I asked all the alders to respond to the Mayor’s letter, Marsha was the only on to do so, so far. Her response is illuminating.
I was invited to the daytime meeting Tuesday by Natalie E and Jim O but could not attend because I work during the day. I asked for it to be rescheduled but according to Monica the Mayor’s schedule did not permit it. I shared comments with staff and assume the Mayor saw them. I’ve edited and added.
I told staff that I wished that Paul had met with service providers before he sent the email. I focused on a couple of issues, for example, the statement that free food should only be given out at CCB. There are free meals at Luke House every day in my district. I told staff I assumed the Mayor didn’t mean that program should relocate to CCB. It appears he’s only targeting certain food providers such as Stone Soup but his comments were so overly broad that you had to wonder if he meant all food pantries and other food security resources should come to CCB.
Paul included Union Corners and E Wilson in the Cap East District in his list of illegal “encampments” when technically it is legal to sleep/live in your car on the street. It is not a good situation but it is legal. I have worked with police, public health, streets, community development division staff and service providers, real estate staff and the Mayor’s office to address behavior issues, garbage and needles at Union Corners. But since it is not Downtown, I had to ask and follow up to get homeless outreach workers to check in with car campers. I asked for trash receptacles at Union Corners but got “No” for an answer from Streets. The neighborhood recently organized a clean up, about 20 volunteers picked up dozens of bags of garbage.
The Mayor’s statement that all people living outside should come to the CCB is nonsensical. At any given time, hundreds of people live outside in our parks, along the Yahara River, in the Cap East District, by highway viaducts and along railroad corridors. Is the Mayor suggesting they all stay outside the city County building?
For the Mayor to request to have people start calling me and my fellow electeds if they support his “draconian” approach is extremely frustrating.
Electeds and staff from the city and the county have been working collaboratively, albeit slowly, to fund a homeless day center, provide gap services like laundry/storage/showers/transportation, build permanent supportive housing and construct more affordable housing. I have served for two years on the County Homeless Issues Committee which recently has become a joint county-city committee. Throughout our work, we never considered limiting public access to public streets. Both city and county have supported housing is a right resolutions and the need for Housing First approach to ending homelessness. If the Mayor wants to hasten change, then make appointments to the Homeless Issues Committee and support our efforts with people and lets continue to leverage our financial resources.
If the Mayor says he wants to apply the equity lens to everything we do and is committed to solving poverty then he has to walk the talk. Homeless individuals should not be treated as trash to be rounded up and their belongings put in a fence behind the MMB (who decided that?). No one should be treated as disposable.
Let’s start with some interim solutions for a homeless day center and storage for people’s belongings that are safe from the elements. We should revisit the city’s facility at Fairchild St. As Sup Heidi Wegleitner wrote to us last winter: We can solve this.
Thank you Alder Rummel!!!!
Jeez, if the Mayor proposes that you are harassed with phone calls I propose that African Americans and the homeless walk a legal parade up and down his State Street Sidewalk during lunch and dinner. You are amazing woman, both of you are.
Isn’t it interesting? The mayor got re elected by Alder Rummel’s district and he has never treated her with the respect or with gratitude. He’s a bully at best .
A friend who runs by the Shorewood Hills Pool in the summer says that Soglin can be found hanging out at the pool. Maybe he gets the senior citizen discount. He does receive his pension for being mayor in the past along with his salary so homelessness isn’t in the cards for him. Ever since he lost to Mayor Dave, Soglin does not put who endorses him on his campaign site because it would reveal people like Jim Doyle (that endorsement caused Soglin to lose to Mayor Dave) Basically, Soglin is loved by the establishment of exclusivity and entitlement. They are entitled to be exclusive. They worked so hard networking with the top dogs.