Joe Tarr
Bags belonging to homeless people sit on the steps of the City-County Building, where many of them have been sleeping at night.
Earlier this year, Becky had been living homeless in Las Vegas. But when the authorities there began to crack down, she was forced to leave.
“Me and my ex were picked up on the second of July and told ‘it’s either you guys get on a Greyhound bus back to where you came from, or you go to jail for up to two years,’” said Becky, who preferred not to give her last name.
So she returned to her hometown of Madison, where she began sleeping on the steps of the City-County Building, like dozens of other homeless people have been doing for months. But Thursday, the city began enforcing a ban on after-hours loitering outside the building.
“It’s either you get up and move to the outskirts of Madison, or you go to jail for up to 120 days,” she said yesterday, a few feet away from where she has been sleeping every night. “And that’s wrong. We can’t help that we don’t have houses.”
The ban was approved at the end of August by a joint committee overseeing the City-County Building and went into effect at 5 p.m. Thursday. Those in favor of the ban have said it is necessary because the space has become unsanitary and unsafe for those working there.
Those opposed to it ban say it further criminalizes homelessness while abdicating collective responsibility for addressing root causes. Before the eviction, the Madison-Area Urban Ministry held a news conference in front of the building to protest the ban as the sun went down and temperatures dropped.
“It is unconscionable that we as a city and county have decided to fine people whose only offense is to seek some shelter,” Rabbi Jonathan Biatch of Temple Beth El told the crowd of about 30. “This decision by our joint City-County Liaison Committee sadly disregards the underlying systemic issues that led to the City-County Building becoming a refuge for people who are homeless.”
Dane County Supv. Al Matano cast the lone committee vote against the ban. He said it demonstrates “misplaced priorities” that favor revenue and development over people and social welfare. Matano told the crowd that a recent participant in last month’s Iron Man Wisconsin wrote Mayor Paul Soglin’s office noting the presence of homeless at city hall.
“Rather than worry about the impact on tourism, I think what we should be worrying about is whether our brothers and sisters will be freezing to death this coming winter,” Matano said.
Police Capt. Carl Gloede says there are rules in place restricting access to the inside of the City-County Building, but until now, use of the grounds outside the building was unregulated.
“I think what drove [the ban] was the volume of people, weekends in particular. Anywhere from 50 to 100 people sleeping out there,” Gloede said. “There were fights, disturbances, alcohol calls, there was a stabbing, reports of drug use, sexual assault. The combination of the large size of the group and these increasing behavior issues came to a peak, and the committee enacted a change in rules to be effective outside as well.”
But Gloede said officers won't be physically removing any individuals from outside of the building.
“You know, I’ve been doing this for many years downtown…. nothing’s changed from our philosophy. Ultimately, deadlines are created, rules are changed. Those are outside my purview but we typically get stuck enforcing those,” he said. “So we act proactively with the people to try to come to a positive solution of compliance with the rules without having to go the citation or arrest route. Because that doesn’t solve any problems.”
Mayor Paul Soglin supports the ban. Earlier this summer, he said bad behavior by some has left few alternatives.
“We can recall a time when there were a half dozen individuals downstairs and no one was sleeping on the steps of the building,” he said. “Now we have 20 and 30 people a night. We have tents being pitched. We made efforts to accommodate the need of people to relieve themselves. What did we do? We put out Port-a-Potties. But they aren’t being used. And if they are being used, they’re being used for drugs and for sex.”
Homeless advocate Brenda Konkel says she’s been hearing that most people plan on complying with the ban rather than face a fine for trespassing. But Konkel says the legality of sleeping in any public place in Madison is unclear, especially now that the City-County Building has been declared off-limits.
“I’ve been asking people where they’re going to go, and no one seems to know since this was literally the last legal place for people to sleep if they’re out of days at the shelter,” she said.
Because the shelters limit the number of days that people can sleep there — with the exception of nights that drop to 20 degrees or lower — not everyone will be able to go to the shelters.
“Some people can’t go back to shelter because if they go to shelter now, later, when it’s 22 degrees outside, they’ll be stuck sleeping outside,” Konkel said.
On Friday morning, Supv. Heidi Wegleitner and 11 other county supervisors requested that Soglin and County Executive Joe Parisi rescind the ban. In a statement they wrote: “The shelter for families and single women at the Salvation Army has limited staff and space. It is common for women and families to be turned away because there are not enough beds available. Just because a woman’s number of annual days may have been extended, she still cannot get in when the shelter is full.”
On Thursday, Becky said she and her fiancé planned to check into a hotel. Friday, they would rent a U-Haul with a group of seven or eight people and move to Chicago, leaving Madison for good.
Dylan Brogan contributed to this report.