MINUTES
ADVISORY COMMITTEE
Monday, September 17, 2007

City Hall, Room 604
6:15 P.M.

MEMBERS PRESENT: Council President Chad Fradette, Council Vice-President Chris Wery, Ald. Tom Weber, Ald. Celestine Jeffreys, Ald. Jerry Wiezbiskie

MEMBERS EXCUSED: Ald. John VanderLeest

OTHERS PRESENT: Ald. Guy Zima, Ald. Gary Kriescher, Ald. Steven Deneys, Rob Strong, Chad Weininger, members of the media, interested members of the public

1. Call to order.

The meeting was called to order at 6:15 p.m. by Chairman, Ald. Chad Fradette. All members were present at the start of the meeting, with the exception of Ald. VanderLeest, who was excused.

2. Approval of the agenda.

Motion made by Ald. Wery, second by Ald. Weber to approve the agenda. Motion carried.

3. Approval of the minutes of the June 26, 2007 Advisory Committee meeting.

Motion made by Ald. Jeffreys, second by Ald. Wiezbiskie to approve the minutes of the June 26, 2007 meeting as submitted. Motion carried.

4. Request by Ald. Nicholson to place a moratorium on homeless shelters.

Ald. Fradette read a memorandum addressed to him from City Attorney, Allison Swanson regarding Moratoriums which stated that “The City may adopt by ordinance a moratorium on homeless shelters for a period up to two years. During this time, the issue must be studied and any stipulations, conditions or permanent restrictions would need to be researched to determine whether such restrictions would be legal. Also, keep in mind that the ordinance could not be extended beyond two years, so the Council should be prepared to take action prior to the expiration of the ordinance or would otherwise be unable to maintain the status quo that is maintained by the moratorium ordinance.”

Ald. Fradette stated that he would like to make a decision on this request tonight, and turned the floor over to Ald. Zima, who was speaking on behalf of Ald. Nicholson who was not able to be present.

Ald. Zima said he would like to see a lettered opinion of the memorandum from the City Attorney, which would cite a chapter, verse, etc. He stated that he believes the Council can prohibit zoning for homeless shelters if they wish. He stated further that he feels the City of Green Bay has met the needs of the homeless and have more beds than other communities. He believes the City is starting to become a negative attraction with pamphlets being handed out on “how you can get something/help for nothing”. He would like to see more people working and feels we should put a halt on homeless shelters. Rob Strong confirmed that we have 210 beds for homeless, which Ald. Zima said he feels is more than enough. He favors passing a moratorium on homeless shelters for a minimum of two years.

Rob Strong was asked to address the committee relative to the zoning code. Mr. Strong stated that we do have homeless facilities that are allowed dormitory style housing as a conditional use in some of our residential districts. He stated that this gives the Council the authority to review each one on its own merit and rule on them. He referred to statistics relative to Brown County and the rest of the state from the Department of Commerce and said we come out with more beds per capita than the other districts. He stated that the tools are there for Council to make a decision on a case-by-case basis. He said we have an adequate supply of beds for an emergency type facility but said we have more poor families in our community whose needs are not being met and cautioned the committee to be careful to not totally tie up that option out of the city to try to help families in our community. He stated that they believe the moratorium is not necessary since the tools are there for Council to manage this. Ald. Fradette inquired if the Council wanted to change the Zoning Code in order to prohibit it, what would Council need to do? Rob responded that it’s very difficult to eliminate a particular type of use for a community, adding that you can regulate it, you can locate them in certain districts and be specific where they are located such as in the case with CBRF’s, which have to be spaced out a certain number of feet, but cautioned the committee regarding totally zoning these shelters out, and said the City Attorney would need to be consulted.

Ald. Zima inquired about putting a cap on the number of beds without restricting where they can be located? Mr. Strong said this is something he could look into and referred to the memo from Atty. Swanson stating that this could be one of the stipulations they could work with, but would need to check.

Motion made by Ald. Jeffreys, second by Ald. Wiezbiskie to open the floor to allow interested parties to speak. Motion carried.

Allison Draheim, 3571 Glen Abbey Drive, Green Bay addressed the committee stating that she is a social worker with the Green Bay Public Schools Homeless Program and handed out information from the GB Public Schools which identified 118 children in the district as homeless and said her office received two more referrals, raising the total to 120. She said two years ago the average age of a homeless child was nine, and it’s probably 7 or 8 years now. She stated that typically in a school year her department identifies and assists between 500-600 students and said they identified 60 students as homeless last year and this year is starting over the average. She said putting a moratorium on shelters will not meet the needs of the children they serve. Ms. Draheim reviewed the data stating that currently 22 students are living in hotels, 39 are doubled up, 23 living in shelters, 16 unaccompanied youth-bouncing from place to place, 2 18-year olds living at the NEW Community Shelter, 8 students in transitional living programs like the Salvation Army or Family Services, 7 students in foster homes and 1 student is on the run.

