Allentown City Council to consider ‘bill of rights’ for homeless | Lehigh Valley Regional News

ALLENTOWN, Pa. – The Allenttown City Council will be asked to consider a resolution to adopt a homeless bill of rights for the city.

The Rules, Chambers, Intergovernmental Relations and Strategy Committee met Wednesday evening to discuss the proposed resolution, sponsored by council members Ce-Ce Gerlach and Natalie Santos.

The declaration essentially states that everyone, regardless of their housing status, has the following rights: housing, the opportunity to enjoy public spaces, fair employment, medical care, the right to vote, personal property and freedom. privacy, personal security, the opportunity to sit and rest, social exchange, fair housing and education.

The committee is composed of Gerlach, Daryl L. Hendricks, Cynthia Mota and Santo Napoli.

The three non-sponsoring members of the resolution said they received questions and concerns from constituents regarding the resolution’s language.

Gerlach said the resolution would not grant more or fewer rights to anyone, but would grant everyone the same rights.

“Resolutions are declarations,” Gerlach said. “This is us as a city saying we value every resident of the City of Allentown, regardless of their housing status.”

Napoli said he has heard concerns about the use of public sidewalks, the use of parks and aggressive panhandling.

“We need to make sure everyone is treated equally,” Naples said. “I mean, they’re not second-class citizens in the city. I understand what it’s about, but you know, there are concerns from people who have contacted me.”

“I’m very concerned that panhandling is illegal in the city and we’re making sure that this resolution is consistent with city laws because I think creating confusion is probably the biggest unintended consequence of this “Napoli added.

The proposed resolution, under the section on personal property, states that there is “the right to give and accept resources, such as money, food, drink and shelter, in public spaces” .

Hendricks said he has received several complaints about the proposal.

“I personally don’t understand why we need such a bill, in addition to what is currently afforded to all individuals under the United States Constitution,” Hendricks said.

“There are several things here that I think could be problematic, and I’m not in favor of that,” he said. “We’re getting to the point where we’re getting very specific with individual groups and we’re no longer dealing with the public as a whole.”

Mota said she also received numerous phone calls regarding the resolution and wondered if Gerlach knew of any other municipalities with such a document.

Gerlach said she was not aware of any other than specific states.

“Those of us who face increased persecution for being in a marginalized community sometimes need a little something like this to reaffirm that we belong,” Gerlach said.

The committee gathered public comments from several homeless people, social workers and shelter workers.

But many comments focused on the need for additional funds and the city’s desire to solve the homeless problem.

A homeless woman said homeless people are treated differently.

“I’m treated like trash because I’m homeless and it’s our police departments that are violating our rights,” she said. “We are chased everywhere we go. They stop us to ask for our IDs and look at our bags for no reason.”

The committee agreed to bring the proposed resolution to the full council to obtain the opinions of other council members and to obtain more information and clarification on the language used in the document.