The "Homeless" Problem in St. Petersburg, Could We Do This?

[NotNow]

http://www.tampabay.com/news/localgovernment/downtown-st-petersburg-will-see-fewer-homeless-people-soon-mayor-promises/1173207




ST. PETERSBURG â€" The days of seeing downtown parks and sidewalks hosting makeshift homeless camps are nearly over, Mayor Bill Foster said Thursday.

In the next two weeks, the city will begin enforcing ordinances that ban sleeping or reclining on public sidewalks and the storage of personal belongings on public property.

Williams Park, City Hall, the Princess Martha senior apartments, all known for attracting the homeless, will be transformed, Foster told council members.

"You will see success," Foster said. "All eight of you have made this happen. When your constituents ask you about this in the coming weeks, take credit for it because you guys made it happen."

Violators will be given the option of going to Pinellas Safe Harbor â€" a shelter the county opened with the city's help in January â€" or jail. Located off 49th Street near the Pinellas County Jail, Safe Harbor has already become the county's largest shelter, averaging 320 to 350 people a day.

Word of the changes is getting out, said Shawn Samples, a 38-year-old unemployed waiter who spends his days at Williams Park and his nights sleeping along Fifth Street.

"I heard through word of mouth," Samples said. "And I don't want to go (to the shelter). It reminds me too much of a jail."

St. Petersburg's move could cause ripples for other Tampa Bay cities.

Last year, when the city banned street solicitation to stop homeless people from panhandling, Tampa and Hillsborough County officials reported an uptick in those begging for money and food on their streets.

For months, Foster delayed enforcing ordinances aimed at the homeless because there wasn't enough shelter space. The jail no longer had room for violators of small crimes such as trespassing. Yet he continued to catch flak from downtown businesses and residents who said he was doing little to address the surging homeless population.

Late last year, he pushed for a solution â€" the opening of Safe Harbor, which has room for 500. Its intent was to help remove homeless people from downtown streets, but also to allow the shift of homeless people accused of smaller crimes away from jail, where the costs are $125 more a day.

Its expansion is made possible by a recent shipment of 100 bunks the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office ordered from an Alabama jail for $20 apiece. Metropolitan Ministries has agreed to provide food there, saving more than $300,000 in annual costs.

Soon, a courtyard will be open that will add even more space.

Since April 25, the city has been enforcing other ordinances aimed at the homeless population, such as prohibitions on urinating in public and open containers of alcohol.

Since then, 151 people who violated those ordinances have been taken to the shelter, where they have access to an array of services, such as showers, food and security, said St. Petersburg police Maj. DeDe Carron. In exchange, they agree to perform community service or attend mental health or addiction evaluations or rehabilitation sessions.

Of the 151, 37 have been there more than once.

If someone is sent there three times, they go to jail or their first appearance before a judge.

Some local business owners said they had noticed a decrease in the homeless population downtown recently.

Barb Morlack, who owns Kauffman's Jewlers on First Avenue N, said she has seen fewer of the homeless outside her store over the past few months.

"I assumed it was because they opened the shelter by the jail," she said. Her store has been a presence on First Avenue for 62 years.

Lexi Clavizzao, whose mother owns Vizaj Essentials, a boutique next door to Kauffman's, said groups of homeless people used to gather on the bench outside the store but disappeared once "the cops started driving by."

Even from Leigha Good's perspective, the ranks of the homeless have grown thinner in recent weeks.

A former waiter, Good, 24, has been living on St. Petersburg's streets for the last month.

She said she has seen fewer homeless people in the last couple of weeks. Based on what she has heard from her friends about Safe Harbor, she has security concerns and thinks it sounds jail-like.

"From the city's point of view, it's working," Good said. "But from our point of view, it's scary. I don't really want to go to Safe Harbor."

Times staff writer Aubrey Whelan contributed to this report. Michael Van Sickler can be reached at mvansickler@sptimes.com or (727) 893-8037.


[Last modified: Jun 02, 2011 11:25 PM]

Click here for reuse options!
Copyright 2011 St. Petersburg Times

[Garden guy]

No jobs...no jobs in the near future...of course the homeless population is on the rise..when is the world going to realize that 80% of the world is one paycheck from ruin...I'm sick of people on here screaming negatives about the homeless..if you were homeless on the street you'd be so damn depressed that you act just like the ones you see on the streets...i see a sea of depression in the eyes of the homeless...i hope this city can keep it's promise to help those that have been hurt and put out of their homes due to this awful depression.

