That zeal can be inspirational, but it took a less appealing turn this week when Genesis Home Executive Director Ryan Fehrman sharply criticized Councilwoman Cora Cole-McFadden for temporizing when advocates demanded her immediate commitment to their goal: getting the city to buy an extra 1.5-acre parcel so nonprofits can build supportive housing for addicts or residents with mental illnesses.
"Her first question ... was, 'What does the mayor think?'" Fehrman said. "It seems that's her question on a lot of things. But I'd like to see Cora out in front rather than following the mayor."
Cole-McFadden doesn't deserve to be attacked for her answer, or her question of whether other key figures -- in this case, Mayor Bill Bell -- are on board.
She was right not to promise more than she can deliver. Cole-McFadden has one vote, and the cash-strapped city has already warned community leaders that they want to streamline the Rolling Hills redevelopment, a message that Bell has asserted since December. She can't and shouldn't promise that the city will buy the lot, go through the legal wrangling of conveying it to a nonprofit, or commit to supportive housing rather than the broader possibilites of low-income housing.
Durham does need permanent supportive housing, but redeveloping Rolling Hills is expected to cost at least $24.5 million and, since the city has promised not to exercise eminent domain, will require intricate real-estate deals.
It's tempting to say, "What's one more?" and we encourage the city council to ask the developer, McCormack Baron Salazar, to consider adding a land purchase and conveyance for the nonprofits. If that is prohibitively complicated, the city might consider whether some of its planned 20 units for extremely impoverished residents might be suitable for permanent supportive housing. Those 20 units are committed to people who make less than $15,000 per year, which might include poor but otherwise stable senior citizens. Are they any less deserving of help than Fehrman's clients?
It's a good example of City Council's difficult charge: balancing the greatest good of the entire community with finite funds. Homeless advocates only hurt their cause if they minimize that responsibility.
