[ad_1]
Lewiston City Council has passed an ordinance that bans loitering, sleeping, camping between 9 p.m. and 5 a.m. on city-owned property including public parks, sidewalks, benches, woodlands, cemeteries, municipal buildings and schools.The 4-3 vote hinged on the inclusion of an enforcement date of April 1 — a winter reprieve for those who several city leaders admitted have no warm place to sleep at night in Lewiston. Councilors who favored the ordinance cited the need to provide a ‘tool’ for Lewiston police officers to draw on to maintain public safety. Council members who said they could not support the ordinance called it a ‘criminalization’ of homelessness. In response to both viewpoints, Chief David St. Pierre insisted that his police officers often give as many as eight to 10 verbal warnings or requests for those who need to “move along”, and that arresting or issuing a summons to a homeless person is “absolutely a last resort.” St. Pierre said it is his department’s last wish to set a person farther back in their homelessness. The councilors and those who spoke fervently against the ordinance asked where homeless people are now meant to go to sleep at night. How would they be notified of the change in city laws? Among those who spoke at Tuesday’s meeting was the executive director of New Beginnings, a program offering resources to homeless and troubled youth in the area. Chris Bicknell noted that there is no overnight homeless shelter in Lewiston for adults and that an ordinance further restricting homeless people is not a good use of city resources.”This community can do better; the people of this community deserve better,” he said. Likewise, the founder of A Hand Up asked city leaders to speak with the residents of his facility’s sober living program, to hear about the challenges of finding a safe, warm place to sleep while battling addiction or substance use disorders. Councilwoman Linda Scott spoke in defense of business owners and residents whose encounters with some homeless people have led them to consider living or running a business elsewhere. Scott ultimately voted against the ordinance, saying she couldn’t support punishing those who have nowhere else to go. The councilmembers who voted in favor of the ordinance said they were torn between supporting local businesses and police officers, and admitting that the ordinance did not address the underlying issues causing and contributing towards homelessness. Mayor Carl Sheline agreed that more work needs to be done to support homeless people in Lewiston and enable police to maintain order and safety.
Lewiston City Council has passed an ordinance that bans loitering, sleeping, camping between 9 p.m. and 5 a.m. on city-owned property including public parks, sidewalks, benches, woodlands, cemeteries, municipal buildings and schools.
The 4-3 vote hinged on the inclusion of an enforcement date of April 1 — a winter reprieve for those who several city leaders admitted have no warm place to sleep at night in Lewiston.
Councilors who favored the ordinance cited the need to provide a ‘tool’ for Lewiston police officers to draw on to maintain public safety. Council members who said they could not support the ordinance called it a ‘criminalization’ of homelessness.
In response to both viewpoints, Chief David St. Pierre insisted that his police officers often give as many as eight to 10 verbal warnings or requests for those who need to “move along”, and that arresting or issuing a summons to a homeless person is “absolutely a last resort.” St. Pierre said it is his department’s last wish to set a person farther back in their homelessness.
The councilors and those who spoke fervently against the ordinance asked where homeless people are now meant to go to sleep at night. How would they be notified of the change in city laws?
Among those who spoke at Tuesday’s meeting was the executive director of New Beginnings, a program offering resources to homeless and troubled youth in the area.
Chris Bicknell noted that there is no overnight homeless shelter in Lewiston for adults and that an ordinance further restricting homeless people is not a good use of city resources.
“This community can do better; the people of this community deserve better,” he said.
Likewise, the founder of A Hand Up asked city leaders to speak with the residents of his facility’s sober living program, to hear about the challenges of finding a safe, warm place to sleep while battling addiction or substance use disorders.
Councilwoman Linda Scott spoke in defense of business owners and residents whose encounters with some homeless people have led them to consider living or running a business elsewhere. Scott ultimately voted against the ordinance, saying she couldn’t support punishing those who have nowhere else to go.
The councilmembers who voted in favor of the ordinance said they were torn between supporting local businesses and police officers, and admitting that the ordinance did not address the underlying issues causing and contributing towards homelessness.
Mayor Carl Sheline agreed that more work needs to be done to support homeless people in Lewiston and enable police to maintain order and safety.
[ad_2]
Source link
