By Stephen Nelson
At the Monday, April 17, Kankakee City Council Meeting, Mayor Chris Curtis agreed with a large number of downtown business owners and operators, who came to make public comment about issues with the homeless in the community. Their concerns were that the homeless population made them and their customers feel unsafe and subject to intimidation.
Curtis said, “We’re finding fights in the downtown area, public urination in the library, and the businesses are afraid of losing customers. I am afraid of losing businesses to other communities.”
Curtis said the escalation to this problem level happened very quickly, and there are no quick fixes. Some council members took the conversation as an opportunity to encourage funding for a homeless shelter that would allow clients 24-hour access being proposed by Fortitude Outreach on North Washington Avenue. Others countered that one facility with 36 available beds would never solve the problem at its current level.
The Monday, April 17, meeting was the final full session for Aldermen Carl Brown and David Crawford, who chose not to run for re-election earlier this month. Brown had been part of the body for 23 years, while Crawford is at the end of his eighth year. Both cited a desire to spend more time on personal pursuits and with family as reasons for stepping down.