Make saying “yes” to getting help and off streets the only option available.

City and County leaders have a civic and moral responsibility to provide access to the resources necessary to help struggling community members get back on their feet. However, city leaders are also obligated to the larger community to ensure public spaces, including sidewalks and parks, are safe and clean for all of us to enjoy.

The region and state have failed to achieve this dual responsibility. We must make saying "yes" to getting help and off the streets the only acceptable answer through a coordinated, regionwide approach that connects those wanting help with available resources and a unified standard of enforcement, which must include prosecuting misdemeanors to protect the quality of life for the broader community.

The steps in this process should look like this:

1. Create a dashboard that tracks the total number and type of shelter beds, their location, and availability in real-time so all government agencies in the county know precisely how many beds are available on any night.

2. The county should serve as the homeless shelter clearinghouse for the region, so all the cities can contract through a single source and have access to all available shelter beds.

3. As long as help is offered to help people get off the streets, cities should collectively agree to enforce quality-of-life laws that help maintain safe and clean public spaces.

We can't solve homelessness, but we can do a better job of connecting people that want help with help. And we can certainly do a better job maintaining clean and safe public spaces for the surrounding communities.