In February, Federal Judge Wayne Anderson made a split decision in the Lower Wacker Drive homeless case in which police and sanitation workers “swept out” the homeless and destroyed their personal property.
Although Anderson recognized the city’s violation and the residents’ entitlement to compensation, he ruled that the city could continue the “sweeps” of the homeless.
Similarly, in our view, the Tribune got some things right and some things wrong in its Feb. 21 editorial on the ruling.
The editorial is correct in stating that something went awry on Dec. 1, when city workers discarded the personal belongings of the homeless who live under Wacker Drive. The homeless lost virtually all of their possessions including identification, work clothes and medicine, and city workers used racial slurs to intimidate them.
Anderson and the newspaper are incorrect, however, in calling the Dec. 1 cleaning an aberration. In fact, Lower Wacker Drive residents and several news accounts–including the Tribune’s–confirm that the city has violated court-supported cleaning procedures in the past, particularly during big city events such as the Democratic convention.
We agree that the city has an obligation to clean up food and other garbage on public ways, including Lower Wacker. But the evidence suggests that during big city events, the city consistently oversteps its bounds in cleaning Lower Wacker, violating the rights of its homeless residents.
The editorial raises and answers another important question, “Why are people living on the streets in the first place?” The editorial correctly asserts that many homeless people find it dangerous to sleep among strangers at a shelter and the lack of permanence makes it impossible to hold down a job.
To end homelessness in Chicago–and prevent people from living under Wacker Drive–the city must invest in permanent affordable housing such as SROs and family housing units and pass the Chicago Jobs and Living Wage Ordinance. In addition, as the city’s Department of Human Services prepares to revamp Chicago’s shelter system, efforts should be made to address the legitimate concerns homeless people have about shelters such as improving safety and adopting policies that help the homeless hold down jobs–not lose them.
