Mayor Larry stated on his blog on Sunday that he’s meeting today with Philip Mangano to discuss homelessness. Mangano is George W. Bush’s “homeless Czar.”
I left a comment on Larry’s blog on Sunday asking if there would be any opportunities for the public to attend speeches, debates, presentations, etc. by Mangano. My comment never appeared on Larry’s blog, nor did anybody respond to my inquiry.
I suspect the Mayor is not yet clear on the two-way nature of blogging communications.
At any rate, if anybody else knows what Philip Mangano is doing today, please let me know. I’m very interested in what he has to say.
He’s apparently making quite an impression in Canada, garnering the support of some front-line workers and housing and homelessness activisits, and convincing quite a few Canadian muncipalities to adopt his Housing First approach and create 10-year plans to end homelessness. He argues that it is more cost-effective to house the homeless than to leave them unhoused.
On the surface, his approach sounds good, although I’ve always found the cost/benefit argument both questionable and crass. Still, I like the idea of housing the homeless without making their housing contingent on anything. People cannot be expected to do anything beyond surviving when they don’t even have a roof or a bathroom.
However, Mangano’s approach is not universally endorsed by the housing and homelessness activists, and I have a lot of respect for some of his critics, such as street nurse Cathy Crowe, housing policy wonk Michael Shapcott, and journalist Linda McQuaig.
I myself haven’t made up my mind, and would very much welcome an opportunity to hear Mr. Mangano speak. Ideally, I’d like to attend a debate. I hope he’s not just doing a closed-door meeting with the mayor today.
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From everything I’ve read this is a bad dude in a saintly persona (he often compares himself to St. Francis of Assisi). Bush has him travelling 1st class all over the country preaching his drivelly gospel (e.g.: ultimately the issue of homelessness is a spiritual issue. It’s not really an ideological issue, it’s not a political issue, it’s not an economic issue”) while the federal government slashes funding to housing.
The mantra is: cut services, they’re inefficient; cut supports, they’re too expensive; eliminate shelters, they’re a blight on our cities. He advocates for “housing†without any support for those installed in the housing, without regard for the economic and social conditions that created all this homelessness in the first place.
Since Mangano’s campaigns have begun, the US has instituted things like: ““no-feeding laws†in some American parks, increased policing and ticketing measures in downtown cores, street sweeps, removing public benches, closing public parks at night, using public works trucks to hose sleeping people down, and fingerprinting homeless people who use certain shelters and people they place in housing”.
Apparently, though, he’s a mesmerizing speaker and has lots of great stories about his life’s work of helping the poor.
It’s 11:52 as I write and according to the schedule I have, Mangano is actually speaking at City Hall right now.
Mangano seems to come to Ottawa quite a lot. He’s come through the Citizen and I’ve spent an hour in a room with him. He is indeed very compelling in person. A couple of thoughts:
— He draws a distinction between the chronically homeless who are extremely hard to house and those who are routinely included in homelessness stats but either aren’t actually technically without places to live or have only brushes with shelters before getting back on their feet.
A schizophrenic drug user who’s been on the street for six years is different from a single mom of two staying with her sister and brother-in-law because she can’t make the rent, and demands a different policy response. His message is mostly about the first kind of homelessness, which he sees as a tractable problem, much smaller and more manageable than the much broader questions of poverty and whether high-quality housing is generally affordable.
— I think he does advocate for supports for the hardcore homeless who need them (most do). Mangano’s argument, as I understand it, is that most support services are ineffective if they’re trying to help people who don’t have anyplace private, stable and safe to go afterward, so that’s job one. But again, the premise is that it’s people who are actually literally living on the street and in shelters who should be governments’ first concern.
— I’m not sure it’s fair to pin no-feeding laws and whatnot instituted by particular cities on the federal homelessness guy.
Thanks very much – David, do you know if Mangano’s presentation is open to the public?
Here’s the advisory they sent us. Reporters are clearly the intended audience, but I can’t imagine them turning away an interested blogger.
MEDIA ADVISORY
Philip Mangano to speak at launch of
Ottawa’s Leadership Table on Homelessness at City Hall
Monday, June 02, 2008, Ottawa – On Tuesday, June 3, United Way/Centraide Ottawa, in partnership with the City of Ottawa and The 2016 Foundation, will introduce a new initiative that aims to address the issue of chronic homelessness in Ottawa. The Leadership Table on Homelessness and brings together business leaders, government officials, representatives from community agencies and faith communities.
Philip Mangano, Executive Director of the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness and recently nominated as one of TIME Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People, will speak about his leadership and successes in tackling homelessness in the United States. His address will be part of an introduction to the Leadership Table on Homelessness presented by Mayor Larry O’Brien; Janet Yale, Chair of the Leadership Table and Executive Vice-President of TELUS Corporate Affairs; and Michael Allen, President/CEO of United Way/Centraide Ottawa.
WHAT: Launch of Leadership Table on Homelessness
WHEN: Tuesday, June 3, 2008
11:00 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.
WHO: Philip Mangano, Executive Director, United States Interagency on Homelessness
Mayor Larry O’Brien
Janet Yale, Chair of Leadership Table and Executive Vice-President,
Corporate Affairs, TELUS
Michael Allen, President/CEO, United Way/Centraide Ottawa
WHERE: Ottawa City Hall, Councillors’ Lounge
110 Laurier Avenue West
-30-
For more information, please contact:
Rebecca Cohn, United Way/Centraide Ottawa
Phone: (613) 228-6762 or Cell: (613) 325-9133
E-mail: rcohn@unitedwayottawa.ca