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REGULAR MEETING February 11, 2019
<br /> This being the time heretofore set for the Public Hearing on the above bill, proponents and
<br /> opponents were given an opportunity to be heard.
<br /> Jesse Davis, P.O. Box 10205, South Bend, IN, stated, I'm in favor of this. I know it was brought
<br /> up before and has been discussed in several places on social media. We get a lot of reviews from
<br /> other people that say tell them to get a real job, this and that, but I'll tell you what, this would be
<br /> a huge benefit. When the courts made their ruling, basically, they stated something that honestly
<br /> is true, you know? A person standing on a corner asking you to give them money and donate
<br /> money to them is no different than our Mayor when he goes out and rings a bell for the Salvation
<br /> Army around Christmas time. To me, I'd rather have a guy on a corner with a sign. Those bells,
<br /> honestly, no offense to the mayor but they are annoying as hell when I go in and out of a store.
<br /> This will allow a person to come out and make a little bit of money. Are we going to solve the
<br /> problem completely? No way. Are we going to give somebody money that might go out and buy
<br /> alcohol or drugs? Yeah, probably. But, you know what? They might not be going into your local
<br /> store and stealing because they're going to have a little money to spend. They might be able to get
<br /> a hot meal and might be able to put themselves up in a hotel for couple of nights instead of being
<br /> on the streets. And they won't be on the corner begging. Years ago, and I don't know if it still
<br /> happens, but I knew of a couple of local employers from the area that literally would go down to
<br /> the Center for the Homeless and out in front of Hope every morning. They would go there and
<br /> literally get out of their company vehicle and say, hey, I'm looking for some laborers. Whether it
<br /> was someone to throw shingles in a trailer from a roofing job or go out and pick corn, whatever it
<br /> was, a lot of people used to go and actually hire people from those areas. I don't see as much and
<br /> hear as much of that anymore, but I do think this will help the issue of seeing those people on the
<br /> corners, which, everybody complains about. It is pretty scary sometimes when someone comes up
<br /> and you're sitting there, and they bang on the car window. If you haven't seen it here, it does
<br /> happen, and if you really want to see it in depth,go to Chicago and drive through town. It's getting
<br /> really bad there, we were there over the weekend.
<br /> Jason Banicki, 3822 Ford Street, South Bend, IN, stated,You know,the homeless is one(1) of the
<br /> things I talk about a lot. Anything we can do to help them out is something we should try to do.
<br /> As I'm fond to say, don't let the pursuit of perfection be the enemy of progress. This is absolutely
<br /> an opportunity to make some good progress. Again, even if it's only thirty percent (30%), that is
<br /> thirty percent (30%) less people on corners. That is thirty percent (30%) more people who are
<br /> going to have a least one (1) good meal that day. That is thirty percent(30%)of those people who
<br /> are now going to have some change in their pocket to make a decision for themselves and not be
<br /> out begging. This is absolutely something we should do, and it is past time to get this moving
<br /> forward. Thank you.
<br /> David Parker-Brooks, 1630 Pulaski Street, South Bend, IN, stated, I am totally in favor of this
<br /> resolution. There is a pilot program I think the Council and Administration may want to look at in
<br /> Fort Worth, Texas. The people are actually employees, they get benefits and they also earn
<br /> vacation time. I think any time we can give someone opportunity to pull themselves up by their
<br /> bootstraps, most people will take it. We need to help our City from the bottom, not only from the
<br /> top. I totally agree with this program. Anything we can do to help our less fortunate citizens, we
<br /> should do. I deal with the homeless all the time at my church. We feed them, clothe them and do
<br /> what we can. Sometimes things get mis-appropriated,but we give out of the kindness of our hearts
<br /> and I think this Council and the Administration would do this City a great service if we pass this
<br /> resolution. Thank you.
<br /> Avery Arbuckle, 121 Tutt Street, South Bend, IN, stated, I'm currently homeless and am living at
<br /> the Weather Amnesty site on Tutt Street. I just moved up here from Texas and I know the pilot
<br /> program they're talking about in Fort Worth. I think it is working well. Panhandling is illegal there.
<br /> If you get caught, you go to jail which is not a good thing. They pay people ten dollars an hour
<br /> ($10/hr.) to go out and clean up. They do it four(4)hours a day, four(4)days a week. It's helping
<br /> a lot of people get jobs. They have all the service under one(1) roof and they don't have to go all
<br /> over the place. It would be a good program here. It's not going to curb it,but it will take a lot of it
<br /> off the street. It will make the City look a lot better. That's about it. Thank you.
<br /> Jonathan Anderstrom, 3001 West Cleveland Road, South Bend, IN, stated, I really appreciate this
<br /> idea. I had two (2) recommendations with it. In our work with the homeless, we found that they
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