by George DeLuca (photos courtesy Lowell Telecommunications)
Among the motions up for discussion at the April 25 council meeting was Corey Robinson’s submission:
“11.8 C. Robinson – Req. City Mgr. Have Appropriate Department Provide A Detailed Report On Feasibility Of Implementing A No Overnight Camping, Sleeping Or Loitering Ordinance In Our Business Districts, As Well As, In The Summer Street, Gallagher Terminal And South Common Area.”
There were several speeches by registered speakers from a cross section of people who expressed various concerns about how homelessness was being handled by the city. The speech that resonated most with the councilors was delivered by a Daley Middle School eighth grader named Sara Del Llano, who called for compassion.
Nevertheless, various councilors expressed concern about creating another ordinance that would shed Lowell in a negative light, perhaps even sending a signal to the ACLU who could upend any resolution stemming from the motion and leave the city back at square one.
However, it was Councilor Eric Gitschier who summoned up the courage to face the issue head on. Gitschier is attempting to transition from a Highlands neighborhood councilor to an at-large seat. So, he’s been working diligently to understand issues outside of his current district in preparation for launching his campaign in earnest. Some would say he has already done so.
For example, at the April 19 Neighborhood Subcommittee meeting, Gitschier was inclined to send the discussion of ADUs to the voters. By mulling kicking the can down the road, he drew the support of Deb Forgione, founder of the West Pawtucketville Citizens Council. Gitschier now has a motion on the May 2 city council agenda, as follows:
“11.1 Req. City Mgr. Have The Law Department Prepare a Vote To Place a Non-Binding Referendum Ballot Question Regarding Zoning For Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) For the Upcoming Election.”
That’s how politics works. He can’t be faulted for his diligence in trying to understand and relate to the voters he represents. However, at the April 25 council meeting he was trying to solve an issue that appears unsolvable in his view.
So, when Gitschier called Lowell Director of Homelessness Initiatives, Maura Fitzpatrick, to the mic stand to discuss her progress in finding solutions, the highly charged conversation seemed contentious on both sides.
On the contrary, it was the conversation that was needed at that moment in time. Consensus building is a messy process. The conversation must now pick up from where these two public servants left off.
A Transcript of the Conversation between Eric Gitschier and Maura Fitzpatrick
April 25, 2023 City Council Meeting
Introduction
It’s springtime in Lowell, and if you walk along the Riverwalk at any time of day, you can hear the birds of various species engaging each other in “call and response” activity.
At the April 25 City Council meeting, the conversation between Gitschier and Fitzpatrick was a song, a duet, a dance, a political tango. Councilor Gitschier rattles off the problems resulting from the conduct of some (not all) homeless people who loiter and cause issues in the downtown businesses district and other areas in Lowell. And as Gitschier riffs on the problems, Maura Fitzpatrick rattles off some potential solutions without missing a beat. Where there are no solutions, she offers food for thought.
Each speaker doesn’t appear to be in sync with what the other is saying. But the transcript seems to indicate that their views are in perfect harmony. They’re on the same page, even though Gitschier appears to be frustrated (he is) and Fitzpatrick continuously interrupts the counselor (she does). But they never miss a beat. It’s political theater at its best.
The conversation is solution oriented and offers hope. The policy maker and the executive agree on the enforcement of ordinances already on the books. In light of Councilor Robinson’s motion, this is a major advance.
Gitschier asks what can be done to solve the downtown problem. Fitzpatrick answers that the wheels are in motion, but it is—and it’s going to continue to be—a long road. The city and its partners are working diligently to provide programs and housing for people who need it in accordance with a “Housing First” strategy, where each person is met where they are, and their needs are addressed on a person-by-person basis.
Even though neither participant in the discussion ever says the phrase “Housing First,” Fitzpatrick’s responses are in keeping with the concept, particularly her recommendation of providing wrap around services based on the “medical respite” model.
Medical respite care is an approach to housing homeless people who are in the most difficult situations because of medical issues, addictions, alcohol abuse, and so forth. Such housing requires either new development or the renovation and repurposing of existing underutilized buildings and grounds. Those who qualify are prioritized via a matrix system and assessed individually according to need, so an individualized program can be offered, one that includes customized wrap-around services that suits the individual’s circumstances. It’s not one-size fits all.
But regardless of the progress being made, the question remains: Is enough being done to alleviate homelessness related issues in the city?
My next story after this will highlight some Lowell based examples of assisting homeless people in the ways suggested and described above. As Fitzpatrick says, although progress is painstakingly slow, the wheels are nevertheless in motion.
