You gotta love this, especially, the mayor involved, Paul Soglin, especially since, when he was a very young mayor, back in the early 1970's.
From Madison.com:
Concerned about public health and safety, Mayor Paul Soglin is taking actions to deal with drifters and homeless people engaging in dangerous behavior Downtown and in other parts of the city.
The actions would include ending all outdoor living and encampments except at the City-County Building, and seeking to limit free food distribution to the City-County Building.
In the past two weeks there has been a serious increase in the number of drifters Downtown, with more people coming to the front entrance of the City-County Building, and new encampments in other places, including one at Frances Street between State and Langdon streets, Soglin said in a memo Friday to City Council members and department mangers.
The Frances Street situation rapidly deteriorated last week, the memo says.
On April 18, individuals clearly under the influence of drugs were occupying the benches near Urban Outfitters and the steps of Frances Street, the memo says. On Tuesday, more than six hypodermic needles were found in the grassy area alongside The Towers. On Wednesday the area was littered with food and other debris. On several occasions clothing was littering the area, including feces-laden pants.
At 3 a.m. Friday, city park crews went into the area and power-washed the block, the memo says. The improvement was significant but won’t keep the area safe and healthy if the behavior reoccurs, it says. Those in the area were told of the cleaning in advance and found other locations to bed down on Thursday night, it said.
“We have a dangerous situation,” Soglin said in an interview. “What am I going to do when some child playing on the Square or State Street picks up a needle and is infected. This is about health, safety and crime.”
Actions to be taken include:
Stopping all illegal outdoor living and encampments. Individuals who wish to live outdoors will be given an opportunity to go the City-County Building or shelters.
Read more: http://host.madison.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/soglin-takes-actions-on-drifters-and-the-homeless-engaged-in/article_ef24e891-abb8-5b14-bff2-e837da58f779.html#ixzz3YI0ngpRQ
This never would have happened when Soglin was first mayor, around 1973. He would have had pity of the homeless and would have diverted a lot of money to help those poor souls.
Now, Soglin has grown up and has seen that not all homeless or drifters are these cute cuddly teddy bears who are just down on their luck or it could happen to anybody on any given day.
So, congratulations for Soglin for finally growing up but it took you about 40 years to do so.
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