FILL THE ROOM -- City Council

# FILL THE ROOM! - What: **Filling the city council meeting room and telling city council we do NOT support the Personal Property ordinance** which would take from our most vulnerable neighbors. - Who: **All the voices we can get!** - When: August 18th, 6:30-7:30 - Where: City Hall (161 W Michigan Ave, Jackson, MI 49201) - Bring: a public comment, _under 3 minutes long_, denouncing the ordinance. If you have alternative solutions, feel free to give them! If you'd like something to wear, there'll be **free t-shirts** available! There'll be a limited supply available right before the meeting. If you want in on one early, reach out to [email removed] to organize a pickup. ## What's going on? In order to remove a particularly contentious encampment (which as of now is almost entirely empty), the City of Jackson is pushing for the Personal Property Ordinance. **What would that ordinance do? Rob the homeless** -- anything decided by cops to be unattended, too much, in the way or unsafe can be taken. That includes EVERYTHING, from tents to bedding to food to pet supplies to life-saving medication to anything else! There are plenty of issues with this ordinance even beyond that... - everything, from deciding what counts as a violation to choosing whether or not to give people fines, being left up to the discretion of cops (who are biased against the homeless and who the homeless do not trust) - the lack of enforcement behind the proposed lengthy paper trail that would supposedly help protect impounded property - the lack of access homeless people would have to their own "excess" impounded stuff outside of regular work hours (so there goes getting a job) - the emphasis on taking tents and bedding away (leaving people to sleep outdoors without any protection from the elements) - the pressure being put on these people to go to a shelter (when Interfaith shelter is already full and doesn't allow pets anyway, which is a big reason why these folks are out on the street instead) - the statistics show that (in other areas with similar ordinances) almost no one feels safe going to get their stuff back once it's impounded - and way more! [Here](https://www.cityofjackson.org/DocumentCenter/View/14752/Chapter-17-Emergency-Ordinance-Article-X---Excess-Personal-Property-PDF) is the full text of the ordinance, and [here's](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABp00bzt7uU) the footage from the last meeting discussing it ([ordinance presentation](https://www.youtube.com/live/ABp00bzt7uU?si=SuYULKomwAP1j-zU&t=903), [public comment](https://www.youtube.com/live/ABp00bzt7uU?si=t1M3Z2WVaLjNqMAW&t=3478), [council discussion](https://www.youtube.com/live/ABp00bzt7uU?si=tr4olSWlxUz9kqBg&t=13489), and the [vote](https://www.youtube.com/live/ABp00bzt7uU?si=Al7fZWHZgDLTeq-V&t=16950).) **The explicit goal** _(as the city manager literally admitted!)_ **is to clear homeless peoples' things off the streets** -- effectively forcing people out of sight and out of mind -- **and NOT to help them. _This is anti-homeless legislation._** Let's make it clear that we will NOT stand for this! *A core principle behind all Indivisible events is a commitment to nonviolent action. We expect all participants to seek to de-escalate any potential confrontation with those who disagree with our values.*

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