Agenda Item # 10.1 - James Bangerter | Received 05/15/2023CAUTION: This email originated from an External Source. Please use proper judgment and caution when opening
attachments, clicking links, or responding to this email.
From:James Bangerter
To:City Clerk
Subject:EXTERNAL - Comments for tonight"s Vote no on the "sitting sleeping and lying" ban!!!
Date:Monday, May 15, 2023 4:06:17 PM
Hello,
I am unable to attend tonight's meeting in person but I strongly urge you to vote no on this
horrifying ban of sitting, sleeping, and lying in public areas in Gilroy. This measure doesn't
only harm unhoused people living in our community, it harms all of us. This will drive
homeless people away from the services they need to get off the streets and into people's
neighborhoods as well as deeper into nature preserves that we as a community all benefit from
and have a duty to protect.
In theory this law will only be applied to homeless people - which is itself indefensibly
discriminatory - but in reality it opens up every single resident of the city to being harassed out
of public spaces just for looking shabby or carrying more belongings than the average
pedestrian. We all have a right to exist in public spaces, including resting while transporting
our belongings from place to place.
I've lived in Gilroy for almost seven years now and have never seen something as blatantly
discriminatory and counterproductive even considered in all my time here. The way to reduce
our homeless population is to provide stability and services that help people get back on their
feet. It's the only solution proven to make things better, all punitive solutions like this make
the problem worse.
All of us suffer when the least of us suffer. Vote no!
- James Barnson