It’s frustrating, as we noted recently, that local officials are in the position of writing a letter to demand action from the state to help hasten the move away from the use of hotels to house the homeless.

It’s frustrating to see the state continue to write blank checks for the practice even as the cost to house the homeless in hotels has increased 400% over the past six years.

But it’s just as frustrating to see the same aimless direction over the past two years from local officials. We’ve been hearing for two years that the county is working on a plan to create transitional housing since we started reporting on Jamestown’s homeless population and on issues the town of Ellicott has had surrounding homeless housed in Ellicott hotels.

“The correlation between mental health issues and substance abuse among individuals experiencing homelessness is evident, highlighting the necessity for targeted support services. While local hotels can provide immediate relief, they alone cannot address the underlying causes of homelessness. We must strive for a continuum of care, integrating transitional and supportive housing options to ensure long-term stability and wellbeing for those in need,” Carmelo Hernandez, county Department of Mental Hygiene and Social Services director, told The Post-Journal in a story on March 24, 2024.

That’s right, nearly two years ago we knew hotels are a short-term step. After two years, we’re still striving for transitional and supportive housing options. The first real ideas that we’ve heard publicly came from state Sen. George Borrello during a roundtable discussion held in Dunkirk. Work may be going on behind the scenes on transitional housing in the county that will do more for the homeless than cram them in hotels, but the public hasn’t heard about them.

The state, in our view, has been incredibly slow to come up with alternatives while our tax dollars are spent housing the homeless in hotels. But county lawmakers haven’t exactly been Johnny on the Spot in pushing county Social Services officials for an answer that doesn’t involve spending money putting the homeless in hotels. County lawmakers have heard the same complaints from Falconer Mayor James Jaroszynski and Ellicott Supervisor Janet Bowman that we have.

We know the wheels of government move slowly. But they should move, shouldn’t they?