by Max Marbut
Staff Writer
“I can show you statistics that show Downtown is safe, but if you take a walk in the park, you may feel differently.”
That’s how Terry Lorince, executive director of Downtown Vision, Inc. (DVI) opened a meeting Tuesday morning at the Main Library. The topic was the population of homeless people in Hemming Plaza and she was speaking to a group of Downtown property owners, business owners, social service providers and citizen advocates. The format was a panel discussion with Kerri Stewart, the City’s deputy chief administrative officer, Sulzbacher Center Vice President of Health Services Cindy Funkhouser, Ron Barton, executive director of the Jacksonville Economic Development Commission (JEDC) and Lt. Mike Bruno from the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office.
“We have noticed the number of complaints increasing,” said Lorince. “People are concerned about loitering, the number of homeless people who are in the park and a general sense that people don’t feel comfortable there. Fifty percent of the nuisance activity like loitering and drinking in public that is logged by the Downtown Ambassadors occurs in the parks.”
Stewart said the mayor’s office has also heard from people who have concerns about some of the activities and behavior in the park.
“Hemming Plaza is the front door to City Hall. There’s also the federal courthouse and the Ed Ball Building. Employees have told us they don’t feel safe in or around the plaza,” she said. “When the Dalton Agency moved in they brought a lot of young females employees who said they don’t feel safe walking to a parking garage after dark.”
In view of those issues, Stewart added, the City has developed a multiphase plan with short-, medium- and long-term goals. The first steps have already been implemented in Hemming Plaza and the program will eventually be adopted in all City parks including both Riverwalks and suburban park properties.
“We have shut off the electricity in Hemming Plaza except for special events because people were charging their cell phones and using hair clippers. We even had one report of someone ironing their clothes in the park,” she said. “We have also trimmed trees and improved the lighting and the JSO reported that signage needed to be installed in the plaza to make it clear what is against the law.”
Signs have been installed that make clear the operating hours of Hemming Plaza and what activities violate state statutes as well as accepted rules of behavior for City parks.
While nuisance crime may be on the increase, violent crime in the JSO zone that includes Downtown has decreased by 11 percent, said Bruno. He described the cooperative effort between the City, social service providers and other Downtown advocates as “The best I’ve seen in my 15 years with the JSO” and added in terms of law enforcement, “Our goal is to create a template. Hemming Plaza is Downtown’s jewel and it’s our focus. JSO is the enforcement aspect of the plan and people will either comply with the rules or we will displace those Hemming Plaza participants.”
Displacement is a key issue concerning homeless people. Jacksonville’s social service agencies don’t have the resources to accommodate the current homeless population and that population is growing daily.
“We have only enough shelter beds for about a third of the people who are homeless in Jacksonville,” said Funkhouser. “We used to average 400 people a day who came to the center for free lunch. For the past few weeks, we have averaged more than 700 people at lunch and it’s not the usual group. It’s people we haven’t seen before and families with children. We need to all work together to provide a place for people to go who need help. That’s what will get the people out of Hemming Plaza.”
Stewart said the long-range part of the City’s plan for homeless people is the creation of a day center staffed by social service professionals that will offer educational and other programs designed to get people off the street and back into society.
“The City’s real estate division is researching possible locations for a day center. Our goal is to give people who live and work Downtown a place that feels safe, but it’s going to take money,” cautioned Stewart.
Funkhouser agreed a day center would offer homeless people an option other than spending the day in Hemming Plaza or in the Main Library and pointed to a short time in Jacksonville’s recent history as proof.
“We had a very successful day center in place during Super Bowl,” she recalled. “If we want to move people out of the parks they have to have some place to go.”
Stewart said the mayor’s office is working with several social service agencies to “develop a model for staffing a day center if the City provides the space. We are gathering all the partners at the table. Right now we don’t know how long it will take, but it’s one piece of the solution toward progress on the homeless issue.
“Jacksonville’s circumstances are not unique. There are homeless people in every city in America. We certainly don’t dismiss the issue, but here it’s a matter of perception because in larger cities there is more downtown foot traffic in general. We have to keep working on alternative ways to manage the homeless issue,” said Barton. “The JEDC is Downtown’s governmental advocate but Downtown needs more advocates. People have to do more than just come to meetings. They have to get involved.”
What services would you like to see at a Day Center?
Survey conducted by The Sulzbacher Center. Forty-three people were polled in Hemming Plaza the morning of Dec. 8, 2008.
356-2466