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Residents press Kalamazoo commissioners for more housing and shelter access, criticize police response at protest
Summary
During public comment at the March 31 special meeting, residents urged the city to expand shelter access and housing-first solutions, described obstacles at missions, and alleged excessive policing at a recent BLM protest.
During the public comment period at the Kalamazoo City Commission’s March 31 special meeting, several residents urged the commission to increase housing and shelter options, and raised concerns about policing at a recent Black Lives Matter protest.
Kaye, who identified herself as a city-area advocate, criticized the police response to a BLM protest and said she requested a supervisor after officers arrived “very aggressively.” Kaye said the supervisor, identified in her remarks as Officer John Resiggey, had previously been involved in an incident at a tent-city eviction and that a protester had been injured while handcuffed. Kaye said officers’ conduct at the protest felt like escalation rather than de-escalation and called for greater focus on housing-first initiatives and community resources.
Shona Espinosa, who said she lives in the city, described children spending long hours outside during spring break and said shelter rules and mission policies exclude some people for behaviors such as vaping. Espinosa said a double-amputee woman had been barred from a mission because she vaped in a bathroom, and she said people with children can be excluded when an adult is turned away. Espinosa said three people died during a recent storm and that, in her understanding, the victims were children ages she believed to be about 2, 4 and 11; she asked the commission to consider how the city’s policies and barriers affect Black and brown residents.
Both speakers urged the city to use available funds to pilot housing-first programs and remove barriers they said prevent people from accessing shelter and services. Espinosa said that some people use substances as a coping mechanism for unmet mental-health needs and that mission rules can force them into unsafe street conditions.
City staff and commissioners did not respond during the public-comment period, which the chair said was not a time for dialogue. The commission then proceeded to the primary agenda item for the special meeting: reapproval of the ARPA loan amendment for Legacy Senior Housing.
