‘People are going to see how hard I work’: Meet the state’s newest leader in homeless services

SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — As homeless mortality rates reach alarming levels, the state announced Utah’s next homeless coordinator Thursday morning. ABC4.com sat down with the state’s newest leader in homeless services.

Representative Tyler Clancy, 28, of the Utah State House of Representatives was appointed to replace Wayne Niederhauser as Utah’s homeless coordinator, leading the state’s Homeless Services Board.

“This is a really complicated issue, so there’s going to be a lot of different perspectives here,” Rep. Clancy said. “More than anything I think I’m just humbled.”

Rep. Clancy will begin his service on Mar. 9, 2026, after the end of the next state legislative session.

Resume and background

“Most of the reforms I’ve worked on haven’t been quite popular,” Rep. Clancy said.

During the 2025 state legislative session, Rep. Clancy sponsored a homeless services bill that dictates responsibilities and powers of the position to which he’s been appointed.

“This isn’t something that I was hoping to do, I think it’d be crazy to want to do this job,” Rep. Clancy said when asked about any potential conflicts of interest.

The young representative does have a background working in homeless services. In 2020, he was hired as the executive director of the Pioneer Park Coalition, a group who claims responsibility for Operation Rio Grande.

The operation, which aimed at reducing crime and placing homeless individuals into recovery programs, received both high praise and scathing criticism from the community. Reports indicate the operation focused on ending a heavy drug trafficking ring and eventually led to 5,000 arrests in 2017 alone.

One year later, the ACLU released a report claiming the operation’s arrests were for misdemeanors or active warrants. Furthermore, the report notes that less than 250 new beds were added to help with drug treatment options stemming from the 5,000 arrestees.

“You can police your way out of an open-air drug market,” Rep. Clancy said. “At the county jail, there were significant resources that were invested. Why can’t we replicate that?”

“We know that anytime you have a targeted enforcement effort, you’re naturally going to spread out challenges,” Rep. Clancy added. “I’ve spent a lot of time on the streets across the state talking to people who are experiencing homelessness.”

Rep. Clancy says, homelessness issues including addiction have been around him for many years. Members of his family have delt with addiction, he says.

Rep. Clancy will replace Wayne Niederhauser, who was also appointed from the legislature. Open records indicate Niederhauser was being paid a total of almost $300,000 in salary and benefits.

Vision

“One of [the] first things I want to do is look at our budget,” Rep. Clancy told ABC4.com when asked if he would continue his predecessor’s salary. “To make sure that the funding that we get… let’s make sure that it gets to the people that need help.”

Rep. Clancy says he hopes to be a listener to better understand the issues facing unhoused individuals. “The most important thing, in my opinion, is to learn from that.”

“That person that’s injecting methamphetamine in the park, can we get them onto a better path?” he said. “Nothing is better than when someone recovers, when someone heals.”

“I’m going to be hitting the pavement,” Rep. Clancy told ABC4.com, adding that he intends on focusing on an operations role rather than a philosophical one.

Philosophy

“I don’t come to the table with a philosophy,” he said. “We really need to untangle ourselves from the politics of it [and] the philosophy of it.”

According to Rep. Clancy, each individual experiencing homelessness will require their own strategy for getting out of their situation.

“We’ve done a really good job with building trust with each other, but we’ve got to make sure that extends to the folks that are living in a tent,” he added. “It’s certainly not going to be easy, but I’m going to give it everything I’ve got.”