Positions

Well, where to start. Do things right? Pay attention to the details? Well, here are some specifics.

The details may need to be refined, because important topics tend to be complicated. The concepts may be simple, and the conceptual solutions may be simple, but making it work may take refinement of many details.

Solutions over credit or blame

Bristol is a good place to live. Yes, I said it – I believe Bristol is still a good place to live. But we have some problems that need to be fixed (the landfill, the vagrant issue), and we have room for improvement (walkability, street maintenance, public transit, increase police staffing, increase fire pay, many many others).

As a detail person, I think in terms of policies and processes when working towards a solution. Personal attacks and sniping at our neighbors don’t get things done. While we need to determine causes to create solutions, assigning blame doesn’t get things done either, and I try to avoid giving names (sometimes I slip, and some are obvious). We need ideas – and a willingness to work together to solve problems. We need people and organizations willing to work together to get things done – and people who don’t care who gets the credit.

We need problems fixed, and if the current people involved are willing to cooperate in the solutions, good for them. We need all the help we can get. If someone is unwilling to help, if they are unwilling to do their job, or if they are causing problems, blame doesn’t help – we just need to replace them and move on.

Fix the Landfill

The landfill was, in my opinion, broken because it was not maintained properly. The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) says it should have at least 6 inches of soil across the entire surface that’s not being actively worked, and overnight on the surface that is being worked. Photos show this was not being done. The core issue with the landfill is the water that it accumulates because it is a rock quarry – it’s a big bowl. But the water wells have not worked properly – again, according to DEQ – in some time. We know they sent two warning letters to the City – two letters six months apart – before the City even put out a request for proposals on a repair, and then they did it under emergency procedures. Now, a panel of experts says it has to be closed, which took effect September 9th. But the landfill will still need to be maintained for at least the next 20 years.

The core of the solution: Do what you know you’re supposed to do. Put soil over the top, sloped so water drains to a catch basin. Have water wells – that go to the bottom, not just half-way – to pump out the water. Have gas wells to capture the gas. Burn the gases cleanly, whether by generator or flare – if the gases won’t burn cleanly, add fuel so they do.

Then do what the expert panel recommended, and to which the City agreed in the settlement, including installing a longer-term “geomembrane” cover that will improve water runoff and gas capture, and sealing the edges of the landfill.

And add protections that will (help) ensure this doesn’t happen again. Have sensors to monitor water and gas flow in the wells – and at several points, so we know where a failure lies, water depth, subsurface temperatures, flare status, exhaust gas contents, environmental sensors at multiple points around the perimeter – and have automated logging and alerts, and someone who checks regularly to make sure the logging is working.

Keep your promises on trash/garbage collection

Currently, garbage is currently going to Blountville, where they are charging the “gate rate”, effectively retail. They published a request for proposals to pick up our trash and haul it away, but the request was posted just before the deadline, and nobody applied – or they didn’t comply with the requirements. They’ve posted a new request now for taking our trash/garbage if we haul it, so we can hopefully save money while continuing more or less like it is now. In my opinion, the requests should have been posted in June when they knew it would be needed, and with several options.

The City has said they are going to stop taking tires or any items with refrigerant. The Council has said that if you put something out, the City should pick it up. They needs to keep that promise – after all, you’re paying for the privilege.

While some have talked about the possibility of raising the collection fee, that’s not official. Several years ago, I was part of a citizen committee that worked with City staff to adjust the collections fee, and they reported that the total to cover all collections-related costs was $18 per month. In my opinion, the collection fee should cover all costs related to collection, including disposal of the collected materials, but not losses due to past management or undercharging commercial customers.

The peaceful homeless are part of our community. Violent vagrants are not.

We have a growing homeless population in Bristol. Many of these bring problems. And unfortunately, the factors towards solutions are necessarily as varied as the people involved.

We need to take care of the peaceful homeless, but that needs a strategy that does not put others at risk either. It’s going to require a serious discussion – one-sided comments at forums or from the Council platform are good for awareness, but they don’t get things done.

We have two overnight shelters, and we have two day centers that are open on weekdays. But not only are those short-term fixes rather than long-term solutions, a lot of the homeless don’t want to use these resources.