In the meantime, I leave you with the following transcript of the conversation between a concerned City Councilor Eric Gitschier and the City Manager’s forward thinking Director of Homelessness Initiatives, Maura Fitzpatrick, as it occurred in real time at the April 25 city council meeting:
EG: You know, we hear it often, and we talk about it often. We talk about homelessness. And we’re trying to put business owners into that category. Who’s talking about their life savings that they put into these businesses, trying to get up started, trying to get business clients to come in while this is happening. We have laws on the books that don’t allow people to go to the bathroom on sidewalks. There’s a guy down there with a major disability who does it every single day. And it’s no secret. When are we gonna start enforcing what we have on the books now? You know the young lady from the Daley school who says don’t lose your compassion—she’s not wrong. But at the same time, how do we have compassion for the people also down there. Do we want to invest in the downtown to build it as a business district, or do we want to continue to leave it where it is. We went to the planning board a couple weeks back and someone is making an investment, a large investment, down there in the five and dime, of 50 apartments, paying rate value, which will bring disposable income to the businesses that are struggling that they put their life savings in. How do we combine the two? I do have a question for you Mister Mayor to the homeless director, if she’s still here—and it’s OK with the manager.
MF: Good evening Mr. Mayor, Mr. Manager, city councilors.
EG: Good evening. You sent out a number of homeless that we have in the city. Was within that count the people who are sleeping in the doorways? Are they within the number that you gave us?
MF: Yes.
EG: So, they’re unhoused. So, we know the number. So, it’s not like one separated from the other in this math equation that’s out there.
MF: Again, the numbers change. Like they’re probably different right now. So as far as who’s indoors—who’s where—you know, people come and go very quickly.
EG: Do you have a monthly tally of the homeless?
MF: Mm Hm.
EG: Has it gone up or down since say October.
MF: Since October? Well, the winter’s different. I would have to go back and look exactly. But I would say things are about the same right now except that we have less beds, so …
EG: So, we have a tracking system where we know the people who are down there …
MF: Yes …
EG: So, if in October we had say 250, and today we have 250 of those numbers how many of the same people being counted from October to today …
MF: The outdoor sleepers average between 80 and 90 from what we can tell, OK? The encampments as you know are in flux, to say the least, OK? so right now we have between 80 and 90 people sleeping outdoors—as far as we know—and the rest are sheltered either at the shelter at the SMOC hotel in Chelmsford, or at the CTI hotel in Chelmsford. And that adds up to the 253.
EG: So, my question is that a lot of these zoning laws that we have on the books already cover a lot of this stuff. You can’t build within wetlands. So, I don’t know why we need certain ordinances. If people started doing their jobs, we wouldn’t have this problem. The same people who stand up here week after week, month after month, have the same problem with conservation land. This argument was (held) years ago about conservation land. We can’t do this in conservation land. We can’t do this in wetlands. I personally, as a kid, was in where the crawfish are, down by the Lowell Car Wash in the back. As a kid we used to walk in that water to get them. Now there’s needles in there.
MF: Mm Hm … right.
EG: So, we can’t even use our resources anymore. So, when are the same people that are talking about this, gonna talk about the issues on solutions to the problem, instead of continuing the problem … and some of them have a vested interest to continue this problem …
MF: Yeah, so the city is looking at every aspect of this on the syringe issue. We’re actually planning on hiring a second—probably part time—syringe collector because there are that many syringes in the city found every single day.
