Mayor’s Office War on the Homeless, Part III

Ok – so that list of police calls in Part II was a little bogus and over-exaggerated, but there were some real issues in there. Yesterday, two gems of emails came out from the Mayor’s office. Here’s the latest on the Mayor’s office campaign to rid themselves of the homeless in the building. Part one of this is here. Part two is here.

MUG SHOT EMAIL

From: Miley, Sally
Sent: Friday, January 20, 2012 1:06 PM
To: Briski, Kevin; Gawenda, Dave; Hanson, Mark; Kronberger, Paul; May, Michael; Nunez, Lucia; Phillips, Rob; Schmiedicke, David; Veldran, Lisa; Wirtz, Brad; Witzel-Behl, Maribeth; Wray, Noble
Subject: FW: New alcohol Ordinance

Cc: PD*CENTRAL
Subject: RE: New alcohol Ordinance

I just personally educated the following people on the new ordinances/trespass issues:

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX, f/w, 2/23/55
[insert mugshot here]

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX m/w, 2/27/75
[insert mugshot here]

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX, m/w, 4/21/65
[insert mugshot here]

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX, m/w, 3/14/69
[inster mugshot here]
Use caution: XXXXX attacked Library Security Officer Edler in April 2011.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX, f/w, 1/12/62
[insert mugshot here]
Usually uncooperative.

NOTE: The striking thing you will note from the mug shots is that they are all white.
————
From: Gloede, Carl
Sent: Thursday, January 19, 2012 3:38 PM
To: PD*CENTRAL
Subject: New Ordinance

Council approved the ordinance change for banning possession and consumption of alcohol at CCB and MMB. Both inside and outside.

Please write citations for violations.

Additionally, CCB facilities posted the outside grate areas with signs indicating, ‘Stay off the Grates’. Calls for non-compliance can now be dealt with a trespass citation.

Carl Gloede
Captain of Police: Central District
City of Madison Police Department
211 S. Carroll St.
Madison, WI 53703

So, first of all, there seem to be 5 people targeted.

Second of all, I’m quite certain the ordinance, according to the clerk’s office, doesn’t go into effect until tomorrow. I guess that’s a technicality the police department can’t be bothered with.

Third of all, trespassing on public property, how does that work? And the sign says NOTHING about trespassing. Just tell them to keep off. Doesn’t indicate it is from the police department or the city for that matter. Doesn’t indicate it is a violation of the law. Perhaps cuz it isn’t? Is this a case of police bullying, hoping that because they wear a uniform that no one will question them?

Fourth of all, are the grates really unsafe as they seem to be indicating? I kinda doubt it. If so, why not just fix them if there is such a concern? Wouldn’t that be the best thing to do for the public?

ALL CITY STAFF EMAIL

From: Mayor
Sent: Monday, January 23, 2012 5:21 PM
To: All Email Users
Subject: City-County Building Security

Dear Employees,

In recent months my office has heard from a number of employees who work in the City-County Building about various unsafe or unpleasant situations arising from the presence of homeless people in the building on a daily basis. This issue is a high priority for us. We believe that employees have the right to come to work in a clean and safe environment. We have been able to make some improvements over the last few months. I realize that there are still serious problems in the lobby that overflow into the rest of the building and we are continuing to work with Dane County to address them.

The CCB, as you know, is jointly owned by the City of Madison and Dane County. According to the agreement put in place when the building was opened, Dane County manages it. The City-County Liaison Committee sets building rules and operating policies and Madison Police Department responds to emergency calls within the building. In recent months, the following steps have been taken:

-An outreach team was asked by Dane County Human Services to meet with the homeless people in the lobby to educate them as to other options available to them in our community. The team met with them twice. One option is the new drop-in center at the former Don Miller building on East Washington Avenue. Most of the lobby regulars have refused to take advantage of this option and have also refused help to find other options.

-The security gate on the second floor is now operational. The gate’s purpose is to prevent anyone entering the building from Wilson Street after jail visiting hours from being able to access the rest of the building. (Juvenile Detention must have access 24 hours a day, so Wilson Street entrance is always open).

-The grates outside the building have been posted.

-The Carroll Street entrance now has card access for employees who want to use that entrance for access after hours.

-The Common Council passed an ordinance prohibiting alcohol in the CCB and MMB. There was already a building rule for the CCB to this effect, but MPD can only enforce if it is ordinance form. MPD has informed persons in the lobby of this ordinance.

-Future plans include an access code for Juvenile Detention visitors at the Wilson Street entrance so that this door can be locked after jail visiting hours.

I understand that there have been visitors to the CCB and some county or city employees who have provided food, money, and blankets to people in the lobby. Please be aware that doing so contributes to an unsafe environment for your fellow employees. Most of the lobby regulars are also on the city’s habitually intoxicated persons list, so giving them money is especially harmful. For those who would like to help with food or supplies, there are many fine organizations in our community that work with our homeless population, some of which receive funding from the city for this purpose. Many are also funded through the Combined Campaign. There are also faith based organizations, food pantries, and other non-profits which collect food, clothing, blankets, and other supplies for distribution to needy people in our community. Any of these organizations would appreciate your support.

Employees can help by calling 911 if you witness any behavior that is unsafe. This includes fighting, threatening or harassing other people, improper use of the bathrooms (bathing, doing laundry, blocking the doors), drinking alcohol, sleeping on the grates outside the building, blocking exterior or interior doors, being in the building when it is closed, or a person or persons who are passed out or who look ill. When you call, be sure to provide your name and work contact information in case follow up is needed. Please also email Sally Miley at smiley@cityofmadison.com in my office as she is keeping track of these incidents. You may also call Sally if you have questions. Thank you for your help.

Sincerely,

Paul R. Soglin
Mayor

Ok – here we go again. Call 911? I’ve seen plenty of people in the city county building who, for sometimes very legitimate reasons “look ill”. I’ve never called 911. What I want to know is, if someone rides their bike to work and are sprucing up before going to work, will 911 be called because they are “bathing” in the restrooms? Why can one person wash their face, and not another? What about if someone spills on their tie at lunch and they go in to clean it off, would that be “doing laundry” and would 911 be called? I’ve been known to spill at lunch and wash my shirt in the sink at work . . . call 911! Quick!! Next think you know, I’ll be dropping F-bombs!!!!

Right, I’m being a little silly. But you gotta admit, so is some of this behavior. I’m all for rules and legitimate use of police services, but some of this just seems designed to wrack up the calls so they can wave bigger stacks of paper around in the meetings. I don’t understand why there is soooooo much effort being put into obsessing about why this is a problem for people to be in public space, and yet hardly any effort going into asking why are the homeless there? Why aren’t there other services? Where should they bathe? Or wash their clothes? Why don’t they have homes? Why are there gaping holes in our safety net? Why wasn’t this a priority during budget time?

The Mayor might be correct to point out that much of this is the county responsibility. But they didn’t want to do the Walker Wheel Tax . . . or vehicle registration fee and Parisi made it look like he was restoring money when in fact there were cuts to the Human Services providers on the front lines every day. But the Mayor can’t just wash his hands of it there, CDBG provides quite a bit of pass through money for homeless services – maybe if non-profits spent less time filling out paperwork and entering people into data systems, we could provide better services or the money could be used more wisely. We should be concentrating on improving the services the city does provide in this area.

p.s. Since when is giving people food and blankets contributing to an “unsafe environment”?