Editor, News-Register:

Nobody wants to see anyone sleeping on the streets, nobody wants to live in an unhealthy or unsafe city, and we certainly don’t want to become the “Mecca of the Homeless” in the Ohio Valley, as one councilman has stated.

Yet here we are again.

Wheeling once again closed a homeless encampment, and the reaction is exactly what it has been in years’ past. People are angry, rallies are forming, Facebook comments sections are exploding with some of people’s worst thoughts, and emotions are pouring into the City Council chambers. At the Nov. 4 Council meeting, more than 30 people spoke. We saw the same thing last year, and the year before that, and eventually it all led to litigation.

At what point do we stop repeating this cycle and start talking honestly about what is working and what is not? And why does it take so long for us as a community to recognize when an approach is clearly failing?

A March 3, 2025 article in The Intelligencer reported that 122 people in Ohio County are unhoused. That number represents real people with complicated lives. But shouting “Do not close the camp” or “Just give more funding” is not a long-term plan.

Oftentimes, we are treating the symptoms, not the illnesses.

These reactions do not explain how to help people move toward stability, recovery, or independence.

Compassion matters, but so does accountability and planning.

City Council has become the scapegoat in this debate, criticized for closing camps that were supposed to be managed by other agencies, while these agencies also seem to place blame on City Council. The city is now deeply tangled in a problem that should involve shared responsibility and clear expectations from every organization involved. That’s Just a Game of Blame Shifting.

Meanwhile, some service providers and advocates seem to take a “my way or the highway” approach. If you ask reasonable questions about the practices of organizations that receive taxpayer support, question overinflated bureaucracy, or if you publicly agree with the camp closure, you risk being labeled “inhumane,” “ungrateful” or get hit with the good ‘ole “Let’s send them to your house” comments on Facebook. That kind of rhetoric does nothing to build trust or improve outcomes, just keeps this circle of distrust and screaming going.

The core issue is transparency and public confidence. Why has City Council not called for a public forum so that all sides can be heard in an open setting? At the Nov. 18 Council meeting, the director of the Life Hub was invited to speak and take questions from the council, and on Dec. 2, the director of Ohio Valley Mutual Aid spoke.

That is a start, but why not hold a full public work session with all service providers and create a long-term plan that finally untangles this situation? Councilmembers have claimed they “have talked to” certain providers, but the public doesn’t want boardroom meetings with no invitation.

I have also noticed that some of the loudest advocates rarely publicly offer detailed long-term strategies, just stopgap measures. We hear the same calls for more money and more outrage, but not enough conversation about practical next steps.

This system has been operating on band-aid fixes for far too long. When will the next steps take place?

One local provider admitted that the Life Hub lacks space for people to store belongings during the day.

That is a very real issue that has a practical solution. Secure storage would help people keep jobs, attend appointments, and engage with services without losing everything they own.

It also concerns me that there appears to be competition among nonprofits, even though they all claim to be working toward the same goal. Helping our homeless neighbors should be a coordinated effort, not a rivalry or a political fight.

Wheeling needs honest cooperation among government, nonprofits, faith communities, and residents.

We need structure, communication, and a willingness to admit when something is not working.

Instead of repeating the same arguments, let’s get out of the Facebook comments section and use Wheeling’s creativity and determination to move this conversation forward finally.

Michael Borsuk

Wheeling