The Sarasota City Commission disclaimed any relationship should a nonprofit pop up to support a Housing First effort in the community, even though the idea had been suggested publicly by the city's outgoing homeless services director. But a majority of commissioners also said they still supported a housing program as the best way to tackle homelessness as opposed to the creation of a large come-as-you-shelter within the city.

City Attorney Robert Fournier said that a nonprofit that pops up on its own may still work with the city, but the government needs to make clear it has no role in the creation of such a group. He cited media reports that have named individuals who may be involved in a nonprofit. “This just gives the people named so far the protection they deserve,” he said. If a group is created in an advisory capacity for the city, it would be subject to Sunshine Law transparency requirements. 

But City Commissioner Shelli Freeland Eddie said she remained concerned about the future, in part thanks to suggestions that Doug Logan, who on Friday announced he would leave the employment of the city as director of Special Initiatives on Chronic Homelessness, might engage in the private sector addressing Housing First. She asked if any contractual obligations would prevent him from doing so; Fournier said he knew of no such rules.

As the city moved ahead on homelessness, the shake-up at City Hall has also renewed lobbying on commissioners regarding a shelter. The city and county have remained sharply at odds over the creation of a large shelter. At the end of 2015, the county was considering opening a shelter in North Sarasota on Washington Boulevard near the Robert L. Taylor Complex, though that deal fell through. But County Commissioner Carolyn Mason, speaking as a private citizen, asked city commissioners Monday to rejoin the effort to find a shelter site. “Consider working again on a shelter, another place to get people off the streets,” she said. “Then they can begin to be channeled into programs.”

Mayor Willie Shaw questioned the timing of that request, and said the city has never stopped working with the county to address homelessness. “We’ve continued the conversation,” he said.