Ald. Zima expressed concern with the credibility of her report, stating that he doesn’t agree with the number of students identified as homeless, adding that parents should lose their parental rights if they are refusing to care for their children. Ms. Draheim explained how they classify homeless and said there is this population in our city that are very underserved, that can’t speak for themselves (children) and that aren’t making the choices to cause them to be homeless. She said passing a moratorium will have a negative effect on these children who do not have a voice. She stated that Green Bay has the highest percent of free/reduced lunches in the state. She stated that many of the parents she deals with have at least one parent working but they still cannot make it. Ms. Draheim said the highest percentage of homeless are Caucasians, not minority groups.

Ald. Zima said Protective Services should be contacted by the School System if parents are not caring for their children. Ald. Jeffreys said there are no Protective Services for children over 15 years of age, adding that being homeless is not a situation of abuse in and of itself, by definition.

Ald. Weber asked Ms. Draheim for clarification of the various categories of homeless to which she responded: hotels, with one parent and are typically vouchered by the Salvation Army or they pay week by week. She said the definition of “homeless” comes from a Federal Law , the McKinney Vento Homeless Assistance Act, which is part of No Child Left Behind and said the School District is federally mandated to identify and service children living in these homeless situations, like hotels. Doubled Up are children who are “surfing” and living from week to week with a friend or family member and the parent may be in a shelter. She said the majority of the doubled up children do not have a legal guardian or someone attached to them, Unaccompanied youth are high school age 15-18 year olds staying with friends or relatives. Transitional Living Programs are Salvation Army or Family Services and said to keep in mind that families in these programs, that if the parents break one rule, the kids are one step away from being kicked out. Ms. Draheim said temporary foster homes are children who are bounced around from one home to another; they are considered homeless and the district can keep them in their home schools. She stated that the one child in shelter care is 15 because he was kicked out of foster care for his behavior.

Ald. Wiezbiskie questioned if the 118 identified as homeless are from Green Bay? Ms. Draheim said most of them are, adding that two families moved from other districts. She stated that she does not see an influx from other areas and said the majority of the parents she works with have a tie to this community. She said our shelters have rules that must be followed and said that they don’t take anybody from anywhere. Ald. Wiezbiskie asked what the plan is for these children? Ms. Draheim said these children bounce from hotel to hotel, to doubling up, back and forth. She stated that her role is to give these children support and give them an education so they do not become homeless when they are adults. Ms. Draheim said Green Bay compares relative to Madison in the number of homeless school age children. She added that part of the program for the 18 year-olds at NEW Community Shelter is to work at a job.

Ald. Weber expressed frustration that not the same effort is being done to identify where these children are coming from. He inquired what policies are in place to confirm that these children are not coming from other counties? Ms. Draheim responded that she works closely with the shelters but does not know all of the procedures they have, but said it is her job to get a child in school the same day she is contacted that they are living in a shelter. Ald. Weber asked what questions are asked about who is responsible for the children, where did they live yesterday? Ms. Draheim responded that they receive referrals from school staff and community agencies and she meets with the student and parent; they do investigative work, check with the county, to be certain they are not a run-away or don’t belong to someone. She stated that they know most of these children and meet them and do home visits, visits to hotels, etc. Ms. Draheim said less than 10 of the 120 students today are from other districts. Ald. Weber expressed frustration that the numbers are concrete on one side of the ledger but are general on the other. Ald. Zima concurred stating that there is no proof in these numbers. Ms. Draheim stated that she did not have this information right now, but would be happy to provide the information tomorrow. Ald. Zima agreed that during an intake, the question should be asked as to their last permanent address and previous permanent address, etc. Ms. Draheim responded that her role and mission as a public employee from the Green Bay Public Schools is to take the kids they get, remove barriers and to do her best to provide a good school experience, to have the children graduate from high school and get the children stable!

Ald. Jeffreys clarified that Ald. Weber was not speaking for her and said she believes some people here are losing sight of Ms. Draheim’s role, which is to make sure children get educated and public education. She stated that the Council has made it more difficult for people to apply for housing; thus she believes these numbers will be decreasing. Ald. Jeffreys asked for a definition of “homeless”, to which Ms. Draheim responded is any child who is lacking in stable, nighttime residence. Ms. Draheim said her department is very critical of that definition and they make sure that the children meet the criteria before they are offered services.

Ald. Wiezbiske thanked Ms. Draheim for her work and asked why she is here tonight? She responded that because she feels the moratorium on homeless shelters isn’t in keeping in sight of what our families with children need. She feels as a community member, it is her responsibility to be here if she feels this moratorium would be detrimental to children.

