Archive for Mayor Larry Nelson
Temporary homeless shelter approved
Posted by: | CommentsThe Waukesha Plan Commission Wednesday night approved a temporary homeless shelter at St. Matthias Episcopal Church, 111 E. Main St., for a second consecutive year.
The shelter’s return to the near-downtown church reinvigorated debate about whether the city, which is the county seat, tolerates too many social welfare activities.
Another concern was how the concentration of non-taxpaying welfare agencies in the downtown affect other fragile downtown inhabitants - such as business and property owners.
The only choice presented to the commission was to either approve the church’s permit or vote it down and send charitable groups scrambling to find another suitable site before winter sets in.
The commission approved it 5-1. Only commissioner Curt Otto voted against it after he expressed disappointment that a study group assembled by Mayor Larry Nelson to find an alternative site, failed to do so.
Nelson was unapologetic in his choice of group members and argued he was honest and open when asked about the group’s progress and findings.
Ald. Randy Radish who represents the area had raised questions about the makeup of the group, professionals in the fields of mental health and homelessness along with city and county government officials and staff.
“I will not apologize for doing my job…,” Nelson said.
“If anyone knows of another viable location, I’d like to hear about it,” Nelson said.
He added that if re-elected this spring, he would launch another examination into Waukesha being the main caregiver in Waukesha County for the homeless.
The shelter operator, the Hebron House of Hospitality, got a conditional use permit to run the shelter from Nov. 15 of this year through April 30, 2010. Its hours will be 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. with a maximum capacity of 35 men.
The Common Council chambers where the commission met was packed, mostly with church and charity groups that wanted to show their support for the shelter.
No one expressed opposition to the shelter or disputed its need during these hard times.
The specific complaints centered on the shelter’s location and the makeup of Nelson’s study committee, which did not include anyone from the downtown.
The lone audience member to question the wisdom of the location was downtown resident Vicky Hekkers.
Hekkers insisted that if downtown people would have been invited by Nelson to be on the relocation group , a solution might have been found.
“Help us grow our businesses,” Hekkers told Nelson, who is chairman of the commission. ” This is about a zoning issue, not about caring for the poor. The group only looked at churches and Northview.”
Ald. Joan Francoeur, a commissioner, echoed Hekkers comments.
“Putting the two populations with different realities together is very difficult,” she said of the situation.
Bernie Juno, director of Hebron House, was told by city officials that the Fire Department would not allow the church to be used on a temporary basis after the newly approved permit expires. If it returned for a third year, the site would be considered a permanent shelter and subjected to expensive fire prevention upgrades, such as installing sprinklers in the ceiling.
Plans for homeless shelter unveiled
Posted by: | CommentsPlans to have St. Matthias Episcopal Church, 111 E. Main St., again host the cold-weather homeless shelter were unveiled last night to the Plan Commission.
Mayor Larry Nelson formed a study committee that sought to find an alternative site for homeless shelter sought by the church. The program is operated by the Hebron House of Hospitality.
The church shelter needs a conditional use permit from the commission to legally operate. The recommendation from the study committee to again operate a shelter in the basement of the church at night was discussed last night.
The shelter encountered controversy last year after opening without notifying the city and obtaining needed permits. Those issues were resolved and the commission reluctantly granted a temporary permit. Some commissioners warned Hebron House to not come back for a renewal.
A formal vote on granting a new permit is scheduled for the Sept. 23 commission meeting.
“The intent was not to exclude anyone. The intent was to include the professionals who are working with these populations.” Mayor Larry Nelson said of his study group’s make up.
Little opposition to the church shelter was expressed last night. Many church and agency leaders were on hand to praise Juno and the church for their work with the homeless.
But Ald. Randy Radish, who represents the area, was miffed at the makeup of the study group, which he said was an ad hoc committee that generated a “one-sided” report.
Radish said the group did not have any downtown representatives, including him, and police and fire officials were not asked for their input. The church is on the eastern edge of downtown and merchants and residents have expressed concerns about unemployed homeless loitering in the business district and damaging the downtown’s image.
“I’m sure most members of the Common Council were unaware of this ad hoc committee until learning of it by accident,” Radish said. “A number of people made the comment ‘it looks like they wanted to exclude certain people to get the results they wanted to get’.”
Radish’s comment drew a quick response from Nelson. After shifting in his chair, Nelson said his group was not an ad hoc committee. It was a group of professionals familiar with homelessness and poverty. The group also had representatives from housing and mental health agencies.
“The intent was not to exclude anyone,” Nelson said of the group’s make up. “The intent was to include the professionals who are working with these populations.”
Bernie Juno, executive director of Hebron House, said an emphasis would be made to find places for the unemployed homeless to go during the day. The aim is to direct them away from public places such as the library, the downtown transit center and downtown shops, she said.
As for the shelter, a neighbor said it did not upset the neighborhood while it was running earlier this year.
According to Hebron House statistics, 131 men in total stayed there between Jan. 15 and April 30. They were mostly white, from Waukesha and between 35 and 54. The shelter operated from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m.
Dozens of other sites, including churches were looked at and found to be inadequate, the report says. Northview, the former county nursing home, was also dismissed as an alternative.
Nelson said he would report publicly about the group’s progress when asked and he listed the meetings on his bi-monthly mayor’s memo to aldermen.
Roger Igelski said at the meeting that downtown merchants and residents were not villains who oppose homeless shelters. But they do want stepped up efforts to keep the homeless occupied during the day.
Igelski is president of the downtown Business Improvement District
“Everyone is welcome downtown as long as they behave,” Igelski said.
