Residents urge return of downtown benches as council hears urgent homelessness and shelter gaps

A series of residents and service providers told the Greenville City Council that removing public benches from downtown Broadway has worsened hardship for older shoppers, people with disabilities and residents experiencing homelessness.

Amber Hut, a Greenville resident, said the bench removal has made it harder for elderly and disabled shoppers to take breaks while visiting downtown businesses and accused social media critics of unfairly blaming local merchants. “Removing the benches does significantly more harm than it does good and it doesn’t solve any of the issues,” Hut said, and offered council copies of research and local housing-resource lists.

Ryan Aker, of the LGBT Center of Dark County and a member of the suicide-prevention coalition, told council the local shelter is closed for at least 30 days, HUD housing vouchers are frozen and waiting lists run about two years. Aker urged immediate short-term steps — hotel vouchers, a funded outreach coordinator, and a community forum to coordinate agencies — while longer-term housing and counseling capacity is rebuilt. “We need something immediately,” he said.

Others who spoke at public comment described safety and quality-of-life impacts downtown. Timothy Gilbert said officers had used “hotspot” patrols and arrests to address urination, fights and occasional weapons incidents, but stressed homelessness is not itself a crime. Resident Sabina said the removal simply moved people to the splash pad where families now worry about interactions with unsheltered people.

Mayor (addressing council) thanked speakers, said staff will assemble and update a combined resource list from recent meetings and Chief Benji’s materials, and acknowledged limited municipal funding and broader state cuts to mental-health services. The mayor said staff would continue evaluating options for downtown seating and support services.

Council members repeatedly thanked the public for participating and described the problem as complex and multiagency. Several suggested private businesses that want seating could place benches or chairs under their control as an interim measure; others asked staff to explore temporary daytime use of empty storefront space or to partner with regional agencies to restore coordinated outreach.

What’s next: Council members said they will continue working with service providers and law enforcement; no formal policy change or vote on bench removal was taken at the meeting. City staff will compile updated resource lists and council moved into an executive session later in the evening to discuss personnel matters.