By: Pam Wright, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Chatham Voice
The Encampment Advisory Committee Terms of Reference have been approved by Chatham-Kent council.
When assembled, the new committee will be made up of members of council, representatives from the Northside Neighbours Association (NNA), business owners selected in conjunction with the NNA, members of administration and community members with lived experience. Two members will be chosen from each group.
In September, council directed administration to put together a committee that would include members from affected neighbourhoods “to facilitate transparent communication between the municipality and the community at large” with regard to any proposed changes at encampments.
The action sparked a summer of discontent when the encampment in downtown Chatham relocated to the greenspace at Chatham’s water treatment plant on Grand Avenue East. Neighbours and business owners were outraged, making the municipality aware of vandalism, drug use and the related social disorder the homeless are believed to be responsible for.
Several deputations were made at the outset of the meeting, stressing the need for representation from the community.
Clare McDowell, co-chair of the NNA, said her association, as well as the Tecumseh Park Neighbourhood Association, simply want to be heard and to have their concerns recognized as equally as those speaking for the unhoused.
According to McDowell, the terms fall short of protecting the safety and security of residents.
“We don’t need another forum for talking at each other,” McDowell told council, saying the advisory committee would like to provide input before any decisions come before council.
“We are afraid the committee will be seen as a rubber stamp, defined by what it can’t do, rather than what it can,” she said.
McDowell also warned the committee should not be affected by “biased selection,” noting a councillor in the ward directly affected by the encampment be included, including councillors who have “dismissed residents’ concerns in the press,” as well as members of social agencies.
“These people have repeatedly attempted to manipulate public sentiment to vilify and negate the concerns of the community,” McDowell said. “Their voices already dominate the conversation. We need new perspectives, not the same ones on repeat.”
According to an administrative report submitted to council, an advisory committee can make recommendations, but it does not make decisions.
Next steps will see administration post ads for committee and this information will be relayed for decision making in closed council.
Any congregation of 10 tents or more is classed as an encampment in Chatham-Kent.
