WORCESTER — Multiple city councilors talked about the need to develop a solution to respond to homelessness in the city Tuesday, and made it clear allowing the temporary use of tents in city parks and public property would not be a part of that response.
The City Council unanimously voted for Councilor-at-Large Donna Colorio’s order to end consideration, or file, a petition requesting the city allow such tents in public spaces. The matter was raised by Samantha Olney, the director of the Homeless Addicts Leadership Organization of Worcester, a nonprofit organization, and is homeless herself, she said.
Olney’s petition asked the city to allow the usage of tents on public property and city parks as a temporary solution to the growing homeless population and said it would be more effective than “arresting unhoused individuals for existing.”
The petition also suggested that tents should be allowed if people pitching a tent follow guidelines about trash disposal, tent size and capacity limit.
With housing costs rising in the city and state in general, the homeless population has increased in the city. City officials and homeless services providers have acknowledged shelter bed capacity has not met demand for beds.