Go ahead, throw out that stuff – ignoring the realities of how the homeless have no place to put their stuff.
Downtown Madison Inc has taken a position about throwing out belongings of homeless persons . . .
Abandoned Personal Property
Downtown Madison, Inc.
May 21, 2013In the interest of public safety Downtown Madison, Inc. (DMI) supports measures that ensure the prompt and efficient removal of personal property abandoned in public places. DMI staff is directed to work with the City of Madison Mayor, Council, staff, agencies and other interest groups to proactively implement policies which will protect the public interest in the most effective manner.
So, someone sent DMI staff an email, asking them about this statement and the lack of regard for homeless persons, this was the question and response.
Dear Ms Schmitz,
How will police or others know when property is abandoned or just stored for a short time for a homeless person who has no place to store belongings? Many advocates for the homeless have been trying to get the City to provide storage facilities for the homeless for quite some time now with no response from City officials.
Thanks for your response to my inquiry.
Dear Mr. Barkoff:
We agree with you and it needs to be part of the conversation. To my knowledge it is. Thank you for your message.
The current version of the ordinance that was entered into Legistar has none of the changes suggested by the Homeless Services Consortium. And the oddest list of sponsors. Note: No one from the downtown. (Paul R. Soglin, David Ahrens, Joseph R. Clausius, Paul E. Skidmore, John Strasser)
I guess the good news is that in order for this to pass, there needs to be a 2/3 vote, so that will make it harder to pass, especially with only 5 sponsors.
Kinda curious what interest these folks have in this issue. I know Skidmore is a cheerleader for the police department that is pushing this, but what about the rest? Clausius because of parks?
