Homelessness, Crime, Caring for the Needy Public Comment from Larry LautaretAimee Brunckhorst
From: Larry Lautaret <Illautaret@gmail.com>
Sent: Wednesday, January 25, 2023 3:52 PM
To: Kalispell Meetings Public Comment
Subject: EXTERNAL Homelessness, Crime, Caring for the Needy
Dear Mayor and Kalispell City Council Members,
THANK YOU for stepping up and taking on a ... well ... really ... impossible task. No civic body can govern perfectly
unless one walks on water and has unlimited power to control lunatics! And thank you for inviting public input and
listening to a LOT of input on the homeless problem.
I attended this week's hearings and was impressed by your willingness to listen to EXTENSIVE testimony well into the
night.
I am cognizant of the fact that you have a LOT of plates in the air, but I have some ideas that I honestly believe could
be implemented in Kalispell along with Flathead County that would become a shining light in our state and nation.
I have spent some hours attempting to consolidate these thoughts, and over 50 years of dealing with these issues in a
variety of settings. I believe there is a climate in the Flathead with you all, and our state now also, that could make real
changes. The proposed ordinance is a helpful step, but as you all recognize is a band aid on cancer.
Here are some preliminary thoughts that I believe could actually be implemented using the personnel, both currently
employed, and volunteers among us, presently available.
My name is Larry Lautaret, I was born in Kalispell, and have been a pastor for over 50 years, the last 38 in the
Valley. I have also been a law enforcement chaplain for about 20 years.
I commend you for addressing the elephant in the room. Not every human problem has a government
solution! Government cannot control the heart of man or the mind of man. Government CAN control much of
the behavior of man.
I and our congregation support the Warming Center, Feeding the Flathead, and others seeking to help.
HOWEVER, I too am concerned about some of these programs that help ... sort of ... but may not help long term, and
may be counter productive at a few points.
We have an AMAZING array of willing people and finances in the Valley to help those that want help! Perhaps
not "enough," but LOTS! I do not think a lot more money is the solution! Better spent money ... for sure!
Two main issues repeatedly rise to the surface discussing the "homeless."
1) CRIME that intersects with "vagrancy' but is broader than just that. 2) Those needing help but either don't
know it or don't want it, that are a danger to themselves or others, i.e. those behaving irresponsibly, for whom "jail" is
not best ... or even available.
Our current system clearly does NOT work. I believe it COULD ... We will never get "perfect," but we can get way
better!
Currently, we essentially ignore all but the worst criminal offenses and require NO accountability
for most wrongdoers. The unsafe, and most vulnerable wander around our streets, parks, and businesses! There are
hundreds of criminals loose in our Valley! The police know who they are, and mostly where they are, and encounter the
same few regularly, and are willing and able to get them off the streets ... but ... there is nowhere to put them!
"Church" and other voluntary organizations, i.e. shelters, warming center, Salvation Army, etc.,
can help and persuade, but NOT enforce behavior beyond their doors. Only civil authorities can! Where persuasion
and cooperation are inadequate, enforcement is needed.
Most agree that those unable to care for themselves due to mental, physical, emotional, even addiction issues,
should not just be left to die, or fend for themselves at the expense of others, but should be cared for. A good society
SHOULD care for those that CAN NOT care for themselves. But those that will not ... or those running afoul of the law.
must be controlled!
The primary role of civil authorities is to protect those who do right and restrain evil. Neither is currently
happening well!
America, and our Valley, have a crisis. Homelessness alone, though not a crime, is a terrible problem. However,
criminal/irresponsible behavior causing or exacerbating it must be addressed and evil restrained.
Two primary "societal" threads in my view exacerbate both crime and homelessness. 1) Simply giving people
free stuff with no accountability rarely helps them for long. It is a siren song! It seems so right, and helping our fellow
man is a wonderful and Christian concept.
But absent personal responsibility and accountability, misses a vital Christian principle, and hence does not
alone work. A truth of human nature in scripture states, "If a man will not work, he shall not eat." (Bible 2 Thessalonians
3:10)
Everyone capable needs "skin in the game." Giving people free stuff alone simply enables more irresponsible
behavior, and robs people of purpose, personal pride, and responsibility.