Ald. Kriescher said the current shelters could be expanded and he feels we do not need to open new shelters. He stated that the moratorium will not stop the good places that are working. He said he and other Council members are tired of getting beat up on this issue and agrees that the numbers she presented are not confirmed. Ms. Draheim said she is not here to beat up on the Council but to let the Council know that the homeless children are out there.

Kathy McMurray, 930 Laverne Drive, Green Bay, addressed the committee asking that they not make a blank moratorium and said each bed in a shelter is designed for a specific population. She asked them to look at the specifics and said a moratorium is not necessary and asked the committee to not put it in place. She added as Mr. Strong stated, that the tools are already in place for Council to reject another shelter if they wish to do that. She said if Freedom House doesn’t want to expand, but another good shelter wants to open up, we should welcome that, because it’s needed.

Ann Hartman, 320 S. Jackson St., Green Bay addressed the committee stating that she lives in the Navarino Neighborhood and said their neighborhood has been degraded by the COTS program last year. She said some of the residents at COTS and other shelters continue to take and take, and don’t give back. She said she supports the moratorium and said to stop placing all the homeless in Green Bay, and feels DePere can take a turn. She said it’s time to give Green Bay a rest and stop focusing on downtown Green Bay.

Motion made by Ald. Jeffreys, second by Ald. Wiezbiskie to return to regular order of business. Motion carried.

Ald. Zima stated that even with the moratorium, people can still apply and said communities outside Green Bay haven’t contributed one bed. He believes the moratorium would send a message to look elsewhere and send a message to other communities to step up and do their fair share to help shelter the burden, adding that Green Bay has become the dumping ground for the whole county. He said we have many federal, state and local programs to help the homeless and asked the committee to support the moratorium. Ald. Zima told the committee it’s time they stood up for what thev voted for two weeks ago; a unanimous vote against the location of the COTS Program.

Ald. Weber said he was judged tonight based on the questions he asked. He said he has constituents who have a vested interest in this city and view charity differently feeling that it’s time to stop giving fish away everyday and time to teach these people to fish so they can be self-sustaining. Ald. Weber said it would behoove the committee not to judge just on fact finding. Ald. Jeffreys said he is free to speak for himself, but not for her.

Ald. Wiezbiskie said he received many phone calls and letters on this issue and would like to see all items covered and to bring this back in a couple of weeks. He agreed with Mr. Strong and Ms. Mc Murray that Council has the tools to decide on a case by case basis and does not feel the moratorium is necessary. He added that the Task Force is studying the issues and seeking a location, we should let them do their job and the need for the moratorium might dissolve.

Ald. Wery said our current process is adequate and said the proposed moratorium is not well received in his district. He made a motion to receive this item and place on file. Motion seconded by Ald. Jeffreys.

Ald. Jeffreys said the 12-0 vote by the Council was a vote against COTS, which is a separate issue and didn’t mean that she was in favor of the moratorium. She stated that she is not in favor of the moratorium and said this isn’t COTS. Ald. Wiezbiskie said the unanimous vote on the COTS issue indicated that the location left something to be desired. He said the shelter has to fit into and jell with the neighborhood and this was not the case last year. He added that the need is there but the location is wrong and not up to code and again said the Task Force is working to find a place.

Ald. Weber inquired who are the members of the Task Force? Motion was made by Ald. Jeffreys, seconded by Ald. Weber to open the floor. Motion carried. Ms. McMurray provided the list of the Task Force members, stating that she is a co-chair of the Task Force. She stated that they are addressing the chronic homeless problem; people who have been homeless for one year or who have had 3 or 4 episodes of homelessness in the last four years. She said the Task Force is looking at specific issues, housing issues and permanent housing solutions. Ald. Weber proposed denying this request for a moratorium and requesting a new Task Force be formed to include all municipalities who would sit down and talk about how to solve the homeless problem, who would look at issues different from what the current Task is addressing.

Motion made by Ald. Weber, second by Ald. Wery to refer this matter to the Mayor to work with the surrounding communities to develop a comprehensive plan to address the problem of homelessness in Brown County. Motion carried.

Ald. Wery said at Council tomorrow he is going to request that the current Task Force give an update on their progress to the Protection & Welfare Committee at their meeting next week.

A vote was taken on Ald. Wery’s motion to deny the request by Ald. Nicholson to place a moratorium on homeless shelters and to receive and place on file. Motion carried.

Motion made by Ald. Weber, seconded by Ald. Jeffreys to adjourn the meeting. Motion carried.

Respectfully submitted,

Mary Haupt, Recording Secretary