Mayor’s Office War on the Homeless, Part I

And they are passionate about it – I haven’t quite figured out why its so important for them to get the homeless out of the City-County Building, but they are determined. And holy crap, I forgot about the Sargent vs O’Lauglin divergent views of the county. Do we have stockholders we need to watch out for? Or are we a community with a safety net? Or will we build an island for misfit toys to put people on? This got long, its going to be three posts. Second post will be Joe McCarthy’s list, the third post will be the calling 911 for doing laundry in the sink post. They will be up momentarily as they are mostly done, but need some tweaks since I split them up. If I don’t get distracted at work.

CITY-COUNTY LIAISON COMMITTEE MEETING – PROBLEMS IN THE LOBBY
At the last City-County Liaison Committee Meeting they discussed the homeless in the City County Building (CCB). They discussed the issue of alcohol in the building which they unanimously decided to ban and the County approved at their last meeting. Then they also discussed the policies of the building. Here’s the rest of that discussion that I did not blog before.

This first part is public testimony on the alcohol in the building from the Parks Department staff that I skipped in the first post. (Audio from the meeting here)

Kevin Briski, Parks Department said that he wanted to speak in general, Parks is right off the main lobby to the left when you walk in the building. Their front customer area, the main desk faces the lobby. Their first experience with us in the front lobby, the staff faces out there. ON behalf of his staff he wanted to share their experience, so if you are not walking through there on a daily basis you would know. He says he was late because as he walked out of the meeting there was a man who was incapacitated, passed out in the lobby. There of them rushed to him, he was out cold, we see that frequently, it is a common experience. They have 4 ladies who work the front desk area, it is a common occurrence to see that, to see fighting to see cussing and swearing. They are “accosted”, asked for money and cigarettes, panhandled as they come and go. His window is by the grates and he has seen county facilities management trying to manage the situation. He can imagine that you don’t want weight on there, and its a drop down, so he sees them spending their time on that throughout the day, trying to manage an unsafe situation. He sees people out there urinating during the day. That is what they are seeing daily, the fighting the swearing the incapacitation of people. We all have compassion, that is why he stopped today to make sure he is safe, called 911 to make sure they are on the way. He just wanted them to know, they feel for their plight. This is the front lobby of a city county building that conducts business.

Lauren Cnare and Shiva Bidar-Sielaff have to leave for neighborhood meetings.

Mark Clear asks about the use of alcohol in the lobby. Did you see the person drinking or smell it?

Briski says I didn’t see it. It was obvious from being close to him that he was drinking. His staff have seen bottles, he has seen bottles in the men’s room. On one occasion one was dropped in a closed stall and it spilled out. He has seen bottles.

Sally Miley asks Lavonne LaFave from Parks to speak as well.

LaFave says that she is representing herself as well as the staff at the Parks Department. She supervises the front desk. Her staff has to deal with, on a daily basis, smells that are unpleasant, language that is very offensive, we can no longer use the first floor restroom because they have been accosted, they have been prevented from leaving. they have seen people washing their clothes in there, they have had to call 911, they have seen fighting and have had to step over blood on the floor. They have had to call 911 on numerous occasions, they have been accosted, they have been asked for money, cigarettes, something to drink. Last week they had a lobby resident that decided to take a nap and he placed his backpack in front of the door blocking it and laid on the floor and refused to move, not letting anyone leave or come in. They have customers who come in to purchase permits, to get information about activities. She is worked about women and families with children who come in and have to be subjected to this behavior. This is a behavior problem. She believes that they need to pass a policy about the behavior. She has no problem with someone who sits and reads and talks quietly. She is concerned about behavior that escalates throughout the day, she has seen people drinking when she comes in at quarter to 8 in the morning, by 9:30 they are staggering, trying to get up off of chairs.

They continue talking about the ordinance as noted in my post about alcohol in the building.

Sally Miley from the Mayor Soglin’s office says she did an open records request from dispatch about calls to the building. There is a list of calls to the building in the last 6 months. They are calls to police and fire. It’s an incredible use of resources. Last Thursday there were three calls, Friday there was one. (I got the impression she was looking at the info in the list to get that info, but as you will see below, it wasn’t included). It’s costing us a lot of money to deal with the behaviors Lavonne was talking about.

Clear mentions a email from a municipal court person.

Josh Wescott from Joe Parisi’s office says that he wants to report that the Human Services Department at the direction of the County Executive’s office they had the street team go through after the holidays to talk to them to relay to them the services available. The day shelter at Don Miller which has helped, the street team is familiar with these people and they know the services and they have made a choice to come and spend some time, here and there. Also at the Capitol and Don Miller and other resources. There continues to be attempts at outreach to get them services, that is an update as of last week. At the time the street team was there they made contact with 4 to 6 people.

