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Pittsfield City Council Asks Homelessness Committee For Reports
By Jack Guerino, iBerkshires Staff
01:03AM / Wednesday, September 09, 2020
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PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The City Council referred four petitions to the Homeless Prevention Committee asking for reporting on its productivity. 
 
The council unanimously sent the group of petitions, signed by Councilors Dina Guiel Lampiasi and Earl Persip, on Tuesday demanding some answers from the committee that has met infrequently since the pandemic began.
 
"The thought is that this might streamline some of the information that the community and even some council members may have been looking for," Guiel Lampiasi of Ward 6 said. "We have been working really hard to have a better understanding of what we are dealing with and how we can better serve a need."
 
The city's homeless population has been an ever-present subject this summer with the closing of a temporary shelter, the usage of Springside Park as a homeless encampment, and the recent approval of a new shelter at First United Methodist Church.
 
The conversation has picked up steam as winter approaches. With COVID-19 restrictions, the current shelter at Barton's Crossing, run by ServiceNet, can only house 10 beds.
 
The Homelessness Prevention Committee has been silent over the past few months and only met in early September to weigh in.
 
Committee Chairman Ed Carmel called in during public comment and asked to be able to respond to some of the petitions.
 
"I think you should give me a chance to speak because I have been doing my homework," Carmel said. "... You are throwing us under the bus so to say."
 
Carmel was not given a chance to speak later in the near five-hour long meeting, but Persip later said he felt the petitions were only put forward to gain information.
 
"I think holding the committee accountable for what they were tasked to do is not throwing anybody under the bus," Persip, councilor at large, said. "We haven't heard from them throughout the pandemic ... I think it is important to see what they are up to."  
 
Ward 7 Councilor Anthony Maffuccio, who in the past called the committee defunct, agreed and commended the petitioners. He called back to a recent Public Health and Safety Committee at which the homeless population was discussed. He said the Homelessness Prevention Committee should have taken this up long before it was sent to subcommittee.   
 
"It is about time that this commission shows some accountability," Maffuccio said. "We are now at Public Health and Safety dealing with this situation that should have been handled back in July." 
 
The first petition asked the committee to provide a detailed list of programs that the committee advocated for through city, state, federal, and county entities. Also, the petition asked what recommended funding sources and procedures the committee has recommended.
 
The second petition asked for a report detailing steps the Homeless Prevention Committee has taken to monitor homelessness in Pittsfield since 2019.
 
The third asked how many meetings have been held in the recent past.
 
The fourth and final petition asked the committee to provide a report of the community leaders and neighborhood service providers that the Homeless Prevention Committee has collaborated with and if any, what viable solutions the committee drafted since 2019.
 
Ward 4 Councilor Christopher Connell said the Homelessness Prevention Committee is a large group of volunteers that does not have full membership. He felt that the administration should have been working closely with the committee to make sure it had the resources and membership needed to be successful 
 
Ward 2 Councilor Kevin Morandi felt the mayor should have reached out to the panel as soon as the temporary shelter closed. He felt better communication was needed throughout the city government. 
 
Morandi also said the council's own subcommittees had difficulties meeting during the outset of the pandemic. He did not think it was fair to "point a finger" at Carmel who may have been in need of support.
 
Persip responded that he is only looking for a report and other volunteer committees provide regular reports. He could not recollect ever receiving a report from the Homelessness Prevention Committee.
 
"We are just looking for information, we are not passing the buck or pointing the finger," he said.
 
Ward 1 Councilor Helen Moon was in favor of gathering this information but noted that the committee, which last met in March, had "difficulties moving forward."
 
She added that at the recent meeting, the committee endorsed some ordinance changes put forth by Community Development to better its structure.
 
"I feel that it is a little premature, and I am hesitant to have that conversation without making these necessary changes first that would help them be better prepared," Moon said. "... I think we have to give them the tools to be successful before we say that they are ineffective."
 
Moon added that she thought that even if the committee was meeting regularly, the city would be in the same place in terms of the homeless population.
 
Director of Community Development Deanna Ruffer said the committee did endorse some changes that her department planned to work out in greater detail. She said changes will give more structure to the committee and clarify its advisory role.
 
She added that Carmel is new to the leadership position on the committee, and her department has been present all along to support it. She also cleared up a rumor and said her department never told the committee it could not meet.
 
The council asked for these reports before the next council meeting.
 
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