
Scottsdale City Council remains steadfast to affordable housing solutions
By Terrance Thornton | Digital Free Press
The existing timeline envisioned for the Residence at Paiute affordable housing project emerging in south Scottsdale has been stalled.
Scottsdale City Council Tuesday, Feb. 20, voted unanimously to rescind two measures approved in September 2023 allowing for federal funding to flow through Maricopa County to help shoulder costs of the Residence at Paiute affordable housing project.
From a technical standpoint, these are the funding measures Scottsdale City Council rescinded earlier this week:
- The first was rescinding resolution No. 12913, which in broad strokes allowed a capital grant contingency budget transfer of $6,570,000 to a capital improvement fund that was to be fueled with dollars from the American Rescue Plan Act funneled through approvals by the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors.
- Found part of the same resolution now rescinded was a General Plan Initiatives funding transfer up to $7,909,173 for construction of the Residence at Paiute.
- Furthermore, a separate General Fund resolution No. 12928 was a transfer from Bond 2019 designated at $5,316,186 for the now stalled Residence at Paiute project.
- A total of $19,795,359 of designated public funds are now rescinded between the governing bodies of Scottsdale City Council and Maricopa County Board of Supervisors, records show.
The Paiute Neighborhood Center opened in 1995 at a former elementary school site, filling a need for community programs and social services, city officials say.
The Paiute Neighborhood Center is home to the city’s Human Services Department, a team of social workers and other professionals who provide crisis case management and other services, including First Things First programming for children under age 5, and administering Scottsdale Housing Agency programs.
City officials also report the center provides for partner nonprofit agencies, including Maricopa County’s Headstart/Early Headstart child development programs, the Southwest Autism Research & Resource Center Community School, and the Hirsch Academy Title 1 Charter School.
“As of this date, Maricopa County has not scheduled the approval of the contract with the city for the $6,570,000 in funding and advised that the funds would not be made available to the city and will be reallocated to projects already moving forward in the West Valley,” said Judy Doyle, Scottsdale Community Services executive assistant director.
“Without the availability of the $6,570,000 from Maricopa County the project is not viable so it will not be moving forward at this time therefore we are asking to rescind these two resolutions.”
But despite the loss of funding at the county and federal levels, Scottsdale City Council will be moving forward with the affordable housing project and renovations at the Paiute Neighborhood Center.
“We do plan on moving forward with the project because we are moving the bond project back to its original timeline,” Ms. Doyle said pointing out the original timeline for the Bond 2019 project didn’t predict construction beginning until fiscal year 2028-29.
“We moved up the housing project because we had this opportunity with the county. We are moving back to the original funding timeline. We don’t want to tie up that 5.3 million in General Fund dollars,” she said.
In a piece of political juxtaposition, the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors did approve $1.8 million in rental and housing assistance funds for the pending Residence at Paiute project now stalled.
“Staff is currently considering alternative, appropriate uses for those funds,” Ms. Doyle said pointing out those funds are not required to be spent until Sept. 30, 2030. “We plan on working with the county to find out how to use those funds appropriately.”
Of Note: In the 2019 bond election, voters approved Project 25: ‘Replace Aging Buildings that Comprise Paiute Community Center,’ a renovation project estimated then at $11.2 million. Meanwhile, due to inflation, on Sept. 19, 2023, Scottsdale City Council added $5.3 million from the General Plan initiatives to cover the additional cost.
The confounding case of the Residence at Paiute
Coined, ‘The Residence at Paiute’ the project is expected to comprise a combination of studio and two-bedroom units provided at low or no-cost to seniors and persons with disabilities, with several units dedicated to case-managed, temporary bridge housing for parents with children who are working toward securing independent stable housing in Scottsdale.
Scottsdale officials report construction cost is expected to be $15.7 million with $7.8 million then contemplated to come from the federal government, which was then expected to be administered by Maricopa County.
Scottsdale voters were not asked to approve bond financing for affordable housing, and no bond financing will be used for the Residence at Paiute project, city officials say.
Without private dollars or federal grant monies the Residence at Paiute project is facing a shortfall, Ms. Doyle points out.
Scottsdale Councilman Tom Durham did not mince words.
“The only strings here was that the residents had to be American citizens and we have lost over $6 million dollars over the fear that someday, somewhere somebody we don’t like would have moved into this,” he said of what he believes soured the relationship between City Council and Maricopa County.
“I hope we learned a lesson from this tonight about strings; and we are free to reject the strings but we lose the money and that is money you all we have to make up for at some point.”
Scottsdale Mayor David Ortega also offered a strong perspective on the political matter.
“I became aware the county was dragging their feet and we looked at it at the staff level,” he said pointing out a breakdown in intergovernmental communications.
“We did not get any response. We did not get any response from Supervisor Thomas Galvin, in fact he blocked the funds. Supervisor Galvin actually ghosted us, he did not respond. He did not represent the people of Scottsdale and therefore it was not [put on an agenda.]”
Mayor Ortega points out affordable housing is a crisis in Scottsdale and throughout the Valley of the Sun.
“There isn’t a day that goes by when someone doesn’t mention to me that housing affordability is in crisis, whether it be for seniors or veterans in Scottsdale and even other places in the Valley.
“At some point you have to recognize that Scottsdale is a major donor to the county and federal level … We are a high performance city. We are donor city meaning that we give more than we give back.”
Mayor Ortega says politics is getting in the way of helping Scottsdale residents in need.
“The action tonight is to rescind the resolutions that we got shorted on,” Mayor Ortega said. “It is unfortunate when state officers become part of the problem and not part of the solution — we can’t turn our back on seniors.”
The Digital Free Press reached out to Mr. Galvin, an elected leader at the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors.
“Thank you for the opportunity to respond. However, I am not going to engage in petty political rhetoric on this issue. My number one priority is looking out for the Maricopa County taxpayers. Councilman Graham’s quote in your story regarding the proposed cost per unit reflects my thought process,” he said. “The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors is tasked with allocating ARPA funds and does so with a mindset of determining what provides the best value for County taxpayers. The Board invests in projects based on need and maximum impact for the community as a whole.”
Scottsdale Councilwoman Solange Whitehead says she is deeply disappointed by the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors.
“We are now but guaranteed that Scottsdale residents will not be helped,” she said pointing out having fractured approval votes allows for politics get played in lawmaker chambers. “We have got to stop playing politics … I am deeply disappointed with the county Board of Supervisors for giving our tax dollars to the West Valley and leaving our seniors highs and dry.”
For Scottsdale Councilman Barry Graham, the Residence at Paiute proposal is not in tune with voter-approved plans at the Paiute Neighborhood Center.
“The city’s proposal to build housing at Paiute was not well-planned. City Council received vague and conflicting information about the project, which would have cost taxpayers $700,000-plus for each of the 28 apartment units. The units would have been squeezed-in with a community center, schools and other buildings.”
Councilman Graham points out his concerns regarding federal ‘strings attached’ to ARPA funds.
“A major problem was the federal strings-attached, imposing restrictions on Scottsdale’s ability to determine who participates. The city’s only other housing-project—built with another strings-attached grant—shows that 75% of its participants have originated outside Scottsdale,” he explained.
“Many of those in favor of the project aspired to helping Scottsdale seniors and veterans, but the fine-print clearly prohibited that. I’m looking forward to construction of the original voter-approved Bond 2019 project to update the buildings at the Paiute Community Center, a valuable community resource.”