ELMIRA, N.Y. (WENY) -- An ordinance was up for discussion by the Elmira City Council that would ban homeless encampments within city limits. On Monday night, the council passed this ordinance in a 5 to 2 vote.
The ordinance revolves around the words "camp" "camping" and "campsite". If someone sets up a campsite, with bedding or a sleeping bag, or some sort of structure, they would be in violation of this ordinance. Since this passed, penalties for people who don't comply are on the table. These including fines ranging from $350 to $500 and up to 90 days in jail for the first offense, and fines of $750 to $1,000 and up to one year in jail for repeat offenders. The ordinance allows the Elmira Police Department, Code Enforcement, and the Sanitation Department to remove the campsite and all personal property related.
Even though the ordinance passed, not everyone on the council was on board with this proposal.
"We cant afford this right here as its proposed, and we can't afford to do nothing," said First District Councilman Nick Grasso. "This broad of a stroke for a very very complex and multi-layered issue, and this just isn't it."
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"I want everyone to consider tonight, when you get ready to leave here, no matter what the vote is, know that somebody is not just, I don't want to just speak on your behalf. I want to advocate for you, but in order to do that, we have to have solutions come to the table. I do not wholeheartedly feel that these solutions have had their opportunity to have actually articulately been voiced. So what I am going to do is vote no tonight, and what I am going to do is wait out in the hall, because it's already been a long meeting. I've got time. I'm going to wait out in the hall for anyone that has solutions, not complaints," said Second District Councilman Corey Cooke.
In a rare show, it was standing room only in the council chambers, with the crowd spilling out into the hallway. Across the almost two hour public comment session, the community shared their variety of opinions.
"All this is going to do is create more problems. You have the ability tonight to correct the course. There is a large community who is willing to help out if you give them the chance," said one person.
"I understand that we do need to address homelessness, but we don't do that with handcuffs. We can't keep just banging this nail with a hammer and hoping that's going to fix things. There is nothing in this resolution that actually offers real world solutions for any of the people that you're working with," said another person.
"This is not something that gets solved with one act, as you may act on tonight, but it's a multi-faceted problem. It's going to require a multi-faceted solution, and it's not just enforcement. Although this is about enforcement, I would also suggest to you it's about compassion as well and I think all of us collectively need to understand that. I know not everybody here tonight supports enforcement, but I hope everybody here certainly supports the fact that we have to look at this from a compassionate perspective, and look for solutions that address those problems as well. I know this is a very difficult issue for the community and again I would encourage passage of this resolution tonight," said one man.
Since the ordinance passed, Mayor Dan Mandell said he's meeting with the Housing Task Force next week to start talking about getting unhoused individuals into housing.
"We're actually going after the more dangerous encampments where they've started fires. Location's going to matter," said Mayor Mandell. "So the next first step is try to get them housing, those that refuse to go then the next step will end up being enforcement. Again, we do not want to throw people that are homeless in jail. That's not our intent. We need to get them help. We need to get them into treatment. We've got to get them housed."
Nick Grasso and Corey Cooke voted against the resolution. Joe Duffy, Gary Brinn, Jackie Wilson, Nanette Moss, and Mayor Mandell voted in favor. Cooke said he recognizes this is an issue which affects the entire city, but he does not support the resolution in this current form. He said he's welcome to hearing possible solutions to this issue from any constituents.