Democrat Mayoral Candidate Robert Ferri on Cranston Mayor Hopkin's homeless criminalization executive order

"Let's not kick people who have the least while they’re down.”

A press release from the campaign to elect Robert Ferri as Mayor of Cranston:

“On Wednesday, August 21st, Cranston Mayor Kenneth Hopkins issued an executive allowing the Police to have immediate authority to enter any City-owned property to remove homeless encampments.  

“This executive order was issued less than one week after the Cranston City Council’s Ordinance Committee voted to continue an ordinance submitted by the Mayor that I consider cruel and inhumane. The ordinance allows Cranston police to remove homeless encampments and destroy the possessions of the inhabitants. 

“When the committee heard the Mayor’s ordinance last week, 14 people testified against it, and the committee had a very long discussion.  All city councilors agreed that there needs to be a positive solution to the problem of homeless encampments in Cranston, and punishing these people (which the ordinance as written would do) would not help the situation at all. Passing the ordinance was not the answer.  It was resolved in the meeting that we would bring in experts and possibly rewrite the ordinance to protect all involved.

“The challenge is that currently in Rhode Island there is nowhere for many homeless people to go. The state is about 700 shelter beds short for the needs of Rhode Island’s homeless population. If we break up an encampment they are only going to show up in another (likely in Cranston) because there is currently nowhere for many of these folks to go. 

“Based on my conversations with homelessness experts, we need to offer services to them and identify a place for them to go. Most people who are homeless do not choose to be.  They are often people with the most barriers to success ( e.g. poverty, mental health issues, etc.) They need help and services. Cranston simply can't make this someone else's problem anymore.  We are the second largest city in Rhode Island and we need to do our part.  

“In Cranston, we have not built an affordable housing unit in over 13 years.  I believe that instead of creating a law to displace the homeless, we must bring experts to the table and work with them to deal with this problem in a way that may solve the problem. Let's not kick people who have the least while they’re down.”