Statement To Lenexa City Council

July 16, 20204

Madam Mayor and members of the city council. Thank you for the opportunity to express concerns about the proposed homeless shelter at 95 th & I-35. My name is Dave Owen. I am a resident of Lenexa and I have been a resident of Johnson County for 76 years. During that time, I have been an elected State Senator representing all of Johnson County and Lt.governor representing the entire state.

As part of your research on the impact of this planned development I urge you to read an article by Noah Festenstein of the Denver Gazette, which was written on April 27, 2024, and updated on May 2, 2024. You can find it by entering “Do Homeless shelters attract
drug trafficking” on google.

Denver has been very active in converting old hotels to homeless shelters and Festenstein’ s article chronicles their experience. I want to read some of some of the more pertinent
comments for your consideration. Writing about 911 calls within 1,000 meters of Denver’s hotels turned shelters he says"
there were an average of 833 calls made within 1,000 meters between Oct 1st-Jan 2 nd .

Those calls included reports of shootings, drug use, theft or other acts of violence”. In particular, he points out that at the 4040 N. Quebec shelter, a former Doubletree Hotel, has seen the most trouble: seven people have died there, two by shooting. One hotel operator, Doc Miller who operates a bed and breakfast in the area had this to say “the city is literally falling into the second ring of hell, we are under siege”. 309 emergency 911 calls were made within 1,000 meters in the last three months of 2023, according to
public safety data.

We already know that the intersection of 95 th and I-35 is a hotbed of drug and human trafficking as evidenced by the report of the Johnson County Criminal Justice Advisory Council which includes this Hotspot map. Drugs, drunkenness, human trafficking and
prostitution are taking place at that location according to the Sheriff’s Department. Putting the proposed Homeless Shelter there is like throwing gas on a fire.

This has been an ill-conceived proposal by the county commission led by Chairman Mike Kelly. It has not been properly vetted as evidenced by 6 th District Commissioner Shirley Allenbrand falsely stating that it would only house Johnson County residents.
The buck is going to stop with you when they apply to the City of Lenexa for a Special Use Permit. I urge you to use your authority to put a stop to this ill-conceived idea.

Mr. Owen