I was glad to hear that they are working on this issue;
But that’s not the case anymore, as the city and its public and private partners have adjusted policing, security and amenities to curb the amount of begging along downtown Sioux Falls’ primary commercial corridor. And that’s resulting in what regulars to the bustling Phillips Avenue say has been a noticeable downturn in the number of transients and homeless loitering on street corners.
I am hoping they are NOT applying the same strategy of the last mayor of ‘whack a mole’ where they just chased the transients from one park to another with a roundup Friday afternoon to the County Jail.
Is the organization in cooperation with the SFPD monitoring where a person goes once they have skirted them out of DTSF? How many are getting services? How many are just finding another intersection to panhandle at?
I can tell you as someone who lives adjacent to DTSF, while there is a noticeable difference in the core of downtown, on the fringes the homeless are still gathering.
Obviously this is a work in progress and a huge learning curve but at least they are putting the BID Tax increase to good use and actually making an attempt to do it right this time. Heck, I even saw a drone flying down Phillips Avenue of Saturday night, not sure if it was a police drone or just someone screwing around.
I would also like to know more about this;
DTSF President Joe Batcheller told The Dakota Scout that the organization recently entered two-year, $700,000 contract with Block By Block, a Kentucky-based company that helps groups like DTSF optimize its hospitality and safety services.
Did DTSF get a grant for programming or is it coming directly from their budget? Also, is it the job of DTSF to provide security to business owners? There are good arguments on both sides, but I am still curious why the city did’t just chip in for this programming?
I wish them luck in tackling this, and remember, hand sanitizer is for your hands not a mixer for your cocktail.
*I did leave Joe Batcheller a voicemail with some followup questions and hope to hear back from him.