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REGULAR MEETING JULY 13, 2015
<br />poor of South Bend even more before we get to that breaking point for the 50% of us in the city
<br />who live pay check to pay check, who barely survive. On the Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. issue,
<br />I just found out something, when we are talking about the most important figures in our history,
<br />we only have one address on that street and that is the fire station. We have plenty of streets in
<br />this city, we should be able to find a prominent one to give him his prominent role within this
<br />city. We continue to talk about the quality of life issue, we don't want to criminalize poverty in
<br />terms of the panhandlers. You can't come right into the gates of the city and see panhandlers the
<br />very moment that you hit the city; then think this has the quality of life that I want to move to. I
<br />think we need to look for a constructive way to address that we are not criminalizing poverty but
<br />we are also improving the quality life for everyone in the city.
<br />Reverend Wendy Bruner— 612 Rush St., South Bend— I am the Pastor of Zion United Church of
<br />Christ, the community of faith, that finds it home across the street from Howard Park. The
<br />words we say each Sunday morning in worship reflect our theological understanding of a loving
<br />and gracious God, no matter who you are and where you are in life's journey you are welcome
<br />here. We believe everyone is welcomed at God's table, no exceptions. In my faith tradition I
<br />hear these words spoken by the one that I choose to follow, they are found in Mark's gospel and
<br />I dare say we all know them very well. When the scribe asks what are the most important
<br />commandments, Jesus says to love God with all your heart and all your soul and with all your
<br />strength and the second one is to love your neighbor as yourself, no qualifications, no judgment
<br />just love. When people choose love to each other no matter who they are in a world where there
<br />is too little love, I celebrate. When people make commitments to each other no matter who they
<br />are when a time where commitment is rare, I celebrate. When people stand together courageous
<br />in their faith with each other no matter who they are when there are few who trust in this day in
<br />age, I celebrate. I may disagree with you on any matter of things politics, music preference, the
<br />NFL, the football team you cheer for each Sunday, your stance on war, or how you do your job
<br />but that doesn't give me permission to ridicule or disparage you or call into question on who you
<br />love. I will love and affirm who you are as a Child of God, we are all created in God's image.
<br />That should be enough, I pray that it is.
<br />Becky Kaiser — 913 Diamond Ave., South Bend — I am straight, I am a fat chick, I am a
<br />community activist, I am an animal advocate those are labels. They don't mean a darn thing
<br />unless you know me. They don't show you how I do my job or how I interact with people. They
<br />may show you my interests or who I decide to love. When we attack as a society any one
<br />because of their labels, when we as a community attack or plan attacks that is purely evil. We as
<br />a community if we want South Bend to be better, we need to stop looking at our own personal
<br />interest and start accepting each other. Stop rule and undermining each other on labels and
<br />things that we don't like. There is much more in South Bend that brings us together and things
<br />that we can work on than the attacks on each other, this has been going on for a long time and it
<br />needs to stop. Some of you don't have much longer to be on council you can go out with a blaze
<br />of glory or go out looking like a...
<br />Nicole Floresan — Elkhart, IN — I have been working in downtown South Bend for the past five
<br />(5) years. During that time I have seen panhandling go from non - existence to explosive. Every
<br />day I drive the same route to and from work. I come in from the toll road from 31 North, in the
<br />mornings during the week I don't see any panhandlers. Yet when I leave at 5:30pm at night I see
<br />one (1) or two (2), when I travel further north I see two (2) more on Angela Street and 31 with
<br />the golden dome in the background. Since they are setting up in this intersection almost daily
<br />not only do the locals see them but people visiting students and just people visiting from out of
<br />town will see them too. On the weekends it has only gotten worse, this weekend on the same
<br />route, there were three (3) panhandlers on separate comers. As I continued to drive to
<br />Showplace 16, more and more panhandlers were coming out drinking coffee, smoking cigarettes,
<br />talking on their cellphones and basically setting up their comers. Now please understand I have
<br />nothing against the homeless. I see them every day at my work. They come in, they sit down
<br />they don't bother anyone, they keep to themselves. We buy them coffee, we buy them food but
<br />they don't point signs at us, they don't make rude gestures. But I do have something against
<br />those that abuse the system, as the law allows those to be overrun with scam artists. As majority
<br />of them are scam artists. Time and time again people give business cards out which they rip up
<br />as soon as they leave, they give them food to which they throw in the nearest garbage can, they
<br />own or rent homes, have iPhones or droid device in which we know the data plans are pretty
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