City was on wrong side of $814K fence to keep homeless people out
Tall and heavy black metal fence surrounds a former homeless encampment last week at 1100 S. Desplaines. PEYTON REICH/SUN-TIMES
Chicago hasn’t started fining, ticketing or arresting homeless Chicagoans since the U.S. Supreme Court in June issued a 6-3 ruling making it easier for municipalities to do so. But our city did penalize unhoused individuals before and during the Democratic National Convention, by clearing out of one its largest “tent cities” and erecting a 10-foot-tall black fence around the site.
Hiding homeless people from the political movers and shakers descending on the United Center didn’t come cheap. The city spent nearly $1 million — $814,233.75, to be exact — for the wroughtiron barrier that runs south on Desplaines, west on Roosevelt and north along the Dan Ryan Expressway’s exit ramp at Taylor Street, the Sun-Times’ Lauren FitzPatrick, Brett Chase and Elvia Malagón reported.
The fence was needed “to address a threat to public safety and city operations” during the DNC, per the City Hall contract allowing the “emergency spending.”
A city transportation department spokeswoman, meanwhile, said the metal enclosure was erected to “ensure the safety and security of the site while allowing continued access for maintenance and repair crews.”
Whatever the explanation, the price tag for the barrier makes for bad optics and raises legitimate concerns and criticism.
There’s already a dearth of resources to help unhoused Chicagoans.
With advance planning, surely some people could have been put on the road to stability, instead of being locked out.
The money could have gone toward keeping the city’s six community centers open 24 hours, seven days a week during extreme cold or hot weather, as Monica Dillon, a registered nurse and member of the Northwest Side Homeless Outreach Volunteers suggested.
Or it could have contributed to further expanding operations of a homeless hotline that is back online after it was shut down in June. The list of options to further assist and improve the lives of homeless people seems endless — advocates and social service professionals have plenty of ideas.
Homelessness is a crisis that keeps growing in scope and severity across the country. There is no question the city is attempting to address homelessness, along with poverty, lack of affordable housing, mental illnesses and substance-use disorders that can lead to being unhoused.
But when the city is blowing nearly $1 million of taxpayers’ money to pretend homeless people don’t exist for VIPs, it can’t blame residents for wondering if it has misplaced priorities.
Hiding homeless people from the political movers and shakers descending on the United Center didn’t come cheap. The city spent nearly $1 million — $814,233.75, to be exact — for the wroughtiron barrier that runs south on Desplaines, west on Roosevelt and north along the Dan Ryan Expressway’s exit ramp at Taylor Street, the Sun-Times’ Lauren FitzPatrick, Brett Chase and Elvia Malagón reported.
The fence was needed “to address a threat to public safety and city operations” during the DNC, per the City Hall contract allowing the “emergency spending.”
A city transportation department spokeswoman, meanwhile, said the metal enclosure was erected to “ensure the safety and security of the site while allowing continued access for maintenance and repair crews.”
Whatever the explanation, the price tag for the barrier makes for bad optics and raises legitimate concerns and criticism.
There’s already a dearth of resources to help unhoused Chicagoans.
With advance planning, surely some people could have been put on the road to stability, instead of being locked out.
The money could have gone toward keeping the city’s six community centers open 24 hours, seven days a week during extreme cold or hot weather, as Monica Dillon, a registered nurse and member of the Northwest Side Homeless Outreach Volunteers suggested.
Or it could have contributed to further expanding operations of a homeless hotline that is back online after it was shut down in June. The list of options to further assist and improve the lives of homeless people seems endless — advocates and social service professionals have plenty of ideas.
Homelessness is a crisis that keeps growing in scope and severity across the country. There is no question the city is attempting to address homelessness, along with poverty, lack of affordable housing, mental illnesses and substance-use disorders that can lead to being unhoused.
But when the city is blowing nearly $1 million of taxpayers’ money to pretend homeless people don’t exist for VIPs, it can’t blame residents for wondering if it has misplaced priorities.