The numbers of nonresident homeless – those who are new to Bristol or just passing through – increased notably when the Johnson City bus station closed.

The impact on neighborhoods was made worse when the existing camps were closed by police, because those living there have nowhere else to go – and now we find them on private property where they make residents feel unsafe. It also made support harder, offering food, medical care, and other services, because they are no longer largely centralized.

After talking with several notable local residents, I believe we need a (largely) two-prong approach. I will discuss this more below.

Please keep in mind these are initial drafts. A lot of work will be needed to refine the details. Like I said, it’s going to require a serious discussion, not one-sided comments.

Resources within reach

We need a centralized resource for all local service providers to register with their services and their capacities. The person who suggested this idea compared it to a dispatch service.

Services will not be limited to those organizations that are government-funded, but open to anyone who wants to help. Then, if anyone wants to help, but a person has a situation they can’t help with directly, they can just call the “dispatcher”.

For example:

A woman asks for help. Maybe she goes to a shelter, but they are for men only. Maybe she sees the phone number by the door of the bus station. The dispatcher looks at the available resources, and sees a shelter that can help 20 women, but they are full. Then they see a shelter that can help 10 women, that doesn’t share a data system, so the dispatcher calls them. They have 5 people right now, so they have capacity – and the person working with the woman gives her the address.

A woman with two kids calls. The suitable shelters are full, but a motel owner makes a few rooms available to families. The dispatcher calls and find that two rooms are available, and gives the mother the address.

A man is trying to get off drugs, and he’s struggling. The dispatcher finds a shelter that can help him – and a recovery service to help him get clean.

Someone in a shelter wants a long-term solution. The dispatcher gives the address for the EnVision Center.

Someone just got off a bus at 10am and needs food. The dispatcher gives the address of one of the day centers – and they alternate which center they refer.

So on and so forth. Though we will need to figure out transportation to those services that are not in easy walking distance from downtown – like the Social Services office and lower-cost motels. Like I said, details will need to be worked out.

A community for those in need

We need a long-term solution for the local peaceful homeless – but it needs a strategy that does not put either the homeless or others at risk.

Many, possibly most, of the homeless have mental difficulties, which makes home maintenance difficult or impossible. An idea one person shared is something I have seen done with communes and base level student housing) in the west, and it may work well here if appropriately tweaked. We (the corporate “we” – not necessarily the City, and not necessarily one side of the state line or the other) would set aside a property of 5-10 acres of unused land, accessible (say, within one mile of State Street), not near (say, at least 100 yards from) any retail businesses or homes – and with which the owner is willing to part, and for which someone or a group willing to fund.

Then we construct separate, simple homes (details to be determined), with only a bedroom and living space – some with multiple bedrooms, to support families – electricity for lighting and a few outlets. They may have solar panels on each unit to keep them as energy-neutral as possible, and utilities (power and possibly boiler/chiller water for centralized HVAC) would be fed from underground to keep things low-maintenance. Bathroom facilities would be separate, to reduce maintenance needs – and designed for easy maintenance and cleaning. Install mesh wifi to provide Internet without running cables everywhere. Meals would be provided from a central location – ideally by local nonprofits who currently try to find the homeless where they are.

They would have a reasonable expectation of privacy inside their homes, but drugs in public will not be tolerated – dealers get ejected and not allowed to return. Abusers get ejected and not allowed to return. Staying in the community will be a privilege and not a right. And we have part of the property with greenspace, for those who prefer to live outdoors. Services will be provided on-site for those who want help, want jobs, stable “normal” housing, etc. It will need full-time security, but we know that many homeless properties are largely self-policing, so hopefully full-time staff can be minimized. It would become a refuge for the peaceful homeless. And HUD and other state and federal funds should help with startup costs, so local expenses can be minimized.

Again, it’s a concept, and it will need refinement. But without ideas, we get nowhere. Proverbs 29:18: Where there is no vision, the people perish.

Walkability

I believe a person in the city should be able to safely walk from anywhere to anywhere. That doesn’t mean sidewalks need to be on every street, but many streets need them that don’t have them.

I’ll keep adding here.

Personal and Professional

Positions

Help