05-26-20 Council Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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REGULAR MEETING May 26, 2020 Councilmember Henry Davis Jr. spoke to his dissatisfaction with how the City handled the homelessness encampment issue earlier in the day and encouraged the City to explore different, less combative ways of handling situations such as these in the future. NEW BUSINESS STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURE #01-2020- SBCC ADDRESSING ELECTRONIC MEETING ATTENDANCE Council President Tim Scott summarized the key points of proposed Standard Operating Procedure #01-2020. There was brief dialogue among Council Members as well as questions that were answered by Council President Tim Scott and Council Attorney Bob Palmer. Councilmember Sharon L. McBride made a motion to adopt Standard Operating Procedure #01- 2020. Councilmember Rachel Tomas Morgan seconded this motion which carried by a roll call vote of nine(9) ayes. PRIVILEGE OF THE FLOOR Araquel Bloss,2513 Erskine Boulevard, South Bend, IN, spoke to the events that transpired earlier in the day with regard to Tent City and the homeless population of the City of South Bend. She revealed that she is a Level Three (3) Health Inspector and she believes the actions taken by the City earlier in the day demonstrated a lack of leadership in the City. She then spoke to her specific interface with the City and expressed her dissatisfaction with the City's ability to work with her and the homeless population as well as going against local Health Department and CDC recommendations. Ronda Hughes, 1029 Riverside Drive, South Bend, IN, thanked the Council for inviting Mayor Mueller to provide an update on where the City is on homelessness. She also applauded the Mayor for not kicking the can down the road and trying to do something about the issue. She mentioned that there are key recommendations made by the Homelessness Working Group that are yet to be exercised. She mentioned there is much urgency to address the housing issue of South Bend and advocated for the housing-first (1st) model to address this issue. She also advocated for Homelessness Coordinator. Sarah Knowlton, 501 East Woodside Street, South Bend, IN, stated that the CDC as announced that clearing encampments can cause people to disperse throughout the community and break connections with the service communities. It also increases the chance for infectious disease to spread. She asked why the Mayor's actions went against the CDC's recommendation. Ms. Knowlton submitted a hyperlink to the public record: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019- ncov/community/homeless-shelters/unsheltered- homelessness.html?CDC AA refVal=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cdc.gov%2Fcoronavirus%2F201 9-ncov%2Fneed-extra-precautions%2Funsheltered-homelessness.html Kelly Pickell, 17880 Tanager Lane, South Bend, IN, stated that he is a Client Success Manager for a company that helps maintain homeless manager systems. He spoke to the situation of Tent City and expressed his dissatisfaction with how the City responded to the situation. Rebecca Royce, 4991 North 475 East, Leesburg, IN, expressed her confusion with an article published in the South Bend Tribune stating the Mayor would not break up Tent City, yet did anyway. She is disappointed with the way the City has handled the homeless population. Jesse Davis, P.O. Box 10205, South Bend, IN, gave his remarks to his experience being at the situation that unfolded with the homeless population and Tent City. Kerry Clear,3208 South Twyckenham Drive, South Bend, IN, shared his experience of witnessing the situation that unfolded with the homeless population and Tent City. He encouraged the Council to stop kicking the can down the road on this issue as well as to communicate better with the service providers in the area. 8