Chillicothe — The debate on a new ordinance to address homeless camps continued outside of council chambers – literally outside, as well as online.
The protesting crowd in front of old City Hall on March 24th was thinner when I videorecorded them about half an hour before the start of the council session, than just before (and probably after) the session.
In my companion story, I noted that Nancy Schaffer spoke in Monday’s public address section, reading a communication that also appeared as a post on Facebook by Liza Henot:
I don't understand why there is so much controversy about the anti-camping legislation being discussed by City Council. It seemed to me that this would actually give the "campers" extra time to vacate since we already have a vagrancy law in place. So, I asked an attorney to look at it from both sides and this was the answer I received. These are the facts that are being ignored regarding the public camping versus the existing legislation for criminal trespass: If council were to completely discard the proposed anti-camping legislation and go back to the criminal trespass law, violators could be hit with a Fourth Degree Misdemeanor which is punishable by up to 30 days in jail and up to a $250 fine plus court costs. There is no provision into receiving housing services that are more widely available in Chillicothe than anyone wants to talk about. The proposed legislation gives violators the opportunity to receive social services and assistance before any criminal penalty results. A potential violator gets a 72-hour notice to remove a campsite and law enforcement SHALL notify local social service agencies of the need, location and identity of those requiring services. No one wants to talk about the fact that the proposed legislation REQUIRES law enforcement to assist proposed violators in receiving social services. That is nowhere to be found in the existing criminal trespass statute. If and only if a person does not remove the campsite and does not avail themselves of available services will a citation be issued. Furthermore, the ultimate first and second penalty for a violation is a Minor Misdemeanor which carries only a fine-no jail time-of up to $150. This is the equivalent seriousness of a speeding ticket or minor traffic infraction. It simply does not get any lower in the category of offense in the State of Ohio. The committee that was tasked with putting this legislation together was APPOINTED by the city council president. Not one of the committee members volunteered for this. Also, in the city park, both Chillicothe High School and Unioto High School uses the park's tennis courts as their home courts. It is not uncommon during school sanctioned tennis matches for coaches and parents to be faced with removing apparent "camping people" from the tennis court area and shelters to allow the tennis matches to take place without interruption. This directly impacts those events and the children that participate in them. There is not one person on the Chillicothe City Council who is undertaking this task with heartlessness or lack of compassion. The proposed legislation is directly opposite to that goal. The goal of the proposed legislation is to afford people in need of social services and give them three full days to take advantage of those services before any violation is ever filed. None of that exists with the current solution.
Hear Schaffer in my video of her, as well as the rest of the story, in the companion story “Chillicothe Council Hears More on Homeless with Second Reading of ‘Anti-Camping” Ordinance’.”
