ST. LOUIS • The city’s homeless need a new advocate.
For 13 years, during cold winters and hot summers, Bill Siedhoff has led أغر؟´«أ½â€™ efforts to get homeless men and women off the streets. Now, he is retiring to his own home in the Soulard neighborhood.
“I’m getting old,†said Siedhoff, 72, who is known for riding his bike on the city’s streets to catch up with the homeless. “I can’t do this forever.â€
Last week, the Board of Aldermen celebrated his career as the city’s human services director, an office that oversees services for youth, the elderly, disabled and homeless. Jeff Rainford, the chief of staff to Mayor Francis Slay, said the city hasn’t decided on Siedhoff’s replacement.
Siedhoff, who gained national recognition for his methods, said the main problem facing his successor is the heavy burden of homeless services shouldered by the city, which has seen an influx of homeless people from beyond its borders.
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“It’s indicative that the need seems to be moving from the city to the county,†Siedhoff said. “But we really offer all of the services. It really calls on أغر؟´«أ½ County, St. Charles, Franklin, and particularly the Metro East to help. I think we could literally end homelessness if we had other people pitching in.â€
Siedhoff said a surgery in June revealed he had prostate cancer.
“Not to say I’m going away soon, but if you’ve got certain things you’d like to do you better do it while you can,†said Siedhoff, adding that his treatments have been successful. “When you hear the word cancer, it scares you and it makes you look at things differently.â€
In 2005, أغر؟´«أ½ implemented a 10-year plan to end chronic homelessness, which includes giving permanent supportive housing to those in need. Under Siedhoff’s leadership, the city has created more than 1,400 units of supportive housing, dropping the number of chronically homeless from 300 to 112.
The city of Tampa, Fla., sent representatives to study and learn from his housing strategies and later hired several of his top employees.
Philip Mangano, federal homeless czar under Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama, said that “if there had been a Bill Seidhoff in every city in our country, the whole nation would be joining in أغر؟´«أ½â€™ success in reducing chronic and veterans’ homelessness.â€
“Bill took the political will of Mayor Slay, created a citywide partnership to implement a plan and maximized federal resources in making أغر؟´«أ½ a model for cities across America,†Mangano said. “Bill, himself, is a model of public service whose career assisting the less fortunate is a legacy that has benefited all the citizens of أغر؟´«أ½. He will be missed.â€
Siedhoff, whose father owned a milk-bottling business, grew up in south أغر؟´«أ½. He found his career at Washington University, where he studied and investigated family assistance claims at Pruitt-Igoe, the failed postwar public housing initiative in north أغر؟´«أ½ that was demolished in the 1970s.
Siedhoff filled various roles in state government. He met Slay during his first bid for office in 2001. After the election, Slay put him in his cabinet.
“This guy cares,†Slay said at Siedhoff’s retirement party. “Bill had always been a real solid leader.â€
Slay added: “He’s also somebody that wasn’t taking credit for much. As a mayor, Bill was always trying to give me as much credit as he could for all of the work he and human services were doing.†Then the mayor quipped: “And I appreciate it very, very much.â€
Siedhoff is perhaps most known recently for his battles with the Rev. Larry Rice, whose New Life Evangelistic Center downtown on Locust Street has become a symbol of differing approaches to homeless services. Siedhoff has focused on putting people immediately into permanent housing in hope of rehabilitation. Rice has operated more of a traditional homeless shelter.
A group of downtown residents has petitioned to revoke Rice’s hotel license, which allows him to operate as a shelter, arguing that it is run “in such manner as to constitute a detriment to its neighborhood.†The petition cites loitering; littering; drinking in public; lewd and indecent conduct at the shelter and around it by people who frequent the facility; drug use and sales; and intimidating behavior and noise.
Siedhoff recused himself from more than a year-long hearing process because of his strained relationship with Rice. The two weren’t on speaking terms for about a decade. Rice once called Siedhoff a “rodeo clown.†Siedhoff heavily criticized Rice’s handling of the shelter, saying it merely puts “homeless back on the street†allowing problems to occur.
Rice is currently negotiating with the group of downtown residents to find a compromise. The city’s Board of Public Service has delayed taking action pending those talks, but it is expected to meet again soon.
And now, Rice takes a more positive view toward Siedhoff.
“It’s going to be hard to replace Bill,†Rice said.