[NotNow]

GG, no one is screaming.  Unemployment has nothing to do with aggressive panhandling and urinating and defecating in the street.  The major cause of "homelessness", drug and alcohol addiction, is not directly related to unemployment.  Those that have run into financial difficulty tend to attend the homeless centers and take advantage of available programs, not sit in a park, drink alcohol, piss and sleep. 

These are programs that work.  I know that from personal observation and experience.  There is no need for you to "assume" what I would do in any situation.

[Garden guy]

It's apparent that you've spent no time with the homeless....yes there are those that have issues but many many are there because their rug got pulled out from them...i hope you won't be homeless...it would drive you crazy to. Psycosis can happen due to loosing everything finding yourself stuck with nothing...so yes jobs play a huge part in these people lives...not everone is perfect or has the tools to deal with life as well as you can NOTNOW...again..i hope you don't find yourself homeless.

[NotNow]

I hope I don't find myself homeless as well.  I would venture that I have spent more time with the homeless than most.  I stand by my statements.

[uptowngirl]

I hope I am never homeless either- but I know I would not be camping on the sidewalk downtown, nor would I be urinating in the skyway elevator, or sitting in someone's front yard swilling my 40 ouncers of Steele Reserve. I would hope I would never scream obscenities at people who chose not to give me money. I would like to think I would be more like Joe. A homeless gentleman that would spend almost everyday at Klutho Park on the baseball stands reading a book he checked out from the library. For almost a year I saw and talked to Joe almost everyday, I would give Joe money even though he never once asked me, or I would bring him some lunch or a cold drink. Joe told me the only good thing about being homeless was he could now read every book he ever wanted to. Joe eventually did get a job over on the southside and help with obtaining an apartment. I have not seen Joe in over two years, but I think about him often, especially when I see other people down on their luck that have completely lost any grace and pride they may have ever had. Joe never let his situation beat him, he beat his situation.

[Bridges]

The major cause of "homelessness", drug and alcohol addiction,

Really?  Interesting.  Would love to see your facts regarding this.  Or is this some sort of "I see it a lot and I've read other articles about seeing it, but I haven't seen any statistics on it".  The fact is, only 2% of the homeless are actually visible to the public.  Now, I know you wouldn't make a judgment on a group of people from just 2%.  It's easy to sit there and blame drug and alcohol problems without knowing the full extent of the problem.  Treating all homeless for drug and alcohol problems and not for any mental issues that might be leading to self-medication is not going to solve anything.  Treat the symptom not the disease. 

Now, as to the article, I have a few thoughts.  Every time I see one of these articles I have to ask myself, is this an idea of dealing with a situation that does not attack the situation itself?  It sounds wonderful right?  We're removing the problem from our sight, and if we can't see it, it's not a problem right?  All cured.  But we haven't cured anything or really addressed any problems.  The problem isn't that we need to enforce these laws; it’s that we've abandoned the homeless community and the systems in place to deal with the homeless community.  We've gutted mental health facilities, defunded programs, and removed safety nets. 

What this article is suggesting is a criminalization of homelessness.   Study after study shows that this is not only a bad policy for dealing with the problem, but it’s bad fiscal policy.  For instance: back in 2004 the Blueprint to End Homelessness stated that over a 12 month period: 1,564 arrests we made at a cost of $764 per arrest (most for trespassing), at the conservative cost of $59 per day it cost the city of Jax roughly 5 million.  Now, imagine what that 5 million could have done in preventative measures.

We had a blueprint to end homelessness formulated years ago.  We committed ourselves to it, and worked with it for almost 5 years, when we inexplicably decided to get away from it.   Time to stop with the grandstanding and political football that is the poor and homeless.  Let’s do something that actually works.  We can do this.  But it starts with not vilifying the poor and the homeless.

[duvaldude08]

Well It looks like Jacksonville isnt the only city in Florida with a high homeless population downtown.

[duvaldude08]

Sounds like the kind of scary authoritarian kind of government action that is specifically forbidden by the US Constitution to me.

Luckily I know that my friend, notnow will be fearlessly against this kind of liberty infringing anti constitutional nonsense.

I agree Stephen. I have a question though. It seems that homelessness is wide spread (not just a Jacksonville issue or tampa/st pete issue), in your opinon, what is the best solution?

