MOUNT VERNON — A Mount Vernon resident who said she has been threatened by homeless people living in encampments near her westside home asked for help to safeguard her family and elderly neighbors while finding some way to aid the homeless residents.
Tonja Kent spoke to the City Council during the public comment portion of their Monday meeting after bringing the issue to Councilman John Francis’ attention.
“This evening, I’m here to discuss a public health, safety and environmental crisis that our residents are experiencing on the west end of Mount Vernon,” she said. “People are living in makeshift tents along the river and on private property.”
Kent said she was recently approached by a man when she was in her yard.
“He threatened to cut me up,” she said. “It took 18 minutes for officers to arrive at my residences. I ran to my garage and got a baseball bat.”
Francis, Mayor Matt Starr and Police Chief Robert Morgan toured several of the homeless encampments after Kent made her original complaint, sharing photos from their visit as Kent explained the problem.
Some of the people living in tents and makeshift shelters have been coming into homeowners’ backyards and bathing with their garden hoses. Others are coming onto elderly residents’ porches and sleeping on their swings.
The trash and biological waste — including urine and feces — have also made it a public health issue, Kent said.
Parents who think it’s safe to send their children alone to parks should think differently, she said. Arch Park is not safe, with Riverside Park only a bit safer.
“First of all, I’d like to ask how do we help these people? ” Kent said. “What resources do we have for them to succeed? And do you have any suggestions on how to address that safety- and environmental crisis that has been forced upon us?”
Council President Bruce Hawkins said he has served on the homeless shelter board since its start in 2008. Some people refuse to go there because they refuse to meet the standards that the board has set.
The City has worked with the Probation Department to clean up encampments along the Kokosing River, Safety-Service Director Rick Dzik said. But that isn’t a solution because the people just move elsewhere, pushing the problem to a new location.
He said the location Kent described is outside city limits. The City has worked to get the Knox Health Department involved.
Starr noted that he has reached out to the Clinton Township trustees and zoning inspector, along with the county commission and Sheriff David Shaffer.
“As we begin, first of all, what are we going to do to protect the citizens who are having to endure obviously everything that Tonya had mentioned here?” he said.
They will have to figure out what legal-, public health- and environmental health issues they need to address, in addition to property issues.
“There’s law, there’s compassion, and we’ve got to find the middle ground,” Starr said.
The City still needs to protect the public, but it must also assess what can be done to help homeless residents, he said.
“There are resources in our community,” Kent said. “I feel if the people would utilize them, in six to 12 months they would get back on their feet.”
But some of those who are homeless don’t want to use the resources because they don’t want to undergo drug testing, she said. They know they can just walk down the street and pick up food boxes, returning to the encampments.
Councilwoman Samantha Scoles said the Police Department has a policy on homeless persons that includes provisions for a homeless liaison. The chief of police can authorize the chaplain liaison to act in that role, which under the policy includes a list of required actions. She did not know if the City has followed through with this.
.webp)
.webp)
