The day after the Elicker administration sent bulldozers and a swarm of cops to clear out a West River homeless encampment, a mayoral candidate criticized the operation as an example of “cruel” “mismanagement and failure of leadership.”
Liam Brennan, one of three Democrats challenging incumbent Mayor Justin Elicker for the party nomination, used that phrase in a campaign released Friday.
“Choosing a cold winter morning to evict a homeless encampment three years after the city became aware of its existence is an example of leadership failure and unnecessarily cruel government mismanagement,” Brennan stated.
The candidate argued that the administration should have been investing more money and time on an “ambitious pro-housing policy.” He noted that a new law aimed at increasing housing stock through “accessory dwelling units” has produced no new homes. He also observed that none of the 34 new positions in the mayor’s proposed new fiscal year budget “are in the woefully under-resourced housing inspection service. Addressing homelessness will require an attention to maintaining our current housing stock, while also incentivizing and creating new housing. We only see further deterioration of current housing conditions with the resources currently given to the Liveable City Initiative.” He also called for “laser-focused” zoning updates to speed housing construction. (Click here to read the full release.)
City officials said they worked for months with campers to address safety hazards like heaters inside flammable tents and human waste found along the riverine encampment. They said they took action when they concluded people could not remain there safely, and they arranged for everyone to find housing if they chose before ordering people out. Click here to read a detailed account of those decisions by the point person in City Hall on homelessness policy, Community Services Administrator Mehul Dalal.
Nora Grace-Flood Photos
Cops swarming the West River site.
The Independent asked Brennan Friday how he would have handled the public health and safety concerns.
“These are legitimate concerns,” he responded. “Nobody wants anyone in or near the river and fires are real problems. This was known. This was there a while. I think it’s emblematic of mismanagement.
“If you’re managing the situation correctly, you address them before three years in on a freezing winter’s day. I saw this encampment years ago at a kids’ sooccer game. They knew it was there too. … You can have a more orderly transition. I can’t imagine that all of a sudden in March it’s an on-fire emergency that was markedly different than last September when it was not freezing outside. You could have taken steps earlier.”
Asked for a response to Brennan’s critique, Mayor Elicker called on people to “work together on a shared common goal” rather than “playing politics.”
“As Mr. Brennan knows, 100 percent of the people he is referencing have been offered housing,” Elicker stated.
“Making housing more affordable is and will continue to be a top priority for my administration. Over the last three years 500 units of affordable housing have been brought online and there are 1,600 in the pipeline. Our team dedicated $13 million for affordable housing initiatives last year. We have created legislation to support tenants unions, implemented inclusionary zoning, created a security deposit assistance program, expanded a downpayment assistance program, changed the law to require landlords to be personally accountable to their properties, revamped our lead inspection policies, and brought on new lead inspectors, to name a few. We are also advocating for statewide change. I have testified at the state for many changes that can create more affordable housing throughout the state and hold landlords more accountable.”