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Cleanup, not cruelty
A Times Editorial
Published January 24, 2008
Balancing the rights and needs of the homeless with those of property owners and the general public is always a delicate matter. St. Petersburg city officials have gotten it about right with two proposed ordinances aimed at preventing homeless people from blocking sidewalks downtown.
A number of the homeless have set up camp next to City Hall, storing mounds of clothing and other personal items under tarps and sometimes lounging or sleeping on the sidewalk. One homeless man runs a bicycle repair service there. Nearby business and property owners complained, and now even city officials who are working diligently to improve the circumstances of the homeless are losing patience.
"It's not what our vision of St. Petersburg is, people sleeping in the streets, bodily functions, piles of trash," said City Council member James Bennett.
One of the proposed ordinances would expand the scope of the city's outdoor dumping regulations to include personal property. It is already a violation to put broken appliances, discarded furniture or other material on public or private property throughout the city. The rewrite would add "personal property including clothing or bedding" to the list, clearly aimed at eyesores such as the stacks of stuff outside City Hall.
The homeless do face a challenge in finding a place to store their belongings, but the city has added an incentive to comply. Lockers will be placed at one of the downtown service centers for the homeless, where they will be able to keep some of their belongings. Those who fail to avail themselves of that service will have 36 hours to find a place for their belongings or have the city remove them.
The other ordinance would prohibit people from reclining or sleeping on downtown sidewalks or rights-of-way during the day. There have been situations where people entering City Hall have had to walk around or step over homeless people sleeping or passed out on the sidewalk. That would no longer be tolerated, though the homeless would still have alternative hangouts downtown.
They still could sleep on sidewalks at night if there is no vacant bed at a shelter, and they could sit or stand on downtown sidewalks during the day. Another practical though unfortunate consequence of the ordinance could send more of the homeless to Williams Park, where it would still be lawful to sleep during the day.
Neither of these actions will please everyone or solve the homeless problem. That will take efforts such as Pinellas Hope, a successful experiment in how to shelter, support and rehabilitate the homeless being directed by Catholic Charities. Until such efforts can be made permanent and attract greater resources, local governments must perform a balancing act between helping the homeless live dignified lives and maintaining public safety and decorum in the community without infringing on the constitutional rights of all.
Cities all over America are struggling with the same problems and passing laws that seek to balance those rights and maintain economic vibrancy in their downtowns. While they address just a narrow portion of the homeless issue, the two ordinances that will be considered this afternoon by the St. Petersburg City Council provide sensible restrictions without being cruel.
[Last modified January 23, 2008, 21:47:27]
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