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Local residents urge council to help keep Phoenix Center open; call for police accountability

Springfield City Council · March 17, 2026
AI-Generated Content: All content on this page was generated by AI to highlight key points from the meeting. For complete details and context, we recommend watching the full video. so we can fix them.

Summary

Two citizens urged Springfield officials to act: one asked the council to help the Phoenix Center avoid closure and another called for independent police-accountability and surveillance protections during the March 16 meeting.

Two public commenters raised community-service and public-safety concerns at the March 16 Springfield City Council meeting.

Justin Courtney, a Springfield resident, told the council the Phoenix Center — a local LGBTQ community and resource organization that also serves people living with HIV — is at risk of permanent closure because of leadership and funding issues and a temporary freeze on state grant funding. Courtney said the center provides critical services, including what he believes to be a small shelter, and urged council members to volunteer to work with the center to…

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