SALT LAKE CITY — Utah House Speaker Greg Hughes, R-Draper, says he is now spending nearly every day meeting and speaking with local mayors, homeless advocates and business owners, looking for solutions to the homelessness problem.
To that end, he’s now created what he calls a “war room” for those discussions in the heart of the Rio Grande neighborhood, saying to address the issue, you can’t have the conversation in the sterile halls of government.
In a new interview with the Deseret News, Hughes worries that the anonymity of street life has created an environment where crime thrives.
“I’m told we have about 2,100 people down there right now,” he said. “We believe that ascertaining who everyone is will allow us to deliver the help that is needed — because if you’re a criminal, you don’t want to be known. That anonymity can no longer be the status quo. We cannot just let people mingle and mix among the people that need help.”
The full article is available here.