Agenda Item # 9.1 - Karen Enzensperger | Received 06/05/2023CAUTION: This email originated from an External Source. Please use proper judgment and caution when opening
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From:Karen Enzensperger
To:City Clerk
Subject:EXTERNAL - 9.1. Introduction and First Reading of an Ordinance of the City Council of the City of Gilroy Adding
Chapter 5 to the Gilroy City Code Relating to Banning the Use of Certain Public Rights-of-Way as Sleeping or
Living Accommodations
Date:Monday, June 5, 2023 3:32:49 PM
Dear City Council Members,
I am writing to voice my opposition to this proposed change in the City's ordinance regarding
the unhoused citizens of Gilroy.
Please go back to the drawing board and create an ordinance that is well thought out and
effective. Homelessness is very complicated, and trying to address it with a simplistic "well
somethings got to get done" attitude is a disservice to all of us.
If the ordinance is scaled back to conform with the parameters presented in the 2019 Boise
legal decision, it will still be subject to legal challenge. People's rights are being violated.
This is in no way a comprehensive list of why this ordinance needs major revision, but please
note that on page 7 of this agenda item, it says...
"The ordinance does not criminalize sleeping in the open."
The consequences of violating the ordinance, as it is being proposed, are negligible. Especially
when one considers the dire situations that cause a person to become unhoused.
Thank you.
Karen Enzensperger