The recent violent events in downtown Pioneer Park – long a haven for the city’s homeless and drug dealers – which occurred just as city police launched new efforts to stem criminal activity once again reminds us that effective, comprehensive downtown planning requires city officials to do a far better job in dealing with the issue of homelessness. That includes guiding the broad spectrum of community and business leaders toward effective combinations of regulatory and nonregulatory actions.

Fortunately, nearby local business owners who’ve done yeoman’s work in cultivating an increasingly vibrant climate to bring customers downtown have been generously patient even as they often wrestle directly with occasional uncomfortable and difficult interactions involving panhandlers, homeless individuals, and drug users and dealers.

Pioneer Park also serves as the home during the summer and early fall months for the Farmer’s Market as well as a few other community events. While vigorous law enforcement measures help in the short term, they do not address concerns for a long-term approach that should ensure no harm for the homeless population in general.

The next mayor has to be an effective catalyst and facilitator who encourages ongoing relationships with social service providers and a positively-framed administrative approach that’s directed toward making affordable housing more widely available rather than focusing primarily or exclusively upon specific behaviors that potentially displace the homeless from using public spaces.

The current candidates could do better. Dave Buhler (Republican) endorses surveillance cameras for the troubled park. Ralph Becker (Democrat) endorses a virtually constant presence of law enforcement in the park. The audacity in recent crime, though, hardly reflects any perceptible impact of those measures.

Before venturing forth with a few recommendations, let me offer some important background for the purposes of context. First, homeless individuals should not be confused for panhandlers, who by their chronic nature of rude (in your face) interruptions can have a chilling effect on downtown business and for those of us who live and work downtown. Often, people tend to romanticize this aspect and this should be actively discouraged because the homeless and panhandling populations are actually making us quite confused and conflicted about the money and programs that are dedicated to providing services to those dispossessed. Indeed, the persistently homeless population includes those with mental illnesses and substance abuse problems as well as those who’ve found idiosyncratically their comfort zones, so to speak, and are, therefore, resistant to change. However, there is a significant portion of the homeless population who actively seek to change their lot so public and private social service agencies are doing important work and need our ongoing support. I would argue that few panhandlers – but not all – are actually homeless, based on my empirical observations over the seven years I’ve been in Salt Lake City.

On the other hand, if we are going to have an aggressive crackdown on panhandlers – which would bar them from outdoor cafes, ATMs, and similar locations – we also need a positive balancing effect in which city officials and downtown merchants would collaborate on a citizen anti-panhandling campaign to give money and in-kind donations instead to organizations that deal directly with homelessness.

Punitive measures alone are hardly wise. A good place to start is to establish a systematic and frequent channel of public dialogue that keeps these issues persistently in the mind of the community. A forum, for example, on the shortage of affordable housing would be a good place to start. This would establish good visibility and credibility for the agencies that deal with accommodating the homeless population. So would regular meetings with the city police to assess and discuss the presence and behaviors of people in downtown public spaces – involving downtown merchants, Chamber of Commerce representatives, downtown residential property owners and representatives from social agencies as well as members of the homeless population. This dialogue potentially establishes the critical pretext that any measures do not inadvertently and unfairly punish the homeless. This is significant because most services for the homeless are located inside the boundaries of the downtown business district.

And, the threat of criminal punishment alone certainly does not guarantee, for example, that an alcoholic person will stop drinking in public. As we firm up urban plans, we need to factor in a mechanism that makes it easier to get the authority for obtaining the necessary resources to establish adequate rehabilitation, treatment, and recovery services. We also need to be much more careful about not permitting developers and city planners to unduly exercise their powers without getting meaningful input from citizens and from those stakeholders who deal directly with the homeless.

A mayor who envisions a vibrant downtown district cannot ignore what seems to be a clearly intractable problem at the moment. A mayor can do a lot by articulating a grand vision ultimately cultivated and realized through the coordinated tasks and activities of the municipal offices, divisions, departments, and agencies. Therefore, a vision that encompasses working with service providers, educating the community, and collaborating with planners and developers to increase affordable housing will be a solid start.

It is not enough for local officials to ask their citizens to be more tolerant or to engage in symbolic, often meaningless, posturing of political correctness. There certainly is plenty of stereotyping rhetoric around and often what should be a meaningful debate quickly disintegrates into defensive communication on both sides of the issue. Public awareness can be substantive and ultimately corrective, if approached judiciously. A mayor who catalyzes the discussion and keeps the issue in the minds of community stakeholders will then do a great deal in reducing the intolerance toward the homeless and in giving them the respect they deserve just as the rest of us here in Salt Lake City.