As of October 17, there are only four more nights in which people will be allowed to stay overnight in Charlottesville’s Market Street Park. City Manager Sam Sanders dropped hours of operation on September 20 and outlined a strategy to provide assistance to individuals at the meeting on October 2.
Last night, Sanders brought up the matter in his report to Council.
“On Thursday, PACEM announced they would begin overnight shelter services a week early and Salvation Army has confirmed that they have beds available and they will also support PACEM with additional capacity through the use of their warm room when needed,” Sanders said.
Sanders thanked the pastor of First United Methodist Church for their willingness to provide space at the Hinton Avenue Methodist Church for the first week. The two congregations have recently consolidated. PACEM uses places of worship to provide a place for people in need to stay though the winter months.
Sanders said the team of people he has put together to work on this issue is being led by Deputy City Manager Ashley Marshall.
“That commitment is there and we will continue to work on this issue long-term,” Sanders said. “It’s a complicated issue and we know there’s a lot more that needs to be done.”
Sanders said all city parks have hours of operation with times set in ordinance by Council. On Saturday at 11 p.m. Market Street Park will close once again.
“Market Street Park will be closed until 6 a.m.,” Sanders said. “No one should be in the park during that time. It is my hope that everyone currently in the park will take advantage of the alternatives available to them. I have asked for all service providers in this area to collaborate collectively to do what we can to make sure that the services are provided to the individuals that are currently in the park.”
The looming re-imposition of a closing time raised the concern of Ang Conn, who works at the Haven but made her comments as a private individual.
“Have you all seen how beautifully set up the park is?” Conn asked. “Humans have organized themselves in a way we can only dream of seeing in a community who has been intentionally targeted, criminalized, and deemed not worthy of having their basic human needs and rights met are being seen as less than human.”
Conn said the current residents in the park are keeping themselves safe, and she proposed the city build tiny homes in the park.
Council also heard from the man whose arrest in September prompted allegations of police brutality.
“I am the one who started all of this controversy,” said Roscoe Boxley. “I do not apologize. I’m glad that it happened.”
Boxley thanked Sanders for lifting the closing hours and for the provision of porta-potties. But he said PACEM and the Salvation Army have their limits. He also said he’s heard many people disparaging people who ended up homeless because of rising cost of living.
“Everybody has something to say about the park, everybody has something to say about the homeless people,” Boxley said. “If you don’t have a solution, shut up! Just shut up!”
Boxley called on people to work together to find a solution.
“The differences in opinions?” Boxley said. “Without compromise is what’s fogging everyone with what a solution is.”
Boxley said he doesn’t want to tear the system down and instead wants to build it up. But he said he needs a way into the conversation that is safe.
“You have to give me an opportunity to benefit from it just like all the rest of the people,” Boxley said. “I’m Black. I was born with people hating me. I’m homeless. Now my circumstances make people hate me. And then I’m an ex-con, so I have the pressure from everybody with a badge on. Everywhere I go I’m afraid from my life. Everywhere. I’m afraid of the cops, I’m afraid of the streets. I’m afraid of everything that’s going on around so I respond like it.”
Several other speakers protested the restoration of the operating hours. One of them was Dierdre Gilmore.
“I really wish you all would reconsider and I know there are people who stood here tonight and talked down about people, but the one thing I’m going to say is that you don’t really know what situation you may end up in so at least look at them like they are human,” Gilmore said.
Not everyone who spoke was supportive such as Michael Goodwin. He said he did not think the recent murder nearby indicates the area is safe.
“Also, how have we come to surmise that the proper way of assisting the people that are in Market Street Park is by allowing them to live in tents without proper facilities to enable to them live a good life?” Goodwin asked.
Goodwin advocated for the city to continue to invest in housing programs.
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