no exception. I deeply value our faith-based and nonprofit partners who serve our most vulnerable, and I am reviewing the Sunaire project carefully to ensure tax dollars are used wisely and aligned with those partnerships. My priority as a new City Councilmember is to deliver solutions that are effective, sustainable and truly serve our community.”
