I wonder, does anyone know how long this ordinance has been on the books that's causing the police department to suddenly start evicting the homeless from city property? If it's been there for a long time, then why are they just now enforcing it like they are. They've now done 2 sweeps in a short period of time. And if it's only been written and put into force recently, why the sudden change? I know we have to solutions to the problem of homlessness and there are no easy answers. And it's great that the city is wanting to actually address the issue and try to come up with some kind of solution. But in the mean time, the homeless are suddenly uprooted from places they've been living in for some time, and under the threat of arrest and the threat of having all of their belongings taken away from them and disposed of. They may not have much, but what they do have is ALL they have. And you threaten to confiscate it and throw it away? Yep, there's some good community relations.
As was mentioned by another commenter, there's other avenues that could be used. There are so many empty homes and apartments in this city. Not all of them are on the verge of falling down. How many empty apartments are there in the Centliver Apartment Complex? I you really want to help these people, use some of that legacy money to rehab some of those apartments and home scattered all over town. A 3 bedroom house could be refurbished and become home to 3 homeless people. Or, if you double them up in each room, now there's a place for 6 people. Povide bunk beds in every bedroom. They share all the common areas, but each have their own space in their bedroom. Most homeless get along well with each other because they have that one thing in common.....homlessness. If this could be done with several houses and apartments, and with stipulations that they earn their keep by keeping the home up, keep the property taken care of (lawn mowed, kept clear of trash, etc). Many homeless are not that way by choice. And they would take pride in a place if they just HAD a place. These would be temporary, with a time limit put on them, and during that time, they could be set up with some job skills training through some of the programs that are already in place. Maybe, just maybe, many of them could find work and become productive citizens once again and then be able to get a place of their own. It's a win win situation. Let's put some of that money to GOOD use by working on making homeless people non-homeless people.

MILLIONS OF BUCKS FOR BASEBALL; CORPORATE WELFARE, BOONDOGGLES, EARMARKS, PET PROJECTS- HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS IN CASH IN THE LEGACY HONEY POT- THERES DOZENS OF vacant buildings that the cit govt could "requisiton/ comandeer- as temporaty shepters, amke shift- to get these poor sould out of the cold. the city owns a nice BARN- just across the iron wellst bridge- I have seen this every year for all my life- and the same thiong- talk talk talk- heres a blanket heres a tarp; heres a nice city govt meeting, bla bla bla- but NO ROOM AT THE INN? SOUND FAMILIAR/ 2014 years. even the BISAHOP- has noroom in his hard wood pews indoors for these souls- better than out in the cold. does he open HIS CHURCH? NO. imsure the POPE would disagree with him.. anyway- happy holidays- heres a biscuit- im going to my nice warm house. praying you dont freezxe to death..

The phrase "corporate welfare" makes no sense. Welfare is what you give to a under-productive member of society for the necessities of living and nothing is expected in return. Corporations provide products and services. They don't get money just for existing, and usually there are strings attached to the government money. "Corporate subsidies" may be correct, but "corporate welfare" is not. It is just an attempt to put a negative spin on something with which you disagree by using a word with a very negative connotation.

BTW - how many of these people do you have staying at your home? I think that sounds like a great idea.

Just stating the obvious. We owned a business downtown for 10+ years.
Had to move SW because homeless people kept approaching clients asking for money.
They've known about this forever.
Now, $$$ are moving in & of course, per usual $$$ talks.

Bingo. I have often avoided businesses that I wanted to go to because I didn't want to run a gauntlet of beggars. The people that run cities just don't understand this point. It is NOT compassionate to let people live in parks and under bridges.