Writing in response to an eviction notice posted Friday at the homeless camp on East Wheeling hill, comments supporting a homeless ban made in The Intelligencer, Wheeling City Council’s homeless ban discussion at Tuesday’s meeting, and scheduled homeless ban vote at next meeting.

The city, straight down from our city manager, directed people to camp on the hill in East Wheeling, and now instead of continuing our deliberate, humane, and legal solutions the city is recklessly trying to evict and ban them. Instead, let’s steady ourselves a moment, wait for the Winter Freeze Shelter to open to move camps, and lay off a likely-unconstitutional homeless ban that could cost Wheeling tons in losing legal battles.

We’ve been here before ­ — homelessness in Wheeling — and again there’s need for continued cooperation, deliberate solutions, and caring; not recklessness, counterproductivity and cruelty. Several times over the past couple years the community has shown up at camps and rallies, won at the federal courthouse, set up mobile shower, laundry, and feeding stations during the pandemic and pivoted to take-out meals (absolutely AMAZING community efforts!). And then we hired a homeless liaison; got mental health training for our law enforcement, we’ve even managed camps. When steady heads prevail and with continued cooperation and caring, homelessness is manageable.

Can we keep improving? Absolutely! Let’s commission an official fact-finding report to document and if true stem (or get restitution for) other states/cities busing to Wheeling people to whom they have a responsibility. But with the foundation being laid and with the Life Hub being planned, Wheeling is on a trajectory to address homelessness better than we ever have! Like the construction downtown it takes time and work. But, we can’t undo it all by resorting back to counterproductive evictions and bans.

Instead, the city is threatening to undo all this groundwork with an out-of-the-blue, rushed ‘sting’ betraying the very homeless people that they insisted live on that hill — without offering an alternative solution. On the heels of Parkersburg passing a new first-in-the-state ‘homeless ban’ (Sept. 15), the city manager ordered an the eviction notice Friday, called for a homeless ban in Wheeling in The Intelligencer, and city council held discussion Tuesday, all fast-tracking the readings and ultimate voting on the homeless ban at the very next council meeting.

Since the pandemic the city officially designated that hill as the place where homeless people can go. To displace them now without any alternative plan is to literally drive those people to the streets, into crime and violence and tragically too likely to death. This speed and course is reckless — literally deadly.

Bans and evictions are not solutions. They don’t make homeless people ‘just go away.’ They make homelessness worse — for everyone.

What’s more, passing a brand new, untested homeless ban — apart from being cruel, is most likely unconstitutional and could cost Wheeling tons. Bans like this go against our most basic both secular and religious values — and we know our religious and community leaders don’t stand for this. Add to that the fact that these homeless bans are being ruled unconstitutional or tied up in court all over the country. This reckless rush to pass a homeless ban could very likely set Wheeling up to waste tons of money on losing state and federal court battles. We should at least wait until its constitutionality is tested. We did not elect our Friendly City leaders to be wasteful and cruel; and we don’t want unelected city management doing that, either.

Let’s slow down, and get steady on homelessness. The warming center is due to start on or before Dec 15. A mere 60 days from the next city council meeting — the low end of a (legally) reasonable time period for forced moving. Let’s not undo good plans and progress with an unnecessary, counterproductive rush.

Let’s stop this recklessness, steady ourselves for a moment, wait for the Winter Freeze to open, and lay off a homeless ban.

Vincent DeGeorge is a community advocate who lives in East Wheeling.