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Council adopts 'On Our Way Home' homeless strategy; public raises shelter and enforcement concerns
Summary
Missoula City Council unanimously adopted the 'On Our Way Home' community houselessness strategy; public commenters urged retaining Johnson Street Shelter beds and questioned enforcement and funding details, while councilors and staff clarified funding sources and next steps.
The Missoula City Council unanimously approved a resolution on May 20 to adopt “On Our Way Home,” the city’s community houselessness strategy.
Council Member Nugent moved adoption of the resolution; the motion passed on a unanimous roll-call vote. Staff reported no additional information at the meeting beyond materials already provided to council.
Public commenters at the meeting pressed the council for immediate action on shelter capacity and raised concerns about enforcement. Sage Bennett, a community member who spoke during public comment, cited the point-in-time count numbers in the strategy — 644 people identified as unhoused on the count day, with roughly 25% unsheltered — and said the city lists about 513 emergency shelter beds (including Johnson Street Shelter’s capacity of about 200 in surge conditions). Bennett and other speakers urged the council to keep the Johnson Street Shelter open and to avoid criminalizing people without shelter.
Several commenters and council members referenced HB 642, a recently enacted state law discussed publicly during the meeting. Council Member Nugent said he had checked with city attorneys and emphasized that HB 642 does not obligate Missoula to adopt or enforce a $500-a-day fine; he noted that the city generally enforces Missoula ordinances rather than state statutes directly when local ordinances apply. Other commenters disagreed with recent local enforcement choices: speakers noted a city ordinance that establishes a $50-a-day fine and misdemeanor charges for certain acts and called on the council to reconsider enforcement approaches.
Council discussion recognized the plan as an aspirational framework that still requires program detail and funding decisions. Council Member Carlino said he would support adoption as a starting framework but emphasized that “the devil's gonna be in the details” of how programs will be funded and implemented. Council Member Jordan and others said they supported the plan’s goals but warned there is no guaranteed long-term funding in the document for rent subsidies or other post-housing supports.
Council and staff clarified the sources of money supporting near-term actions: Council Member Stacy (identified in discussion) explained that the approximately $400,000 for the local “housing sprint” is primarily philanthropically funded and held at the United Way in a designated “housing sprint fund,” not from the city’s general tax revenues. City staff and council said the city will provide staff time to support the coalition called for in the strategy and that other local programs and funds (coordinated entry, mobile support team, affordable housing trust fund and others) will continue to play roles.
The resolution adopts the strategy as the city’s community plan; council directed staff and partners to continue implementation planning. No binding budget appropriation was adopted at the meeting; subsequent budget and program-level decisions will require later council action.
