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Super Bowl: Where will the Homeless Go
As Sunday’s Super Bowl draws near, some elected officials and homeless advocates are concerned about the fate of the city’s homeless population in day leading up to the event, which is expected to draw tens of thousands to Detroit.
Detroit city council member Kwame Kenyatta said at a recent council session he was concerned about the announcement that homeless people were being rounded up during the Super Bowl events.
“I hope we don’t just round them up so folks don’t think there is no homelessness in Detroit,” Kenyatta said.
Kandia Milton, Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick’s council liaison, said the administration is putting together a plan to avert mistakes made in other cities where homeless people were arrested at the Super Bowl.
Dr. Calvin Trent, head of the city’s bureau of substance abuse treatment and recovery, leads the team catering to the homeless during the Super Bowl.
“What has happened in the past in other cities where the Super Bowl took place is that there were negative consequences for people who were homeless or where there are a lot of poor people,” Trent said. “We are concerned that we don’t cause any negative effects on the homeless and those with mental challenges.”
Trent said Detroit will avoid anything like the incident in Jacksonville, Fla. that led to some lawsuits against that city last year.
According to an Associated Press report three homeless men in Jacksonville – Michael Robert Johnson, Christopher Lee Nelson and Thomas Worley – were arrested in 2004 on charges of drinking in a public park.
The Treaty Oak Park, where they were arrested, had been designated a party zone before the Feb. 6, 2005 Super Bowl event.
Assistant Public Defender Tyler McKinney argued in court that if “the rich, powerful and famous can drink in the park in the weeks before the Super Bowl, why can’t the homeless do it now?”
The park was inside a 21/2-mile entertainment zone adopted by the Jacksonville city council in May of 2004.
Laws against open containers, noise pollution and outdoor alcohol sales were suspended for 18 days before the Super Bowl, the Associated Press reported.
The National Football League (NFL) requires entertainment zone in host cities in the weeks leading to its championship game to broaden the Super Bowl festive mood.
McKinney said the zone benefits those attending the Super Bowl festivities, but it can be manipulated to discriminate against the poor.
In Detroit, Trent said he is working with a coalition of homeless organizations and shelters to provide some events for the homeless.
More
http://www.blackpressusa.com/News/Article.asp?SID=3&Title=Hot+Stories&NewsID=6424
“I hope we don’t just round them up so folks don’t think there is no homelessness in Detroit,” Kenyatta said.
Kandia Milton, Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick’s council liaison, said the administration is putting together a plan to avert mistakes made in other cities where homeless people were arrested at the Super Bowl.
Dr. Calvin Trent, head of the city’s bureau of substance abuse treatment and recovery, leads the team catering to the homeless during the Super Bowl.
“What has happened in the past in other cities where the Super Bowl took place is that there were negative consequences for people who were homeless or where there are a lot of poor people,” Trent said. “We are concerned that we don’t cause any negative effects on the homeless and those with mental challenges.”
Trent said Detroit will avoid anything like the incident in Jacksonville, Fla. that led to some lawsuits against that city last year.
According to an Associated Press report three homeless men in Jacksonville – Michael Robert Johnson, Christopher Lee Nelson and Thomas Worley – were arrested in 2004 on charges of drinking in a public park.
The Treaty Oak Park, where they were arrested, had been designated a party zone before the Feb. 6, 2005 Super Bowl event.
Assistant Public Defender Tyler McKinney argued in court that if “the rich, powerful and famous can drink in the park in the weeks before the Super Bowl, why can’t the homeless do it now?”
The park was inside a 21/2-mile entertainment zone adopted by the Jacksonville city council in May of 2004.
Laws against open containers, noise pollution and outdoor alcohol sales were suspended for 18 days before the Super Bowl, the Associated Press reported.
The National Football League (NFL) requires entertainment zone in host cities in the weeks leading to its championship game to broaden the Super Bowl festive mood.
McKinney said the zone benefits those attending the Super Bowl festivities, but it can be manipulated to discriminate against the poor.
In Detroit, Trent said he is working with a coalition of homeless organizations and shelters to provide some events for the homeless.
More
http://www.blackpressusa.com/News/Article.asp?SID=3&Title=Hot+Stories&NewsID=6424
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