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®CITY OF SOUTH BEND I OFFICE OF THE CLERK <br /> Council President Scott stated, Go ahead, you guys talk. Clerk Fowler, please tell the interviews <br /> we are not doing it and they will have to come back again some other time. We don't have time. <br /> Committeemember Davis interjected, Fine. This is more important. <br /> Henry Miller, 229 E. Broadway Street, stated, I'm not appalled at the fact that the City is taking <br /> steps to develop a plan to help the homeless but I am appalled at the fact that they want to do it to <br /> convenience people that are not being productive in society at the inconvenience for the people <br /> that are. That is my issue. Another issue I have is we have all these services in one (1) particular <br /> area. You have the Life Treatment Center, the Blood Bank, Center for the Homeless and all these <br /> services in one (1) area but none of them are working together and they have nothing to gauge <br /> their effectiveness. What we have is a perpetual problem that will not go away. I'm with Isaac. I <br /> would be willing to give it all up. It ain't even worth paying taxes in South Bend or St. Joseph <br /> County if this is the response we will get. If you are just going to bombard this neighborhood with <br /> services, that is just problematic for me. We shouldn't be thinking about convenience when we <br /> don't think about the cost of inconvenience, especially those whom are productive and taxpaying <br /> citizens. <br /> Tracy Miller, 229 E. Broadway Street, stated, I think we need to go back to the drawing board <br /> when it comes to the criteria. They have a committee of people that have decided that this is the <br /> reason the pods need to be in a particular area. One (1) of the criteria was because they need to be <br /> in that area where all the services are. We know there's everything because people were living <br /> under the bridge where all the services are. They did not take advantage of those services. The <br /> pods on Michigan Street will not solve the problem. Then what do we do when the pods become <br /> full and they start living under the bridge again. The reason a lot of these people are not using the <br /> facilities and resources available to them such as the Center for the Homeless is because they don't <br /> want to be accountable to the rules and regulations that are required of them in order to get help. <br /> They have other underlying problems such as the opioid crisis. I walk down my street and I see <br /> people sitting on the sidewalk drooling and they cannot move. I drive down my alley to get into <br /> my driveway and I ask people to move along,they can't even get up to move. We have a store that <br /> burned down a few blocks over from Broadway and now they've set up tents. Somebody supplied <br /> tents for them to set up. That can be a very dangerous situation for somebody in the City. I think <br /> the whole criteria is wrong. We are trying to put a Band-Aid on something that is going to kill the <br /> whole community. Putting pods in that area is not going to solve the homeless problem. These <br /> people that are using the facilities such as the Broadway Street Ministry and things like that, they <br /> need to be accessed. The community organizations need to come together, link together, and they <br /> need to have Oaklawn there to see why people have been continuing to eat somewhere for three <br /> (3) years. If I'm continuing to feed somebody for three (3) years, I am not helping them I am <br /> disabling them. We need some other people at the table such as the community leaders like Mr. <br /> Oliver,such as the people,the stakeholders in the community,myself and some of the other people <br /> who spoke and that are paying taxes. Because what is going to happen is, our South Side has <br /> become a waste land. If you drive down South Michigan Street any time of the day, they are just <br /> sitting there looking like zombies. We can't even use the businesses in that area because we get <br /> people panhandling when we go in. I had to apply for a gun permit because I'm afraid to go into <br /> my own neighborhood. Thank you. <br /> Reverend Charles Zawistowski, 1601 W. Sample Street, stated, I'm a priest, but I can be brief. <br /> EXCELLENCE , ACCOUNTABILITY I INNOVATION I INCLUSION I EMPOWERMENT <br /> 455 County-City Building 1227 W.Jefferson Bvld ISouth Bend,Indiana 46601 p 574.235.9221 l f574.235.9173 I TM574.235.5567 www.southbendin.gov <br /> 8 <br />