GREENFIELD — Aug. 20 is deadline-day for the homeless to leave the Common, but all indications from city officials leave the impression it will look more like another Monday.
“For us, it’s just another day,” Greenfield Police Chief Robert Haigh said Friday. “We’re not going to enforce something we can’t.”
“You can put this in the newspaper — we don’t intend on removing or enforcing any kind of cease and desist on the 20th,” Mayor William Martin said.
That begs a bigger question: What will the days after the deadline mean for the homeless?
The homeless have been living in tents on the Greenfield Common since early July and recently were told by a local Board of Health ruling that they need to leave by the 20th because of violations with state health code.
Solutions, resolutions and ordinances, with a side of politicking, have been put through the City Council and the Mayor’s Office since the situation turned into the talking point of the county.
On Tuesday, the City Council will hold a special meeting to discuss an ordinance proposed by Councilor Isaac Mass, which has previously been tabled. If passed, the ordinance could make it a civil crime to set up temporary housing on the Common and allow the police to issue $50 fines for a first offense, and $100 fines for a second offense.
Come Monday though, the only thing that seems definite is people living on the common will not be forcibly removed, in part because there is no legal footing to do so.
Martin said his office may file in court whatever it has to do to move forward with the cease and desist ruling by the Board of Health. It’s unclear what this will look like and whether it falls under the jurisdiction of housing or superior court.
When reached for comment Friday, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health did not explain what a typical path might look like for the enforcement of this policy, but rather a spokesman out of Boston suggested talking to the Greenfield Board of Health.
The mayor, after speaking with the city’s attorney, was unclear which court he might file in and if he does file, who will the plaintiff be — the homeless of Greenfield or the 17 individuals currently sleeping on the Common? A class action lawsuit?
“We’re not looking to aggravate the problem,” Martin said. “Our priority is to find housing for these people.”
If the court does get involved, there are still several questions to be addressed, like who will represent those that might choose to remain on the Common? And if the court finds the individuals to be in violation of the state health law, how it will it be enforced?
The city will remain in waiting, in part, for what happens at Tuesday’s special meeting of the City Council, Martin said, per legal advice. If the city does have to file something in court, Martin hopes it can be clearly expressed the city is working to resolve the matter on its own merit, but “at some point if the common can’t be used,” he said, “We’ll follow what we’ve set out to do.”
As written the ordinance, drafted by Mass and signed off by his four of his fellow councilors so it can be brought forward, will look to prevent people from camping on the Common.
The language harks to the purpose of the space, as a place of community gathering, a place with memorials and a place that should remain in an “orderly and safe condition.”
Mass said his ordinance gives the police the ability to enforce the law on day-one of an encampment instead of waiting for the Board of Health to have the ability to rule on the grounds of a temporary housing health code violation.
Martin said the city’s attorney said the ordinance at first read is legal.
Haigh wants to know what it will mean for his department.
“I’d like to have some input if it’s going to affect the work we are going to be doing,” the police chief said.
Councilor Otis Wheeler, who has been one of the most vocal voices against this ordinance, wants a different solution.
“While I’m all for turning the common to its normal usage, I support compassionate solutions and working with the campers on a one on one basis in the way the mayor outlined (Wednesday) night,” Wheeler said.
City Council President Karen “Rudy” Renaud said she doesn’t “think we need to create laws geared towards punishing homeless people on the common who have already lost enough with the Aug. 20 eviction notice.” She also expressed concern that regulating activity on the common could have “far-reaching unintended consequences.”
The meeting will be at 6:30 p.m. in the second floor meeting room in City Hall.
Outlining his plans, Martin expressed a fairly progressive action-plan.
“Our first priority is to resolve the situation that brought us to this level of cease and desist with the Board of Health,” he said, adding that homeless isn’t a reflection of a person as much as “how difficult it is today” to get a sustainable job to live off of.
Compared to finding a career in the ’50s, ’60s and ’70s, Martin said, “Now, that path has so many obstacles in front of it.”
His hope is to get 20 single-occupancy rooms or apartments in the next year to address this immediate housing concern. Martin said he has been in talks with the Greenfield Housing Authority, social service agencies and private businesses.
There are no definite plans to accomplish this goal at the moment, or at least none Martin could tip his hand to at the moment. He did point to the affordable housing units local developer Bob Obear has worked on in Millers Falls; Obear is also working on a low-income housing plan in the old administration building on Christian Lane in Whately.
What next week will look like is tough to understand, in part because it depends on what the folks living on the common decide to do.
There are 20 beds at the ServiceNets Wells Street facility, but that typically has a waiting list. The regional social service agency also has housing for 16 families, nine at the Greenfield Family Inn and seven at scattered sites, spokeswoman Amy Swisher said. There are a handful of permanent supportive housing units the agency also provides.
“We’re doing what we’ve been doing, and we’ll continue to do that,” Swisher said about ServiceNet’s efforts to work with not only the homeless population on the common but across the city.
Haigh noted he hopes people on the common will be amicable to the solutions being proposed by the Mayor’s Office, led by M.J. Adams, and the host of service agencies in Greenfield.
“If somebody is trying, try with us,” Haigh said. “There could be very good reasons why folks don’t want what’s being offered, and I respect that, but don’t be completely closed-minded.”
A consistent note from those involved in trying to help out is making sure people aren’t out in the New England cold when the winter comes around. The city is still trying to jumpstart the former shelter housing at the High Street Clinical & Support Options facility. This could open up 15 or so beds, but Adams said it might not be ready to go, in part because of securing state funding, until the weather turns.
When Monday comes, the humid summer weather might still be hanging around and the question that will continue to linger will not only be what does the city do this year to address homelessness, but in the years to come.
“We’re not going to be able to solve it for the nation, but we can make it much easier for the people in our sphere,” Martin said.
Reach Joshua Solomon at:
jsolomon@recorder.com
413-772-0261, ext. 264