EG: But the same people asking us for money to rehab private places are giving out the syringes to people to use in in these are
MF: Not all …
EG: So, the syringes being handed out … we’re creating half our mess at the same time, when we should be trying to help solve the problem …
MF: I know … there are many providers in the city, and they all are trying to do their best. Their hearts are in the right place. Some people address the problem in one way, some people address the problem in another way. We can’t outlaw what people do for other people …
EG: Well, no one’s asking that …
MF: Right …
EG: No, I don’t ever remember myself saying, you know …
MF: No, no—and I’m not …
EG: At the end of the day, that’s not the solution …
MF: No, it’s not …
EG: So, we have to figure out a solution. And none of this is a solution to anything. So, people stand up here and they wanna talk about this or that—there is no solution. There is “leave him alone. Leave him downtown. I’m sorry Craig (Warp & Weft). I’m sorry Purple Carrot. You can go out of business.” But that’s the way it is. When you hear that people can’t take deliveries to their business because people are sleeping there and they’re going to the bathroom there, then we have problems …
MF: Yeah, and there are laws on the books, as I think councilor Mercier said, and they do need to be enforced. I also would like to hear from legal. However, I would like to just say that—since I’ve taken this position—what I can tell you is: yes, as everyone says, this is a housing problem. We need housing. That’s really really true. But we have this other problem over here that just keeps cycling and cycling and cycling. And that is people who need help with mental health issues and addiction issues. They go to the ER, and they cycle through the system, and they’re discharged to the street. They go to detox and rehab for 90 days. They’re discharged to the street. Their sobriety isn’t gonna last, based on that. So, this cycle that just keeps going on and on … and people go to the emergency room and want help with these problems and the help—God love everyone who works in the emergency rooms—that’s not their focus. We need another place for people to go. And people need—not to just be discharged—they need to heal. And they need to be seen. And we need something called medical respite. And, I mean, there’s different steps in homelessness. You can go to the shelter that’s one step. I think there’s a step before that. And that is something like some kind of medical respite for people who need a lot more help than what they’re being given. And a lot of those people are the people that we’re talking about tonight. But there are others as well. There are others as well. I know people who work in the emergency room. That is not … it’s just … the system is broken. It’s broken.
EG: The system has laws in place that protect people from going to the bathroom …
MF: Absolutely … I agree …
EG: That doesn’t sit on this. It sits on our enforcement of the rules that we have in place. So, when you think about—and you know people can say whatever they want—but we do have an obligation if we’re going to try to make downtown a better place. We have an obligation to the residents. I don’t know—I didn’t hear everybody’s address—but I don’t recall hearing one person from downtown who said they’re in favor of people sleeping on their doorstep. I’m trying to figure out: So how do we support a neighborhood and also support a business to try to make downtown what people are asking us to do. So, when I got elected, that was one of the first things most people asked when we knocked on their door, “How we going to revitalize downtown?” And those same people are gonna ask that question when we go again. And they’re gonna keep asking it. And I’m gonna say, “Well, we’re not going to make any rules down there. So, it is what it is.” But that’s not fair to what most of the taxpayers want. And I understand where this is going, as councilor Mercier said, and councilor Robinson said. But I’m just trying to figure out—when you put someone into a hotel room—is there some kind of help at that point, that says, “OK, we’re going to come and try to get you services every day …”
MF: Absolutely …
EG: OK, so how many …
MF: Absolutely, so case management is ongoing at both of the hotels …
EG: So, what is the trend …
MF: And at the shelter …
EG: So, what’s the trend of it working? What’s the percentage of you going there offering services and something works? That’s the solutions. The solution isn’t kick someone out of an area and then try to put them somewhere else and then into another area. The solution is: how do we get them to somewhere where something is sustainable that can help?
MF: You know there are a lot of success stories that people don’t hear …
EG: We don’t hear them?
MF: I am working on that. I’m working on Mrs. Deroche’s with that … and Deandra Silk. Because it’s important. It’s important to hear the good stuff too …
EG: Well, the same five people downtown are doing the same thing—the same five people. (From) the one with the disability on down to the other one that’s down there, who just moves across the street. So, those are not success stories …
MF: No, they’re not …
EG: Those are the problem issues that are happening.I don’t care what a police officer tells me. You have a job. The job is, if someone’s breaking the law you send them to the courthouse. What a judge does at that point—sending them back—that’s up to the judge. But if they keep violating it, you send them back. I don’t want to hear that a police officer’s wasting their time enforcing any law …
MF: That’s going beyond a homeless issue. This is a legal issue. And I would encourage the council to get advice from legal on this issue and then vote and make a decision. We’ve given you lots and lots and lots of information. The community has, I have, the manager has—over many months. Listen to legal. Take their advice. And vote.
EG: See, the problem is you make a lot of recommendations, but they never end up here. And that’s what the problem is. We’ve been waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting and you’re watching motions after motions trying to get filed because we get the calls all day. We’ve seen our emails. Everybody’s read their emails and we’re getting 50 to 60 a month on these things. And we’re all saying the same thing. OK we get you talk to the manager and the manager talks to you. Where’s the solution on our desk? We see all the talk all the talk all the talk when are we going to see the actions take place that’s going to do this. And that’s the issue for all of us. We’re not inhumane. And I do agree with the young lady from the Daley School. Compassion works but we have to figure out that way …
MF: And we have …
EG: And I’ll leave it at that. Thank you, Mr. Manager.
To be continued …
Up Next: “Let’s Talk About Housing!”
