Controversy struck before Williams Lake’s city council meeting could even officially get underway.
While the agenda was being approved, Councillor Michael Moses made a motion to amend to eliminate Councillor Scott Nelson’s notice of motion, to, as Moses called it, “to ship out the homeless.”
The amendment was passed with Councillors Joan Flaspohler, Michael Moses, Jazmyn Lyons, and Angie Delainey voting to strike.
Councillor Nelson proposed a Notice of Motion during March 10’s council meeting that took strong steps to make public safety “a top priority” for Council.
The steps included making policies that would require homeless prolific offenders, and persons with mental illness who “wreak havoc” in the community, to be forced to wear 24/7 GPS tracking, jail time, and/or be provided wraparound services in a community that has them available.
The motion also included a policy that would have the City of Williams Lake “offer, encourage, and persuade” the persons to accept a one-way bus ticket, and $100 for meals, out of the town.
It was a full gallery, as there was a protest against the motion outside City Hall prior to the meeting. Despite being struck from the agenda, it did not stop councillors from speaking on the topic during the round-table portion.
“The issue of public safety has to be a top priority,” said Councillor Scott Nelson, after listing damages to infrastructure from fires he and community members on social media allege were caused by the homeless.
“I recognize that it’s a contentious issue; I’m a clear advocate of taking people off the streets who need assistance.”
Nelson continued by saying that a trio of homeless people that he recently met were looking to return to their homes. He said the homeless said their homes were in Vancouver and Kelowna, not Williams Lake.
“Sometimes when you put a motion forward, and the intent is to provide help, it could certainly be pulled astray,” Nelson said. “We’ve got a serious problem, safety in our community. Our downtown core is being throttled to the point that it’s causing concerns.”
He said that the purpose of his initial motion was “to ask for help.” He also said many of the issues have been compounded by high levels of government cutting back long-term projects, such as the 55-unit affordable housing project in Williams Lake that the province cut earlier in March.
Councillor Joan Flaspohler, who was one of the councillors who voted to strike the agenda item.
“I supported taking this off the table because I know all of these items that were requested on the notice of motion are not achievable by a city council,” she said. “For the community members who think a municipal council can do this, you’re dreaming.
Flaspohler went on to say that the ability to put these policies into effect would have to come from higher levels of government, and that municipal councils could advocate for them to support communities. She said she is also concerned with the crime occurring in Williams Lake and the impacts of criminals that the community has been facing.
“I support proactive initiatives in this community because all we’re doing with these actions and motions that were on the table tonight is make Williams Lake look horrible.”
Councillor Jazmyn Lyons said that she is proud that the council understands that the community consists of more than just people who have homes, and that homelessness does not mean “criminal.”
“Our safety concerns revolve around the repeat offenders, and we need to focus on stricter sentencing and how we can make that happen.”
Councillors Sheila Boehm and Mayor Surinderpal were in favour of discussing the motion; however, they didn’t necessarily agree to it. They think the topic should be a top conversation in every municipality across the province.
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