[KenFSU]

I hope I am never homeless either- but I know I would not be camping on the sidewalk downtown, nor would I be urinating in the skyway elevator, or sitting in someone's front yard swilling my 40 ouncers of Steele Reserve. I would hope I would never scream obscenities at people who chose not to give me money. I would like to think I would be more like Joe. A homeless gentleman that would spend almost everyday at Klutho Park on the baseball stands reading a book he checked out from the library. For almost a year I saw and talked to Joe almost everyday, I would give Joe money even though he never once asked me, or I would bring him some lunch or a cold drink. Joe told me the only good thing about being homeless was he could now read every book he ever wanted to. Joe eventually did get a job over on the southside and help with obtaining an apartment. I have not seen Joe in over two years, but I think about him often, especially when I see other people down on their luck that have completely lost any grace and pride they may have ever had. Joe never let his situation beat him, he beat his situation.

Really enjoyed reading this

Good for Joe.

[duvaldude08]

Sounds like the kind of scary authoritarian kind of government action that is specifically forbidden by the US Constitution to me.

Luckily I know that my friend, notnow will be fearlessly against this kind of liberty infringing anti constitutional nonsense.

I agree Stephen. I have a question though. It seems that homelessness is wide spread (not just a Jacksonville issue or tampa/st pete issue), in your opinon, what is the best solution?

Restoring our middle class to the levels it reached by the late 1950s.  Reinvesting the obscene expenditures that presently build highways to the suburbs into affordable housing that supports single income families.  Restoring the safety nets, pumping money into re education, education, and treatment of mental illness.  Creating urban farming projects on a grand scale, restoring the county extension offices of the department of agriculture, including the canneries, making sustainable skills (which used to be called "Home Ec" and "Four H" programs) a mandatory part of education at all levels, from elementary school to high school graduation.

I would restore volunteer voucher programs for civic projects, build a day center with free public showers and plenty of bathrooms, I would try and treat the homeless that come here as an asset rather than a liability.  I would create dormitories, and transitional facilities.  I would completely remove them as a revenue source for the sheriff's department by taking them out of the jails and putting them to work.

I would set up an aggressive program of reconnecting travelling drifters with their families and returning them to their homes and communities, and I would provide mental health care along the same lines that San Diego does.

And it would still be cheaper than our present method of putting them in jail and destroying the downtown tax base.

I knew you would have some great suggestions. Thanks Stephen!

[iluvolives]

Well It looks like Jacksonville isnt the only city in Florida with a high homeless population downtown.

I would venture to say St. Petes is worse than jacksonvilles. We stayed in downtown St. Pete for a wedding and walking back to the hotel there were literally dozens and dozens of homeless sleeping in rows next to each other in the parks.

[Tacachale]

Gainesville is horrible too, and it's bad everywhere in town, not just downtown.

These measures seem pretty draconian, but I don't think that cracking down on certain problematic behaviors like panhandling are necessarily anathema to trying to get to the root of the problem and getting people back on their feet. It's the behavior that bothers people, not the condition of homelessness. The problem is pursuing the first measure and not the second; that just pushes the issue out of sight (or into someone else's sight).

[Garden guy]

Sounds like the kind of scary authoritarian kind of government action that is specifically forbidden by the US Constitution to me.

Luckily I know that my friend, notnow will be fearlessly against this kind of liberty infringing anti constitutional nonsense.

I agree Stephen. I have a question though. It seems that homelessness is wide spread (not just a Jacksonville issue or tampa/st pete issue), in your opinon, what is the best solution?

Restoring our middle class to the levels it reached by the late 1950s.  Reinvesting the obscene expenditures that presently build highways to the suburbs into affordable housing that supports single income families.  Restoring the safety nets, pumping money into re education, education, and treatment of mental illness.  Creating urban farming projects on a grand scale, restoring the county extension offices of the department of agriculture, including the canneries, making sustainable skills (which used to be called "Home Ec" and "Four H" programs) a mandatory part of education at all levels, from elementary school to high school graduation.

I would restore volunteer voucher programs for civic projects, build a day center with free public showers and plenty of bathrooms, I would try and treat the homeless that come here as an asset rather than a liability.  I would create dormitories, and transitional facilities.  I would completely remove them as a revenue source for the sheriff's department by taking them out of the jails and putting them to work.

I would set up an aggressive program of reconnecting travelling drifters with their families and returning them to their homes and communities, and I would provide mental health care along the same lines that San Diego does.

And it would still be cheaper than our present method of putting them in jail and destroying the downtown tax base.

So when are we going to start Stevens campaign for council?

[Tacachale]

It would have to be an at large seat so all of us could vote.