CHILLICOTHE, Ohio — Passion and some tears were flowing in what was scheduled to be a special city council meeting in Chillicothe on Thursday, and one person was even threatened with arrest.
The town’s council was slated to meet at 4 p.m. in council chambers to reconsider agenda items from their previous week’s meeting. The special meeting on Thursday came after the city’s law director received a complaint by a citizen named Terry Williams that last week’s scheduled meeting was illegal. The complaint said that the agenda and notice of the meeting were not publicly posted in advance as required by law, and therefore, anything that went on last week was nullified. While the law director did not publicly opine on Williams’ complaint, Anna Villarreal, who holds the seat instructed the council to re-hold their meeting as a precaution — which ended up being Thursday’s special meeting.
While the time stamp issue of the notice was just one issue of contention on Thursday, it was an agenda item on the proposed legislation that caused the already-heated room due to warm temperatures to get even hotter.
The hot-button issue is homelessness.
Item number five on the agenda was a piece of legislation that would modify the city’s criminal law for trespassing, or what is more legally known as “criminal trespassing.” In the proposed language, it would become a misdemeanor crime for someone to sleep in public unless there were no other resources available. In other words: if you are homeless, you would be arrested for setting up a tent or sleeping in the park or under a bridge unless the local police could determine there were absolutely no available resources, such as hotel vouchers offered by local non-profits or an empty bed at a nearby homeless shelter. The penalty would carry up to thirty days in jail.
The new law was proposed by retired Chillicothe Police Officer Julie Preston, who now holds the President Pro Tem seat at-large on council. Preston, while retired, volunteers at the county Sheriff’s office and works special details as a deputy Sheriff, such as hostage negotiations. She said the proposed change in law came after her more than 25 years on the streets dealing with those who were without homes.
“The police want to help them, but sometimes homeless people are proud; Lord knows I worked with the homeless enough because I was a police officer for 26 years. They are so proud sometimes, and they don’t want to ask for help, but if you give them a little nudge they will do it, and that’s all the police want: they want to be able to give them that nudge to get them the help they need. They don’t want to take them to jail,” she said.
Nearly a dozen people sat in the audience for the special meeting, all of whom were opposed to the new law. Several people spoke, including the director of the local community action commission. Director Julie Bolen listed numerous things her organization and others are doing collectively to help those in need, such as providing temporary housing, food, internet access to sign up for benefits, and even simple things like water and clothes.
“I recognize that we do have a significant homeless problem here in Chillicothe,” said Bolen, whose official title is executive director of Ross County Community Action. “The problem is not unique to Chillicothe …. we are making great strides and putting together great resources to better their situation. We are building trust and relationships by treating the homeless population with care and respect. The outreach [efforts] and shelter resources we provide are helping the problem; criminalizing people because they do not have a home will not. Criminal charges will only compound the problem and cause more barriers to finding stable housing and employment. Even with all the work we are doing, there are not enough resources.”
Bolen pleaded with the council to table the issue until local organizations could have a discussion with city officials to go about the issue in a different way.
Another local outreach coordinator spoke on Thursday at the meeting. Peg Beekman of the United Methodist Church on Walnut Street was on the brink of tears during her speech.
“These are people just like you and I. I know they look ragged, their clothes are dirty, their hair is tangled, and their teeth haven’t been brushed in ages and neither has their face been washed,” she said while holding back tears. “You know, there are some nights that I go home from work where I smell the homeless smell on me. Do you know why? Because I hug them, I pray with them, I wrap my arms around them. The smell keeps me humble. I am not better than them. I could be them in an unfortunate situation in no time at all …. I challenge you to leave here, find a homeless person; they might not make sense, and they may talk jibberish as someone once told me; they might even be lying, as some of them are, but for just a few moments, smell the aroma of homelessness from a person and let it sink deep into your clothes.”
Many critics of the legislation have accused city council of trying to “ban homeless people.” While Preston said that she can see many people are upset, she stressed that this was not about making people criminals, but more so about “nudging” someone into getting help when they would otherwise be embarrassed.
“When you look at most cities they have [this] legislation, but there is that exemption that exempts the homeless and says that if they have no other alternative that they cannot be charged,” Preston said on Thursday in an interview with the Guardian. “I think [the public] should meet with the police department and go visit some of the homeless camps …. some of them are a serious health risk. There are needles, there are bodily fluids, there’s blood, and other issues in these camps that are a health risk.” She added that the police department is already equipped with a list of available resources to help those in need, but many refuse.
Preston agreed to meet with Bolen and others to discuss the matter, but as of now, the legislation is slated to move forward.
The meeting that did not happen.
While the meeting on Thursday was a special meeting, none of the legislation could go forward because there were not enough council members present, which is known as a “quorum.”
Councilwomen Deidra Nickerson and Nena Park were absent from the room. Both women are Democrats who oppose the new law. Nickerson told the Guardian that she did not attend the meeting because proper legal notice had not been sent out to attend. Also absent from the meeting were Republicans Joe Gieringer and Kathy Payne, who were scheduled to be gone prior to the special meeting being planned, according to the officials. Because not enough council members were present Thursday afternoon, none of the legislation could move forward, including the homeless issue, but also infrastructure issues such as a sinkhole on Watt Street.
Also not present at the meeting was Mayor Luke Feeney, who said a scheduling conflict prevented his attendance.
Present in the audience, however, was Williams, whose complaint spiraled the special meeting. During one point before public participation, Wiliams spoke up and said that anyone could speak about any topic they wanted at the podium after Preston — who was filling in as acting-President — said that the public had to keep their comments focused on the agenda items and could not talk about whatever they wanted. For a brief moment, the two went back and forth with the matter being put to rest after Preston threatened Williams with arrest as a Chillicothe Police Officer stood nearby.
“It’s different as a special meeting. Mr. Williams, this is a special meeting,” Preston said from her podium. “I’ve already checked. You cannot keep interrupting unless you get up to the podium and give your name and address. The Republic is speaking …. Mr. Williams, you will be asked to leave if you continue to interrupt this council session.”
Williams quieted down, turned around in his pew, and looked onward as the meeting advanced.
The 14 agenda items — including the homeless measure — will be moved to the next regular meeting, which is not scheduled until June 27.