Council overrides mayor's vetoes, adopts camping and loitering ordinances after heated debate

The Brockton City Council on July 13 voted to override Mayor Robert Sullivan's vetoes and adopt two ordinances: one prohibiting camping on public property and one prohibiting loitering in public places.

Council supporters framed the measures as tools to address public-safety and quality-of-life problems downtown and in parks, citing needles, human waste and incidents that they said endanger residents and children. Councilor Jeffrey Thompson, who introduced the camping ordinance, told colleagues the measure was intended to reduce harm while other services are developed, saying, "It is better than the alternative, and that's doing nothing." Thompson successfully led the push to override the veto on the camping ordinance, which passed 8–3 on a roll call vote.

Opponents said criminal penalties and court processes would not meaningfully help people experiencing homelessness and risk criminalizing poverty. A councilor who spoke against the ordinance argued repeatedly that "being homeless is not a…