Fort Wayne City Council declined to vote Tuesday on the financing for a proposed low barrier homeless resource center in downtown.
Councilwoman Michelle Chambers asked her colleagues to decide the matter Tuesday, rather than waiting until next month.
Republicans on city council declined to pass the funding mechanism for the project in June. Councilman Geoff Paddock highlighted the Democrat’s frustrations around the delay of this project.
“This is not the way I would’ve hoped things would’ve ended and frankly I think it may turn out to be a blemish on our performance as a body,” he said.
Ultimately, Chambers' request failed 5-3 along party lines.
Mayor Sharon Tucker believes the property at 333 E. Washington Blvd would be the best place for the Anchor Resource Center. It would sit nearly next door to The Rescue Mission and in the same neighborhood as other services.
Republicans are asking for several things from the city before approval, including looking at other properties.
“You have to put a facility where the need is, where the people are,” Paddock said. “And we have to stop demonizing this.”
Councilman Russ Jehl argued there were holes in the information provided by the city and that the city didn’t address each of the council’s concerns.
“If we vote on it tonight, it’s pass it and find out,” he said.
Last year, councilmembers Jehl and Dr. Scott Myers wrote a letter to the city asking them to address homelessness and particularly homeless encampments quicker.
Chambers argued the plan being proposed has been worked on by two mayoral administrations, beginning with a homelessness study in 2023. She urged city council to offer their own solutions to the problem.
“Come with a plan, if you don’t like the plan that the administration has brought forward,” Chambers said.
The council plans to revisit the proposal on September 1.
Addie Sigler contributed reporting to this story.
