Homeless car bill ‘criminalizes’ poor

Nashville could save thousands of dollars by providing more affordable housing and tackling the issue of homelessness in a more efficient manner instead of looking into increasing law enforcement, local homeless service providers say.

The Homeless Power Project, a non-profit group consisting of homeless and formerly homeless local people, urged Councilman Ludye Wallace to withdraw two ordinances at tonight’s council meeting, which would make it illegal for people to sleep in a car or enter an abandoned motor vehicle to sleep, rest or inhabit.

“Prohibiting and charging individuals and families for staying in the only shelter they have will only make their situation more difficult,” said Power Project President John Zirker, a formerly homeless man. “This law will further criminalize regular people for being poor.”

Rev. Don Beisswenger, a retired Presbyterian minister working with the homeless, said Nashville does not have enough affordable housing.

“And we need to have living wages in this city … to reduce the gap between income and cost of living,” Beisswenger said, adding increasing arrests does not solve the problem.

Mary Vancura, education assistant at the Campus for Human Development, said it would be cheaper for the city to add affordable housing than to introduce the bills that would result in an increase of arrests.

It costs $34 to house an individual for one day at a county correctional facility, Vancura said.

To keep a person in the local jail for one day costs on average about $40, said Karla Crocker, communications manager for the Davidson County Sheriff’s Department. Crocker said the exact cost depends on whether an individual is held at minimum or maximum security.

Metro Police spokesperson Don Aaron said the police department does not calculate the cost of individual arrests because most of the cost is included in an officer’s regular salary.

About 20 beds are set aside in the Guest House at the Campus for Human Development, at 532 Eighth Ave. South, for individuals accused of public intoxication.

Campus Director Father Charles Strobel said it saves the city a lot of funding if a police officer can drop off a publicly intoxicated person at the Campus in a few minutes versus clogging up the criminal justice system.

Former Metropolitan Housing and Development Agency (MDHA) outreach worker Brian Huskey said he has dealt with some homeless people who are repeatedly arrested.

“Some people I dealt with were arrested up to 50 times a year,” said Huskey, who worked on the streets of Nashville to address the needs of homeless individuals in 2001. “I once saw a list and one of that individuals on that list had been arrested 120 times per year.”

Huskey said he estimates if Nashville could target chronic homeless offenders, which includes maybe 100 individuals, and provide the necessary help for them, the city could save a tremendous amount of money.

Calculating exact costs depends on the type of arrest, the circumstances, the length a person stays in jail and court costs. However, Huskey said he estimates some repeat offenders use more than $10,000 of city money per year.

Service providers agree that Nashville needs leadership when it comes to fighting homelessness. This leadership could come from the faith-based community and/or local government.

Current estimates say 1,000-4,500 homeless individuals live in Nashville.

Huskey said the U.S. Housing and Development Agency currently places a special focus on targeting chronic homeless people because studies have shown they use about 50 percent of available resources even though chronic homeless individuals makes up about 10 percent of the homeless population.

Nashville could save thousands of dollars by providing more affordable housing ... [liberal pap snipped]

It's amazing how liberals can keep a straight face insisting that they've found a way to "save" money by spending more.

[The ordinance] would make it illegal for people to sleep in a car or enter an abandoned motor vehicle to sleep, rest or inhabit. “Prohibiting and charging individuals and families for staying in the only shelter they have will only make their situation more difficult,”

And having homeless bums with a legal right to camp out in abandoned cars will be such a blessing to our neighborhoods, won't it?

“And we need to have living wages in this city"

Another freakin' liberal with a fiery passion for socialism but not a damn clue about economics.

Liberals have blocked building affordable housing for decades with red tape. And they have the chutzpah to complain about the results of their forcing people to find shelter on the streets. The first thing liberals do to make a vicious circle perpetuate itself is to deliberately make it difficult for people to get hired in the first place.

“I once saw a list and one of that individuals on that list had been arrested 120 times per year.”

There are so many things wrong with that statement, I have no idea where to begin.

That struck me too. I wish there were some nuissance ordinance. Once you've been arrested more than 10 times, the court can order you to permenantly leave the county. Why should rest of us law abiding citizens of Davidson County have to tolerate such a parasite?

Come join us for an adult beverage on the front deck of the Boardroom on Hermitage Avenue about 5:30 some Friday afternoon and watch the parade of otherwise stout, healthy people who have opted to join the dregs of humanity as they resolutely gather in the parking lot of the old General Hospital for their free meal. On Sundays I understand they get a little concert, too.

Oh, and it's not an uncommon occurence for the police to have to be called there for some reason or another.

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