photo by: Eric Ayres

Wheeling Councilwoman Connie Cain addresses the crowd during Tuesday’s council meeting.

WHEELING — As members of Wheeling City Council gathered for their last meeting of 2025 Tuesday night, councilwoman Connie Cain called out hateful rhetoric that has come in the wake of disagreements over the city’s action earlier this month to close its only homeless encampment.

Despite vocal protests from opponents to the camp’s closure, the city moved forward with its deadline to vacate the property along the Maintenance Trail on Industrial Drive near the entrance to the Peninsula Cemetery earlier this month. The city gave six weeks notice before the Dec. 1 deadline to vacate the property, and on Dec. 2 crews cleared the site – taking dozens and dozens of roll-off dumpster loads of tents, personal possessions, trash and debris that was left behind.

City officials later that week shared photos and video footage that highlighted the condition of the homeless camp before it was dismantled – an environment that was described by city leaders as a “hellhole” that had become unsafe and unsanitary for anyone to live in. The experiment of providing a centralized property for homeless individuals that was exempt from Wheeling’s new camping ban was deemed a “failure” by Mayor Denny Magruder, and city leaders have indicated that they have no intention of allowing another homeless encampment on public property.

Wheeling City Council members faced criticism from people who have strongly disagreed with their approach on handling the city’s homeless issue. Some critics have spoken before city leaders during council meetings, while many others have taken to social media and the internet to vent their positions on the matter, the councilwoman noted during Tuesday night’s meeting.

“We as city council members have a tough job, and sometimes we have to make decisions that don’t make everyone happy,” Cain said. “To see the hatred on social media over the last two weeks broke my heart, because we are human beings. We live in our wards, and we try to do the best that we can.”

Wheeling officials took action to ban camping on public property over two years ago after numerous problems arose at previous camps in the city. In June 2022, a fire at a homeless campsite under the Market Street Bridge damaged the span so significantly, it had to be shut down for years. The West Virginia Division of Highways spent more than $1.35 million to replace the deck and repair the span before it was reopened in 2024.

The Wheeling camping ban offers a provision for a managed camp to exist, but no entity has come forward to take on the task of managing a homeless encampment. The exempted camp that had housed an estimated 70 individuals before its closure this month was not helping the homeless crisis in Wheeling – it was making it worse, officials indicated. The camp was growing and reportedly had become a destination to which homeless individuals from other communities were transported.

Opponents of the camp closure have argued that homeless people in Wheeling now have nowhere to go during the day. Some supporters of the ban have maintained that the city’s firm new approach has prompted urgent action by local social service agencies to step up with new options. One of those responses has led to the re-opening of the space at the Salvation Army facility on 16th Street for a new 30-bed woman’s shelter – a development that many contend would not have happened if council did not take action to close the encampment. City leaders also provided $75,000 in state opioid settlement money to help fund the new shelter.

“If we’re going to represent Wheeling, we need to be together – not separated,” Cain said Tuesday night. “If you’re not going to come to the table and work with us, then don’t be a problem.”

Cain said people online from the Wheeling area and beyond have expressed anger and even hatred while voicing their stance on the city’s homeless situation.

“So many people from different states — New York, Michigan and everywhere — had comments to say,” Cain noted. “The reaction that — if you didn’t agree with certain people — was just horrendous. We can do better. This is the city of Wheeling.”

Cain said that nothing would get done in the city if council only took action on issues with which everyone agreed. She said the city is going in a new direction, and for the common good of the community, people need to remain civil and be willing to work with one another to achieve common goals.

“We are here to fight for our residents,” Cain said, noting that she is hopeful for a more harmonious future as the city prepares to move into the New Year. “I hope that in 2026, we have peace and joy.”

One speaker during Tuesday night’s council meeting appeared to reiterate what a handful of others have expressed during recent meetings — that the city should do more for those in need. Wheeling resident John Hargleroad said he read the editorial in Sunday’s paper regarding the homeless situation in the city.

“I was struck by the thought that a homeless dog in Wheeling would be picked up and driven to a shelter where they would be given the care they required,” Hargleroad told council members Tuesday night. “I know some would callously think that in a month or two, the dog would be euthanized — but in the meantime, they would be given care. We’re talking about human beings here. We may not have a greater obligation.”

Hargleroad said that a lot of people in the Wheeling area are proud of their Judeo-Christian heritage. He noted that a non-denominational prayer is offered at the beginning of each council meeting, where Cain encourages everyone to “respect each other’s perspectives” while officials try to make the best decisions for the city.

“I remind everyone that there are about 2,000 references in the Bible telling us that we have an obligation to care for the poor,” Hargleroad said. “Those of us who claim to be Christians or Jews ought not sit by silently. I don’t pretend to have an answer to the problem, but I do know that it’s not as simple as saying ‘they should just get a job.'”

Hargleroad said most of the homeless individuals in the city lack access to basic needs for personal grooming, suffer from drug and alcohol abuse, suffer from mental and physical ailments and are “not hirable.”

“There are several agencies trying to help, but it’s not enough. The city needs to provide shelter. Somehow, the city has to budge,” he said. “One day a homeless person will seek shelter in an abandoned building, they’ll start a fire to keep warm, and the next thing you know, there will be a fire. You say we can’t afford housing? Wait until they burn down a city block.”

Because of the cold weather recently, unhoused people who now have nowhere to go during the day are often forced to face the elements, Hargleroad noted, stating that on Monday he was at a local agency where a woman was being treated for frostbite.

“This has to be dealt with,” Hargleroad said. “It’s an ugly mess. God knows it’s an ugly mess. I saw what your people had to deal with in cleaning that mess up and it was horrible. But this community needs to do better.”