Spectrum News spoke with Worcester City Manager Eric Batista who detailed his proposal before the City Council for a ban on encampments on public property.
City Manager Batista, “We’ve had incidences where there’s been some crime, there’s been some stabbings, there’s been some assault and batteries, there’s been some incidences that has created a need for us to be stronger in our public safety components. And this ordinance introduced that balance to the work that we’re doing. There, we have to hold people accountable, not only ourselves and the work that we do, but also the people who are committing crimes. And this ordinance tries to do that. What the ordinance is trying to do is say, look, in this area, in this particular public space, and this encampment. We don’t want you here because we put this encampment ordinance here because when we see spaces where people are there, we see the need that they’re in. We see the harm that they could potentially cause not only to themselves but people around them.”
After two stabbing incidents on Worcester Common area businesses raised concerns about safety in the Downtown area. Batista addressed their concerns, “I haven’t heard about businesses not wanting to come to the city because of those. I think the businesses that are here and have developed here have expressed concerns about their ability to sustain their businesses in the locations that they have because of some of these incidences and some of the experiences with the unhoused population in those areas. They’ve expressed those concerns and frustrations around that, frustrations around the incidences and what that can impact the vitality and the movement of those. And we’re not talking about big, large businesses. We’re talking about a small coffee shop. We’re talking about a small restaurant. We’re talking about somebody who’s perhaps trying to open up a bookstore, something of that nature. Again, people who are dedicated their lives, they’re dedicated a lot of their money, a lot of their finances, to be able to open up a small business. And those are the people that we’re hearing from, and those are the people we’re trying to also adhere to as part of this work.”…