2) Coupled with this is the current reality that incarceration is essentially the ONLY available tool to bring
accountability. Clearly THAT is not working and is lose/lose for ALL. Even when space enables it to be used, which is
NOT LATELY, the victim loses, the perpetrator loses freedom and responsibility, and society pays for it! A LOT!
AND... "there is no room in the Inn," so it isn't used! The mildly, and MANY even criminally irresponsible, are
NOT incarcerated. It IS helpful at points, but clearly inadequate. And at BEST it places an irresponsible person into a
place of complete irresponsibility. Someone else feeds them, houses them, takes them to the doctor, and takes TOTAL
responsibility for their welfare.
Neither merely giving free stuff NOR incarceration alone helps anyone much and is expensive.
We NEED a different paradigm. Such IS available, and it is not new... but neither is it used!
Moses, inspired by the Creator that endows us with "certain inalienable rights," was given a law regarding
criminal behavior that DOES work! Yet, the model God gave Moses is deemed harsh by some. Hence, criminals are free
to prey on the innocent, as well as one another, and the needy are not cared for ... and all society pays BIG TIME!
God gave civil authorities an escalating level of accountability to those behaving irresponsibly.
A thief, if caught, had to repay the victim four or five times the amount. (Exodus 22, etc.) Restitution.
Under THIS system, the VICTIM wins, the THIEF must pay, it costs SOCIETY (City) almost nothing.
If the perpetrator will not or cannot repay, the next step is INVOLUNTARY restitution, escalating as needed, by
the civil authorities. Depending upon the nature of the crime, once the debt is paid the perpetrator is given the chance
to go straight. This enforces personal behavior and responsibility.
EVERY criminal act should be brought to immediate justice. Our system taking MONTHS or years for "justice" is
insane and produces injustice. Suspended sentences, etc., because there is no room in jail clearly does NOT work. If
"frequent flyers" of crime are restrained, MUCH of the crime problem would be fixed. But sudden and certain
accountability prevents MUCH crime. And ... if criminals as a part of restitution had to pay for their own keep, which is
reasonable, it produces both incentive to do right, AND saves the rest of us a lot of money!
There is a need for a mechanism of graduated enforced housing for those incapable of caring for themselves or
those involved with crime, coupled with work requirements for those capable of restitution and paying for their food
and board. Not jail, as we know it, but a safe, yet restricted opportunity for people to get their act together other than
strictly volunteering for it. Enforcement must ramp up with repeated irresponsibility. This need not come by building a
new jail. There are current shelters, etc., or other available or fairly inexpensive shelters that could be used with very
little comparative cost.
All the components are available in our community now. What is needed is the WILL, the laws, ordinances, legal
structure authorizing this different paradigm. County Supervisors, City Council, or state legislature must buck the trends
of "business as usual!" "Business as usual" is not working, as everyone with a thimble full of sense can see!
This could save an enormous amount of money, benefit those who do well, hold accountable those who do evil,
care for those who cannot care for themselves, and make our streets safer!
Civil authorities need to implement a plan of immediate consequences for ALL illegal or irresponsible
behavior. The "broken window" theory of law enforcement works ... but NOT if incarceration alone is the only tool!
We need enforced steps to personal responsibility and accountability! We are spending way more than needed
to accomplish this! We are just spending it in the wrong way! We need a new/old paradigm.
Making people accountable for EVERY offense would accomplish the primary role of civil authorities; keeping
those who do well safe, and restraining those who do evil. WE could LEAD the nation!
I am way more than willing to spend more time discussing this with you, assisting in any way I can, being a part
of a relatively few folks that are not necessarily a part of the status quo (... or use those who know the status quo
doesn't work well ...) to study it and bring concrete recommendations for implementation.
A large "committee" of folks protecting their own interests would not be very helpful, nor one that costs jiIIions
of dollars to twiddle around for months or years. I believe both the personnel and resources are available to make this
sort of shift ... but it must have the support of you as those leading our city, and would require some "out of the box'
thinking.
Sincerely,
Larry L. Lautaret, Pastor of Flathead Ekklesia and Senior Chaplain for Whitefish Police Department