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SALT LAKE CITY — One month after Salt Lake leaders named four sites for the city's new homeless resource centers, an expert on homelessness blasted their approach as counterproductive and poorly planned.

Robert Marbut Jr., author of "The Seven Guiding Principles of Homeless Transformation" and the founder of a homelessness reduction consulting firm, told reporters Friday that the city's strategy for four new sites "doesn't add up."

"You have a plan that's driven by politics rather than logic and data," Marbut said.

Matthew Rojas, spokesman for Salt Lake City Mayor Jackie Biskupski, called Marbut's claim "just not accurate."

Marbut, who is in Utah for a Realtors' meeting, is also a former San Antonio city councilman and White House Fellow under President George H.W. Bush. His experience includes visits to several hundreds homeless sites across the United States, he said.

One of his main issues with the city's homelessness reduction plan, he says, is the prohibitive cost of operating four separate sites.

"Multiple sites make this extremely more expensive and riskier," Marbut said.

The cost of the land pales in comparison to the expenses of operating four facilities simultaneously, according to Marbut.

"You should really be looking (more) at what the operating costs are," he said.

Robert Marbut Jr., an expert on homelessness, blasted Salt Lake City leaders' approach of four homeless centers as counterproductive and poorly planned. (Photo: KSL TV)

Biskupski and the Salt Lake City Council announced the new homeless resource sites in December. They are at 553 E. Simpson Ave., 275 W. High Avenue, 131 E. 700 South and 648 W. 100 South. Rojas said the capacity of the four sites is about 550, with about 150 beds in three locations and 100 in one of the others.

The city has said the centers will focus on providing several services including substance abuse help to disadvantaged populations.

The Utah Legislature has promised $20 million to Salt Lake City for the purchase and construction of new homeless centers. The Road Home at 210 S. Rio Grande St., which holds about 1,100 people and has long been considered by the city to be a focal point for crime downtown, will close when the new centers open.

Marbut said he is worried about the overall capacity of the combined sites. Though the new sites only account for about half of The Road Home's current capacity, city officials have said that Salt Lake County's increased financial investments in preventative measures in coming years — such as rapid re-housing and affordable housing initiatives — will significantly offset some capacity demands.

Marbutt called that reassurance "a fairy tale." But Rojas disagrees.

"There are a lot of people in the resource centers and shelters currently who are homeless very temporarily," he said. "Those people for us .... they don't belong in a resource center. We need to be able to move them to affordable housing immediately. We don't want to warehouse people any more."

Salt Lake City has spent about $10 million so far to purchase two of the sites.Construction of four centers is expected to cost an additional $40 million. Salt Lake City Council Chairman Stan Penfold has previously said he expects anywhere from a third to half of that cost will be covered by private donors. There is some disagreement among officials over whether the city itself will ultimately make up the difference.

Marbut characterized the splitting up of the sites as an unsophisticated application of the data available to them following a Salt Lake County study. The number of beds at each site is "arbitrary" rather than meticulously planned, he said.

"The county has some good data ... but that's not connecting," Marbut said.

He added that he's worried the city will find problems funding the operation of the various centers within three to four years of their construction.

Rojas said Biskupski was initially opposed to four sites because of concerns over "economies of scale," but that she feels confident in the city's ability to execute its goals under budget.

"I think that people feel pretty confident in being able to move forward on operations costs. We've already seen a lot of generosity come through from private donors," Rojas said, specifically referencing the $4 million donation from philanthropist Pat King in December. "We expect more generosity like that to come in and offset and provide that funding."

Rojas said he understands the strategy behind four sites and believes it is workable.

"(Homelessness) is not a problem that's contained to only one part of the city," he said. "There's needs across our city."

Marbut said he is glad the city is addressing the problem of homelessness and that he doesn't argue that changes to the status quo aren't needed. He said the city needs to exercise more business savvy if its plan is going to be sustainable and benefit the homeless population.

"Suddenly, there is some momentum. ... (But) you want to make sure your investment is worthwhile and works," he said. "It needs to be a business plan (and) not a political decision."

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