Clear says that some of the people may not be welcome at the Porchlight shelter, because they have strong rules there. But because they have alcohol they would not be welcome, so maybe those services are not available to them.

CITY-COUNTY LIAISON COMMITTEE MEETING – NO TRESPASSING SIGNS POSTED OUTSIDE
They move on to talk about posting a no trespassing signs outside the building. They explain that this was at the request of the city, but that they might have figured out something else. Captain Carl Gloede goes up and whispers in Sally Miley’s ear. There is confusion. Mark Clear asks if there is something she wants to share with them. She moves to table it. More confusion. They don’t want it to come back. Dennis O’Laughlin moves indefinite postponement in committee, Clear says at the city they place on file. They make that the motion. Then there is this conversation.

Clear asks, does someone want to tell me why?

Sally Miley says she does not know why.

Melissa Sargent says she can tell them why, maybe not their reasons. She is really glad this is going away. Our public buildings should not be posted for no trespassing. She is glad it is going away. It is an offensive talking point for her.

Clear says he presumes there is an alternate solution for the problem this was intended to address.

Dennis O’Loughlin says we are working on it.

Clear is still confused and says ok in a skeptical tone of voice.

CITY COUNTY LIAISON COMMITTEE – FURTHER DISCUSSION ON THE BUILDING RULES
County Board Supervisor Matt Veldran, who’s wife works in the building, speaks to the issue. Says this is a place of employment and business and most people wouldn’t accept this where we work. There are real costs, glad they are addressing the issues. Porchlight will not take the hardest people. Employees want to use the lobby when they take breaks. He explains his role in the county and why he’s involved with facilities management. He comes in and out of the front door, he sees it, we don’t want our staff to work on this issue any more, he has sympathy, he doesn’t think it is a solution to drag them out and send them to the public safety building. He doesn’t want staff to clean up the messes, it is everywhere, the bathrooms, the stair wells, and we have had to create a new second floor fencing to spend money to keep people from coming up and if they get in to make sure they can get out if there is a fire. They have to go through the chambers, there is an emergency release on the door in the former press room (back when we had press says Clear).

Sargent says that the bottom line is that the point of moving forward with updating the building rules is not to make sure people aren’t here, but to make sure that the people are safe. If people are being respectful and reading a book that is ok, but when people are unsafe to themselves or others that is the issue.

O’Loughlin says he is concerned about the costs to the police department. He has been in here many times, he disagrees that someone with 10 bags can sit in the lobby is respectful. It is an image, we are creating an image that the tax payers are going to rebel at. He had three people call him at home and ask what is going on in the city county building. Our stockholders have the right to ask that question. Most people come in once a year, if they are a business they come in more. They see this, this is an insult to all of us at the table. Something is going to happen, and when it does, we are going to be responsible. The police department is going to be responsible. And you will hear it then, why didn’t they do something about it, its that typical Madison/Dane County approach, no its not we have worked hard to find services for these people. He is on the Salvation Army Board and we have worked hours and hours and hours to help these people. The reason they don’t want to leave is because we are not as tough as the people on E Washington Ave. That’s not our problem. That is not our problem. Conform to the rules, you have plenty of space, we can find space for you on E Washington until it gets warm. They have to follow the rules. Do you think they will obey the rules here? No. I tell you, if I was a city employee and walked into a lavatory and saw what they saw in the email, I would be highly upset, as she clearly upset. And I think we have a responsibility to do something about it. This is a major problem and it is not going away until the thermometer hits 65 degrees. It is an insult to the people that pay taxes, who try to make the city and county as beautiful as it is. To walk in here and hear these things, and to walk in here and hear these things, it just bothers him. He lived in Chicago and remembers reading Mayor Daley in the newspaper saying that they are going to provide services for people but they can’t be here and here and here. The first time they get a free pass, the second time is not going to be free. A little while later they controlled the issue. And we have an issue here.

Veldran makes some crack about if that is a question or if that counts against his time. Veldran points out that the city across the street doesn’t allow this in the municipal building. Take that for what it is worth, he agrees with much of what O’Loughlin had to say.

