Public turns out for homeless conversation

More than 200 people packed the Modesto Senior Citizens Center on Wednesday night for what city officials called a community conversation about homelessness and its impact on the city.

The city is being inundated with complaints about the homeless who use drugs, are drunk in public, have sex in parks and create other public nuisances. Businesses complain about thefts, vandalism and aggressive panhandlers. Residents say homeless people have taken over many city parks.

Modesto officials told the audience this is a very difficult problem faced by many cities and there are no quick fixes. They said they are seeing more homeless people and stressed it is not a crime to be homeless and any long-term solutions have to make Modesto a better community for everyone, including the homeless.

The city’s short-term solutions have included squeezing the homeless out of parks when the complaints rise. But that often has meant the homeless move to another park. The city is developing more restrictions on panhandling and an ordinance that would require those who feed people in parks to get a city permit. Residents complain that some groups that feed the homeless and poor in parks don’t clean up and leave litter.

City Attorney Adam Lindgren emphasized Modesto cannot ban panhandling because it’s protected speech and it cannot ban groups from feeding people in parks, though some audience members called for the city to do so.

Some audience members could not wait until the city opened the presentation up to questions and comments and spoke during the city’s hourlong presentation that started the event. And when council members John Gunderson, Tony Madrigal and Jenny Kenoyer tried to speak at the end of the presentation, audience members asked them not to, though the three spoke at the end of the meeting.

City officials said they hope long-term solutions come out of Stanislaus County’s Focus on Prevention effort. As part of that, the county is holding a homelessness summit Thursday at Modesto Centre Plaza. City Manager Jim Holgersson said after Wednesday’s meeting that one long-term solution the city would like to see is establishing a day center for the homeless. He said the city does not have the money to take on the project by itself and would need to partner with others to make it happen.

These centers typically offer the homeless a place to take a shower, wash their clothes, get something to eat and access services. They also provide them with an alternative to being in a park or other public place.

Holgersson said he hopes other long-term solutions come from the city working more closely with its neighborhoods and other segments of the community. City officials collected contact information from audience members who want to get involved.

Police Chief Galen Carroll told the audience that the number of public nuisance calls his officers handle has skyrocketed, from 913 in 2010 to 2,921 in 2014 and 2,795 so far this year. These calls often involve the homeless.

Some audience members were frustrated that the police are not doing more with calls involving drugs and property crimes. But Carroll said his officers are limited because of Proposition 47, which was passed by California voters in 2014 and makes most drug offenses and property crimes involving $950 or less misdemeanors. He said that means officers cite and release offenders.

This story was originally published September 26, 2015 at 3:26 PM with the headline "Public turns out for homeless conversation."