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Resident urges action to protect people in desert heat; town manager says staff will coordinate with BLM and cooling centers
Summary
A Quartzsite resident warned council that people living on BLM lands face life-threatening heat; the town manager said staff will continue coordination with the Bureau of Land Management and community partners to ensure cooling centers and transit options are available, though no formal action was taken.
A resident told the Quartzsite Town Council that people living in desert encampments face immediate danger from high temperatures and asked what the town can do “about helping them or having them move off while they die.” The comment came during the council’s future-agenda discussion.
The town manager said the town has been in contact with the Bureau of Land Management and is stepping up preparations for cooling centers. “We we can't always count on volunteers. We we need to make sure that they're open, these cooling centers,” the town manager said. He added the town can arrange transit on an individual basis: “If they've got a car, they drive. . . we can, in fact, make arrangements for transit,” and that the manager will continue work to ensure access.
Council members and staff did not take a formal vote or adopt a new directive at the meeting. The town manager said the municipality will continue coordinating with BLM and community organizations and may return to the agenda after further discussions with those partners.
Separately, a community service representative reported a change in local services: Isaiah 58 will close the food portion of its program at the end of the month but will remain open on Mondays and Fridays to offer free showers, clothing and limited food-bank access for residents and visitors.
The council concluded the item without a formal motion; staff were directed informally to continue outreach and report back to council once arrangements with partner agencies are clarified.
