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Mayor’s Report 1/14/25 – Homelessness & Public Works Spotlight

January 15, 2025 | Mayor's Office
By: Mayor Danene Sorace

Thank you all for being here tonight. I appreciate the comments, and I agree with a lot of the things that were said tonight. I also know that my role is to balance a lot of different things, and I appreciate the suggestions about a temporary or permanent place for outdoor sleeping in the city. 

I can say that I am not in favor of making our parks available for those purposes. I equally hear from residents around parks who struggle with all kinds of things, who have also spent time and money to support unhoused folks – sometimes even inviting them into their homes. Unfortunately, it hasn’t ended well in many circumstances. 

That said, we have continuous conversations. We have a homeless response team in the city that is primarily led by our police social workers. We have been in a process of iterating, and I know there have been times in the past when things have not gone as well as we would have wanted. Our development of trying to be as nuanced and flexible as possible regarding people in public spaces and their belongings has led to new protocols for our parks staff. When things are left behind, there is now a protocol for tagging them and letting people know that if the items are still there the next day when park staff come back, they will be removed. If park staff pick up items, and if they include medications or identifications, those items are taken to the Police Bureau. We notify the outreach community, and we let people know where their belongings are located. 

We also receive complaints from people about where others are sleeping, which presents a challenge in balancing all of the community’s needs. Additionally, we know that in our city and across the country, encampments can devolve into illegal drug activity, rodent infestations, and other issues. 

We recognize that we need better solutions, and I invite you to bring forward those solutions. I ask that you lean in with curiosity about what the team has been doing and the work we are advancing. I have not had many direct requests. I’m willing to sit down, along with our police social workers and other staff, to talk about some of the challenges and to hear ideas for addressing them. 

I want to acknowledge that it is our police social workers and public works teams are often on the front line of working with those sleeping outdoors. Police officers, however, respond when the public calls them about related issues. 

With the recent situation on Martha Avenue, we are working to get people into housing, and we are ready and willing to mobilize resources to support individuals in that goal. I personally made phone calls to generate funds for one individual’s security deposit and first month’s rent. We recognize that shelter is not for everyone; there are people on the streets with pets, and we understand their challenges. 

I also want to highlight and appreciate the progress we’ve made. Two years ago, we didn’t have a permanent low-barrier shelter. The opening of the Clay Street Shelter on December 30 was such a celebrated milestone because we haven’t had that resource for decades. Frankly, our faith communities have said “no” to hosting shelters in recent years, and finding additional space has been a struggle. I’m grateful to Tenfold for stepping up and providing their garage as a temporary bridge to the Clay Street Shelter. 

I want to thank organizations like the Food Hub, the Homelessness Coalition, and Penn Medicine LGH Street Outreach Team, as well as all of you donating time, money, and effort.  

We know we are in a national crisis. We can celebrate the fact that we added 64 units of affordable housing on College Avenue, even while facing lawsuits. However, it’s still not enough. We need more permanent, long-term solutions while also meeting immediate needs. If you have ideas about outdoor shelter locations, please bring them forward. We have talked to people about this, but there is not funding or liability insurance, there are also safety concerns, etc.  

With Council, we approved emergency zoning to open the temporary shelter at Tenfold. This body has worked with the neighbors and supported zoning approvals for the Clay Street project, the South Prince Street project, and more. I also ask you to support Commissioner Yoder in developing a countywide homelessness strategy. 

If you want to discuss this further, I invite you to reach out to me directly at 717-291-4701 or email me at [email protected]. I encourage you to reach out to me personally and directly. I’m happy to meet with a group to continue the conversation.  

I am also looking for solutions. This is not our area of expertise. We have a housing social worker working daily to keep people in their homes. We’ve hired two police social workers to assist and work alongside the outreach team. We’re also trying to secure funding for the police social workers for additional resources, like bus passes, that state and federal funds won’t cover. It is up to us as a city, and I hear your pleas. 

We need more funding, advocacy, and community effort. I appreciate everyone driving toward the same goal, even if we have different approaches. Tenfold, the Food Hub, and other organizations are committed partners in this work, and they need more money. The County has been level funding homelessness services for over a decade. 

If we want to accomplish all of these things, we need real money. This summer, I raised $150,000 to expand outreach because we couldn’t find another shelter to open. Fortunately, Tenfold came through. This work takes resources, and your advocacy is a resource that I would like to continue to engage with and help leverage. We can come up with an interim strategy. 

I will not support a blanket right to rest, as many residents are concerned about the impact of encampments in public parks where our kids play. These people may not show up at this meeting, but they do call me. I need help. Our community needs help, and most importantly the people sleeping outside need help. With temperatures dropping, we’re going to be back into a Code Blue. 

Anchor Lancaster needs volunteers for their day shelter, which only serves 20 people or less. The day shelter and its expansion at Tenfold can serve many more people, but they need volunteers. Help them staff it – let’s do this!  

Additionally, I want to spotlight our Public Works Department. Over the past few weeks, Public Works staff across the department have faced some significant challenges.    

First, during last week’s snowstorm, crews were out 24/7 and on 12-hour shifts for multiple days to clear the snow. They pulled off incredible work with the people power they have. I am deeply grateful for their work to get the city functioning again as soon as possible.  

Secondly, we narrowly avoided having to send another mandatory water conservation notice to all customers last Saturday. DPW crews again were working around the clock to ensure the Susquehanna Treatment Plant could produce enough drinking water to meet the demand. Icy conditions on the Susquehanna River diminished the plant’s ability to intake water, and thus our reservoir was beginning to approach a concerning low level of water. Thanks to the very hard work of the Water Bureau and many Public Works staff they were able to increase flow into the plant and restore water levels in the reservoir all while meeting customer water demand.   

Finally, I want to thank the crews who were out on Christmas Day dealing with two water main breaks in for over 12 hours. There were about 60 water main breaks last year, and unfortunately, December saw one most every day thanks to the cold temperatures.   

It is the definition of public service to be out there working to resolve major problems so the rest of us can continue to be with family, get to work on time, and carry on with our days without interruption. I want everyone to know we have some extraordinary people employed at the City of Lancaster, and they continue to serve our residents and customers with skill and dedication.