Residents, business owners press Casa Grande council for homelessness solutions; one commenter proposes nonprofit-run encampment

Several residents and downtown business owners used the public-comment period at the Casa Grande City Council meeting to urge the city to accelerate services and enforcement for unsheltered people and to consider new site-based responses. The most detailed proposal came from Charles Ellis, who identified himself as a resident and described a parcel he said is part of the Martin Subdivision (parcel number cited in comment: 504220020). "I don't want Casa Grande to run it. I would like to open an encampment for the homeless, but I don't want Casa Grande to run it. I'm going to organize a nonprofit organization to run it, oversee it, and take care of it," Ellis said. He described the parcel as approximately "200 by 375" feet (about 7,500 square feet) and said it already has gated access and utilities; he also said he believed the state owned the property and suggested leasing would be necessary. The mayor told Ellis that council could not take action during public comment but asked him to provide his contact information to the deputy city manager for staff follow-up. Downtown business owner Kirsten Jeffers, who co-founded a network of downtown merchants, told the council the downtown area has seen weekly burglaries and other disruptions. "I am asking you to please come down and frequent your downtown area," Jeffers said. She thanked police sergeant Egan, Wendy Edwards and Thomas Anderson for engaging with downtown businesses and noted the council will consider an ordinance related to urban camping on Oct. 1 and a future agenda item about cameras for downtown. Other public-comment speakers referenced existing nonprofit services such as Seeds of Hope and Laundry Love and said many unsheltered people are accessing those services. Council members and staff reported the unsheltered-persons stakeholder group is meeting regularly and that work is ongoing to pursue coordinated responses. No formal council action occurred on the proposals during the meeting. The mayor and staff instructed speakers to share written materials with staff; deputy city manager staff were named as the point of contact for follow-up. The council did not endorse or deny the specific encampment proposal on the record.