The city of Madison issued an eviction notice to members of “Occupy Madison” living on the 800 block of East Washington Avenue Wednesday, ordering all persons to vacate the site by Nov. 9.
Members of Occupy Madison and the city’s homeless community pitched tents and have been sleeping on the city-owned property since the last weekend in October, which, according to Assistant to the Mayor Astra Iheukumere, is considered trespassing.
“The plan is to transition them off the property because as winter comes, it is not going to be a safe situation for people to be sleeping outside,” Iheukumere said.
The notice stated city officials would consider any belongings left at the site after Nov. 9 abandoned and would therefore remove them from the location.
Since the national Occupy Movement came to Madison in October 2011, the local, grassroots division of the protest has steadily evolved into a community for the city’s homeless who congregate and camp in various locations throughout the isthmus.
According to Iheukumere, city staff is working with Porchlight—a homeless shelter in Madison that provides transitional and permanent housing, food, counseling and employment services—to transfer people currently inhabiting the site in need of housing to more suitable arrangements.
“We are really looking for long-term solutions for these people,” Iheukumere said. “The intention is not to make this a combative or adversarial situation.”
Dane County Executive Joe Parisi proposed funding for a new homeless shelter in his 2013 county budget to better provide for the needs of Madison’s homeless this winter, although city and county officials have yet to determine the location.
Tenant Resource Center Executive Director Brenda Konkel said in an interview with The Daily Cardinal Oct. 30 that Madison’s homeless and women’s shelters do not meet the homeless community’s needs, with beds running out quickly and women waiting in line for a “lottery.”
But according to Ald. Scott Resnick, District 8, there are several budget considerations to be made on the proposed shelter, for which the city allotted $25,000 in its proposed 2012-’13 budget.
Resnick said some city officials, including himself, are signing an amendment that could increase the shelter’s budget by $6,000.
