January 26, 2023

1:00 pm-2:00 pm Eastern

Homelessness - Strategies for Addressing Homelessness: the Colorado Springs Case Study

This presentation is a case study focusing on the intersection of legal and services-based efforts to address issues of homelessness.  It will also discuss the unique impacts on this topic related to a city that has grown rapidly, lacks affordable housing, has a re-emerging downtown, and is home to a variety of different military installations, including a service academy.  While the current legal landscape will be discussed, strategies beyond legislation that communities of all sizes can utilize will be presented as well.

 

Speaker: Marc Smith

 

Marc Smith has been with the Office of the City Attorney in Colorado Springs, Colorado since 2004.  After beginning as an intern between his second and third years of law school, followed by a short stint as a municipal prosecutor, Marc moved to the Corporate Division and is now one of two Deputy City Attorneys and oversees corporate, legislative and utilities legal affairs.

In his 17 plus years with the office, Marc has represented nearly all City operational departments and was Legislative Counsel to the City Council while also serving as the Corporate Division Chief for four years prior to his promotion to Deputy City Attorney in July 2021.  In 2022 he was designated an IMLA Local Government Fellow.

Marc is a graduate of the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, has a Master of Sports Administration degree from Ohio University, and earned a Juris Doctorate from the University of Mississippi School of Law, better known as Ole Miss.  

Marc, along with his colleagues in the City Attorney’s Office, has coordinated legal work and advised the Mayor, City Council, and operational departments on ordinances and policies related to issues of homelessness in Colorado Springs.