FORT SMITH, Ark. — On Tuesday, the Fort Smith Board of Directors defeated a proposed ordinance that would have prohibited people from sleeping on sidewalks, streets, and alleys, and prohibit camping on city property.
The vote was 4 against the motion and 3 for it.
City Directors Jared Rego, Andre Good, George Catsavis, and Christina Catsavis voted against the ordinance and City Directors Kevin Settle, Neal Martin, and Lavon Morton voted for the proposed ordinance.
Fort Smith Director of Neighborhood Services Shawn Gard presented the ordinance to the board.
At the meeting, every resident who spoke shared their concerns around the proposed ordinance. Residents who spoke were met with large rounds of applause from the packed gallery at the Blue Lion.
Points made by residents who spoke included the proposed ordinance not humanely looking at the problem and not focusing on where the unhoused were going to go.
"Ordinances like this are very dehumanizing," Director of Case Management at Jessi's House Samantha Holland said. "There's a wait list for HUD, they're turning people away at Hope Campus, the shelters are at capacity during the wintertime, during inclement weather, because everybody's trying to seek shelter. So if the shelter is not there, where do we send them?”
Fort Smith Police Chief Danny Baker spoke at the meeting and stated that he believed the ordinance was constitutionally sound but wouldn’t make the proper changes the board hoped it would.
Baker added that homelessness isn't an issue that could be solved by police, nor legislation that targets the homeless. Instead, he added that policy should have solutions for mental health and substance abuse.
Baker said it was not against the law to be homeless, smell bad, stand on the sidewalk, or panhandle.
Settle said the board has received a lot of calls from residents regarding the homelessness issue in the city.
"I think it's very important, because we've got a lot of citizen input and comments about homelessness, sleeping in the parks, and how it looks in our city," Settle said. "I think hearing from the public, we hear from teachers, principals throughout the city, and they really want something to help clean up our city and do something that makes it easier for kids and our families to visit our city."
Settle added that he believed this was something the citizens of Fort Smith would have wanted done.
This story is developing. Stay with 5NEWS as we bring you the latest.
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