Precarious housing for homeless continues at county garage...

We start with Emily Good explaining what was going on before January 9, 2014....

There was a day recently when Rochester's temperature ranged from -2° to 6°F, and it was on that day that the local development corporation (LDC) contracted by Monroe County and charged with operating the Civic Center parking garage (55 Fitzhugh Street South) intended to close it off to homeless folks at night.  The previous night--one of Rochester's coldest, with a wind chill temperature dipping to -30°F--I spent at St. Joseph's House of Hospitality along with 16 guests taking refuge from the arctic blast.  Once all of our beds were full, we called around to several shelters in order to find space for others.  One went to the Open Door Mission.  Another was approved by the Department of Social Services to stay at the Cadillac Hotel, while others were denied.  Where do these people go when all of the area's shelters are full?  The House of Mercy accepts everyone, but space and resources are limited there too.

For decades, one of the last options for homeless folks has been the Civic Center parking garage.  It is warm enough inside for people to survive long nights of below-zero temperatures.  Young men just out of jail have told me that even the police have suggested heading to the parking garage when they have no place else to go upon release.  It has long been a shelter of last resort, and as our homeless population grows, the county has not made much of an effort to meet the desperate need for safe shelter. Until emergency shelter space is found for every person who needs it, it is absolutely immoral to seal off this structure built for cars from people who need it for life saving warmth.

Back to that day last week, January 7th, 2014: all of the area's schools were closed due to extreme cold.  The LDC's board was scheduled to hold a public meeting, and there was an outcry in the community.  We filled a carload of folks from St. Joe's and went down to the meeting to speak out against the closure.  At the parking meter, I realized that I had no change or money whatsoever, and the three passengers--all homeless or transitioning from homelessness--scraped together a few quarters and nickels to feed the meter.  Then we got the call that the meeting had been rescheduled to Thursday the 9th.  Apparently it was too cold to discuss evicting homeless folks from their de facto emergency shelter. The public testimony from the rescheduled meeting of the board of that LDC, featured folks who have stayed in the parking garage. These longtime advocates for the homeless included Harry Murray, Tom Malthaner, Sister Grace Miller, and many more.

Julie Gelfand picks up the story from January 9, 2014....

On Thursday, January 9, a capacity crowd filled the board room in the Watts Building in downtown Rochester for a meeting of the Civic Center Garage Local Development Corporation. A video of that meeting (above) and an interview with Sister Grace Miller of House of Mercy (below) were made by Rochester Indymedia videographers Ted Forsyth and Susan Galloway.

The agenda item of concern was the fate of the homeless who use the heated Civic Center garage as a shelter and place to sleep. Since Monroe County and the City of Rochester have not provided an alternative, the Civic Center garage has become a shelter of choice for an increasing number of homeless, particularly during the cold months. Richard Bell, contracting officer of the LDC, announced at an earlier date that beginning January 15, the garage would be locked down at night and all homeless residents would be forced to vacate. A number of attendees claimed to have been present when Bell made that announcement, and therefore were surprised by a statement he made at this meeting denying it was ever said.

It was clear that the LDC board had no desire to be the center of controversy, and certainly didn't want to be thought of as the bad guys who were kicking the homeless out into the frigid winter night. After 14 advocates for the homeless and a number of homeless residents of the garage spoke passionately during the public address period, Richard Bell, introduced a proposal to deal with liability and safety concerns. The board then approved the hiring of a security firm to patrol the garage during peak hours. Security sweeps will not happen at night, so no one will be present to remove the homeless who show up to sleep.

Bell said, "We'll be doing patrols during PEAK HOURS of operations at the garage. The doors are not going to be locked. There was not a plan for a January 15th date thrown out there. I don't know where it came from, and frankly I don't care. It certainly wasn't authorized by the board or any of the management, but the only thing that we're presenting to this board today is proposals to provide physical security for the garage itself..."

Police often patrol the garage during the day, kicking the homeless out during peak hours, and when they are gone, the cleaning crew often removes blankets, sleeping bags and other personal items. Therefore, the proposal that a security crew would be brought in to do the same work that others had already been doing was viewed as a victory by those in attendance.

After the meeting, however, various media sources reported that the LDC board had decided to force the homeless out of the garage, a report that contradicted what was said at the meeting.

I decided to challenge Patrice Walsh of WHAM about her report and we battled it out via a number of Facebook messages. She stood by the content, insisting that Richard Bell said on camera that the homeless had to go. I then contacted Bell via email, asking him to help settle the debate I was having with Patrice. In an email response, Bell replied:

"We do not want homeless there at night. It is still a liability and safety issue. And the garage will be enclosed some time within the next couple of months (probably early spring)."

It looks like Patrice Walsh was partly right. I still challenge the alarmist nature of her reporting since she inferred that the homeless will be kicked out any moment, while all indications are that they will not be thrown out during the coldest months. However, it is also obvious that the LDC board has chosen to avoid public criticism by postponing the announcement of a lockout until Punxutawney Phil makes his yearly prediction. In that way, Ms. Walsh was indeed correct. They do plan on kicking the homeless out of the garage.

Note this date: the next meeting of the LDC board is scheduled for March 13th at 10am.