ORDINANCE
The council took the next step in making the ordinance permanent Thursday night (Nov. 15) when Mayor Nick Millwood called a special meeting to hold the first official reading.
The second and final reading of the ordinance is slated to take place Dec. 10, at which time the emergency provision will be lifted and the ordinance will be permanent.
In the meantime, the city and law enforcement can begin enforcing the ordinance, which includes an initial written warning, and then 24 hours for folks to either comply or face arrest.
In addition to the ordinance, a collection of local pastors and churchgoers organized a forum at Ringgold First Baptist Church earlier in the day on Thursday (Nov. 15) that included discussion about the possible development of services for homeless people in Catoosa County.
“I wanted to thank the group that met at the church today,” Black said. “We had a lot of citizens, a lot of pastors, and a lot of concerned professional people that met and had some good discussion,”
Council members attended the forum, as did residents, members of law enforcement, and social work professionals.
“We heard a lot of good ideas exchanged at that meeting, and we’re interested now to see if that group can come up with some solutions for the homeless situation that we have here locally in the city limits of Ringgold and Catoosa County,” Black said.
Councilman Randall Franks says a task force has been formed by those involved with the forum with plans to address the issue for the whole community.
“We had a very productive meeting,” Franks said. “I’m hopeful that today will bring about a new organization or at least, as it was referred to, a task force, that will give us a solution to serve the needs of those who find themselves homeless in Catoosa, Walker, Chattooga and Dade (counties), and of course, especially in Ringgold.”
Before the first reading was approved, Councilwoman Sara Clark expressed her concerns regarding how the ordinance would impact teenagers who find themselves homeless.
She questioned whether they would be lumped in with how adults are expected to adhere to the new law.
“We’re going to charge them (teenagers) with a misdemeanor if they’re sleeping in the woods or the park?” Clark asked. “Are we going to catch them under this net? If they’re homeless, I guarantee you they’re not going to have a way to pay a fine. I think there’s a complexity to this issue. Homeless teenagers … tell me where they fall.”
Resident and parent Holly Scott, who spoke passionately about the safety of her children Monday night (Nov. 12), pointed out in Thursday’s (Nov. 15) meeting that there are services available to minors.
“If you were to find a teenager on the streets homeless, if they are a minor, they would automatically become a ward of the state,” Scott said.
Scott further explained that if a police officer found a homeless teen living somewhere in town, they would be required to notify the Division of Family and Children Services so emergency case workers could make immediate arrangements for those children in need.
City Manager Dan Wright supported Scott’s claim, stating that Ringgold’s police officers follow that same protocol.
Just before the council approved the first reading, Mayor Millwood commented on the importance of the forum held earlier in the day, and said the lone remaining habitant living under the bridge made it a point to attend.
“There was one guy that was still left under the bridge over there and he was at the meeting. … We found a way forward for him as a community,” Millwood said. “A lot of people came together and there are now shortterm solutions for him and long-term solutions are being worked on. That was just extremely inspiring to me to see that many people come together.”
Clark added that one woman actually stepped up and agreed to pay for hotel arrangements for a week for two homeless women who were at the forum.
Overall, the council is encouraged by the dialogue it has been a part of in both recent council meetings and the church forum.
“It’s hard to be compassionate sometimes when people are in these situations and have done things that they’ve been in jail for,” Millwood said. “But you know, to be compassionate for the people that are hardest to be compassionate for, I think that says a lot about our community.”