By Pauline Masson –
The City Operations Committee is scheduled to meet at 1:00 p.m. Friday, January 6 at City Hall to discuss whether homeless people in Pacific and residents who harbor them should be considered criminals, subject to $1,000 fines.
The ordinance, Bill 5156, AN ORDINANCE PROHIBITING THE OCCUPANCY OF STRUCTURES DEEMED UNFIT FOR HUMAN HABITATION, came before aldermen four months ago on August 16, where a first reading of the bill gave prelimiay approval to the new law.
When this bill was considered for a second reading and final approval at the Sept. 7 board of aldlermen meeting, aldermen James Cleeve and Sott Lesh said they worried that the bill interfered with property rights of citizens in ways that went beyond concerns with homeless people.
They said property owners should be allowed to permit visiting relatives and/or friends to temporarily sleep in recreational vehicles on their property. And property owners, themselves, should be allowed to live in RVs on their own property during construction or remodeling of the residence.
At that meeting Police Chief Scott Melies, who wrote the proposed law with City Attorney Bob Jones, said aldermen had it wrong. He said allowing some people to sleep in RVs on private property and not others would be too difficult to enforce and would appear to be favoring some individuals over others.
He said Pacific has a serious transient issue of people unsheltered in our town and he and others in the police department wanted a strict ordinance that they could enforce.
When aldermen decided to refer the issue to the Operatios Committee for consideration, Chief Melies said he wanted to attend the meeting, to have a say and offer insight on what his department is trying to do with this ordinance. Alderman Andy Nemeth, chaired the meeting as acting president of the board – and who sponsored the bill – said that he wanted it noted to make sure Chief Melies is present at that meeting so he can help review the bill.
In the first Operation Committee meeting following the referral, Chief Melies was not present so the Committee opted to not discuss the disputed bill without Chief Melies being there to present his views.
Bill 5156 has remained on the board of aldermen meetings as unfinished business since then.
At the Dec. 20 meeting Chairman Jerry Eversmeyer said the committee will take up Bill 5156, which the agenda identified as a ‘no camping” bill, at its Jan. 6 meeting.
This meeting is a public meeting and the public will be allowed to attend, but they will not be allowed to address the committee.
Eversmeyer made that clear, and gained support of two fellow aldermen at the Dec. 6 meeting when Alderman James Cleeve called for a city rule that permitted the public to speak at any and all public city meeting.
Eversmeyer says his committee meeting is not the place for citizens to try to give him their views on the issue or issues under discussion.
He said he did not want the public to speak at his committee meeting because it might make the meeting too long. He said the public should wait until the committee’s recommendations go before the board of aldermen and make their comments there. Alderman Rick Presley also spoke in favor of denying citizen comments at the committee meeting.
At the Dec. 6 meeting, Eversmeyer and Presley argued that aldermen should not take any action to require that citizens be allowed to speak at public city meetings. In a 3-2 vote, with Cleeve and Lesh voting in favor of action to assure public comments and Sara Gendron, Eversmeyer and Presley and voting ‘no,’ the motion to give citizens the right to speak failed. Andy Nemeth was absent.
It should be noted that the question of homeless people in Pacific and how they are treated gained wide community interest when the issue was reported in a Hometown Matters post on Sept.9. The post drew over 800 readers and 27 comments from citizens – most were sympathetic to homeless but two worried that homeless people are associated with drugs and stealing, and one commented in defense of the police doing their job.
I have reported on and critiqued Pacific city government and community issues for thirty years, as Pacific editor of the Missourian newspaper; in my first Blog – I Have to Tell You – styled after my old Missourian column of the same name; and in this Blog – Hometown Matters. To see officials refuse to listen to citizens’ views during the discussion and decision process puts an extra burdon on citizens to pay attention to what aldermen are doing in their behalf.
I can’t imagine how this rule that citizens have to keep their opinions to themselves until it is often too late to change officials’ minds will truly represent our city as laws are enacted in the future.
Why can’t these people compromise by issuing a free permit from the city, to be given to relatives on TDY, visitors approved by the land/home owner or people camping in their backyards with kids who are living in a RV or tent with permission? That would separate people with visitors, etc. from vagrants. I’ve never seen any tent cities, etc., of homeless here, and understand why some people might be concerned, considering the problems with these folks in St. Clair and Union.
For example, most of the homes in the Cedars are not big enough to accommodate visitors from out of town for a week. Not everyone can afford a week of nights in a motel. Differentiate between people in RVs and tents with permission from those who do not have such permission. People have many different lifestyles than they used to. Workmen on temp jobs are not homeless, but sleep in vehicles while on a job site. The aldermen need to get with the 21st century reality, and not strive for some 20th century ideal that never was. One can deal with people causing problems, separately from those for whom RVing or camping is a lifestyle. If you can afford a $70,000-$125,000 RV, you are not a vagrant.
How come Melies gets to speak during the meeting? When the aldermen brought up instances that people should be able to stay in their RVs and such. Melies said no. You can’t favor one person over another. He shouldn’t get to speak. They are favoring one person over another.
Since Eversmeyer is up for re-election, remember he doesn’t want to let the public speak. He continues to ignore (and won’t even let them speak) what the voters say as he voted for the Manors of Brush Creek.
The Operations committee might want to read the new law the state has about camping on state property..
No compassion. Mental illness, covid so many things force people to become homeless. Let’s not punish them. Let’s work together to try and help those that are the least of us.
The new Marshal spent most of his last years as a St. Louis County officer working in a ‘Karen rich’ , HOA loaded area of rich , self important people. Now he wants to bring their ‘ holier than though”‘ ideas to our small , home town feel, community. He wants to enforce his out of town ideas on us using strong arm fear tactics. It’s got to be his way, or no way.
The board has heard enough from him, if he has more to say ‘put it in writing’, but don’t read it out loud , just like most committees don’t read letters from the citizens.
If he must attend, tape his mouth and put a black bag over his head, just like they want to treat the citizens.
Beyond all that , the proposed ordnance is an unneeded piece of CRAP!
How come Melies gets to speak during the meeting? When the aldermen brought up instances that people should be able to stay in their RVs and such. Melies said no. You can’t favor one person over another. He shouldn’t get to speak. They are favoring one person over another.
If Melies is allowed to speak, then any other citizen should be allowed to speak.
operations committee passed it on to the BOA meeting 1-17-23 for a second reading without much comment verbalized. who knows what was in print. all they said was that the Marshal answered their questions, and that most ideas about RV camper use was already prohibited .
Marshal said they had “calls for service” about homeless activity but he had no printed record available. he did say he had saved multiple , multiple e-mails from citizens and businesses with complaints about people using outside water and other disrupting activity, and finding trash in the woods. such horror must be stopped even if he needs to use gestapo and other secret police actions, like arresting, fining and placing in prison evil doing land owners who allow such criminal activity on their private property.
let’s see in public print these notorious e-mail ( don’t need name,only actions).
then we all need to contact every board member and let them know how you feel regardless of which way you feel. such extreme laws are not needed in out town, let’s get all the help groups we have and give them a hand up.
It looks like the Kremlin has now picked Pacific as its next target. Putin understands that annexing territory beyond his countries borders enhances HIS POWER. That is the way this Police Chief and the Gestapo who won’t allow the public to speak at the meeting where the issue should be debated speaks of a town who have indeed elected fools who have lost their minds.!!!
Donald Cummings: AMEN, AMEN!!!