Sargent says that they took a big step to address the alcohol issue. She says from what she has heard, alcohol is the underlying factor and they have addressed that, so she thinks we will see a cultural change in the building. That is her hope, that is why she supported that. However, those people, are also citizens of Dane County, those people live here just as much as the business person walking in the building once or twice a year. We have to protect those people as well. And she says the problem was greater when it was higher than 65 degrees. This problem has dissipated she has worked with Lynn Green and the County Executive to have the street team here. She has spent hours trying to come up with solutions for those residents of Dane County, They have free will, we can offer them services and solutions, but we can’t force them. By coming up with the alcohol policy that is the underlying factor, she is hopeful that they have resolved this, she says they have been working on this and they have taken steps forward. She wants to continue to hear from Captain Gloede and his staff to make sure we are on the right path, but there is a free will. If someone has crossed the line, if they are consuming alcohol or is unsafe to themselves of others, they have the tools to keep people safe, the workers and people who come in the building, as well as the person lying on the floor of the lobby today, I hope he is ok. We have services to help, but we need to remember we are all citizens of the county. It is our job as the county to be the safety net and support these people. We need to help solve the problem. We are not going to build an island for misfit toys and put them on it. We are a community and it is our job to support each other.

Clear asks if there are other tools that they need to resolve this. He says he agrees with Sargent, except he has no illusions that this will solve the problem, its one tool, one step. Denny gave us a we oughta do something speech, he’s challenging him, ok what? But the island of misfit toys is incarceration, that doesn’t solve the problem and it costs us money.

O’Loughlin says that he wants the street team to deal with it, that they can’t be living in this building, there are facilities available for them and we recommend that they use them. However, there are rules that have to be followed, that means you cannot smell of alcohol, you cannot have alcohol on your or in your pockets. We are going to enforce the rules.

Clear says he doesn’t think there is anything they can do about people who smell of alcohol.

O’Loughlin says that is another issue.

Clear says that if they drink somewhere else and come in here they can’t do anything about it.

Miley says she met with the library staff and that they have spent a lot of time devleoping a policy and thye have been successful. Their staff, when they walk in, they can see them. They can tell what people are doing. They have other rules. Alcohol related behavior, inappropriate language, we’ve had some of that, they have heard “the next time that guy walks by lets jump them”, foul language. They do have consequences, in this building we don’t have consequences, staff talk to people and a graduated series of consequences and they have been successful with it.

Clear asks if she agrees that there are different rules for this building and the other building. Wonders why there is a difference.

Carl Gloeded doesn’t want to answer. I raised my hand. Clear calls me up.

I told them the difference was that they removed the benches. (Smirks on various peoples faces in the room. I didn’t say they also put up bright lights outside by the bike racks so people don’t sleep there.) I then add that you can offer services, but if you can’t get into the services, then that does not good. If there is a waiting list at the warming shelter it won’t help. The other thing is that if you get kicked out, you don’t have a way to get back in if you are permanently banned. And there is no third party appeal system, so you can’t appeal if treated unfairly. If there is an alcohol problem, they might not behave well one day, but they might be well behaved for 3 month or 6 months or three years, but if they are banned, they are banned. Its ok to have rules, lets have real rules that are written down, that everyone understands and people can see but they have to be fair. The problem is the system is the staff don’t like you, you are out. The feeling is the systen is not fair, so why try to follow the rules. Who cares if you follow the rules, cuz they aren’t fair. But the reason they are not at MMB is that they took the benches out.

Clear says the benches were gone here for a while.

Giggle about why, there were various reasons, bake sales and

I also add that I understand the desire to not have people to sit in the lobby, but we can’t just put them out, it is just moving the problem. I don’t understand why the street team was not there months ago, I dont’ understand why those types of servies weren’t provided sooner. The reality is if you have only 60 days in shelter for men and 180 days for women and families and if you use up your lifetime limit (families) you can’t get back in. And if you use the warming shelter one night, you can’t stay there the next night and they have that crazy system that you have to call and noon and they let you know at 1:00 if you have a place to stay that night. If you don’t get in, you haveno where to do. Its more complicated than we told them there are services. The reality is that if there are no services there are none. The street team can do what they can do, but if there are no beds, what can they do? For treatment and homeless shelter, all the outreach in the world won’t help if there are not services to provide.

Miley says at least one person has an apartment.

Sargent says it is a personal choice.

Miley says some people do have options.

Sargent says that if someone crosses a line and are unsafe that is different. They can be banned for a few days. She suggests we separate this discussion from the rules and wants to keep having the conversation.

They decide to talk about this more in the future. Sally Miley says she will work with Captain Gloede and the City Attorney. Sargent asks to add someone from Human Services or the Street Use Team to make the group balanced. Miley says that she wants to work on the behavior guidelines.

They pass the building rules. Sargent suggests they pop a champagne cork, groans. Clear points out it hasn’t passed yet.

I suggest that they look at the Lisa Link rules instead of the Library rules, since they used the library rules to come up with them.

HOW IS THIS THE MAYOR’S ISSUE?
See part II and III, I’m getting to it! Hopefully.