Cynthia Taggart tells the council on Tuesday how little control she has over her life because of her inability to get housing that will allow her to get a job. The inflated cost of housing means people are being measured by their 'disposable income,' she says.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — With a requested update on the city's efforts to address homelessness in Tuesday's City Council agenda, unsheltered residents took the open mic stand.

Randy Ruusukallio, who resides in the St. Joseph's homeless shelter, called for more resources that serve people in a similar situation to his own.

"I feel like we should be treated with way more compassion, sympathy, respect," he said. "Less hypocrisy and contradictory. It's like a steady basis. We deal with that every day."

He described the perils of living in the shelter and said that something needs to be done "as soon as possible."

Ruusukallio said people were not allowed in the shelter on Indigenous Peoples Day, which occurred on Monday, leaving him with few options for places to go and being asked to leave several different locations.

"It was just disturbing," he added.

Cynthia Taggart, who also lives in the shelter, said she is not in control of her accommodations as a homeless person on Social Security Disability Insurance.

"I had private contracts with landlords and was told later by landlords that police had come to their homes to ask questions about me. They didn't have to say anything bad, all they had to do was make an inquiry and that was enough to make the landlord not want me in the premises. I did nothing," she said.

"Later I spoke with a detective and he told me that women were making anonymous complaints about me so they were investigating anonymous complaints and I ended up homeless chronically because of this."

Taggart said she will be off the disability benefits once she can secure a home and get a job. Her profession is legal secretary and she cannot secure the position without a residential address, she added, which is also out of her control.

She also spoke about the inflated cost of housing in the community and how it "measures people by disposable income."

When Mayor Linda Tyer took the stand, she emphasized a need to speak about the unsheltered residents with respect.

"I am going to start this evening just by centering tonight's conversation on people. People who, for a variety of reasons, often very complicated reasons are vulnerable people who are not in this room," she said.

"Fortunately, we did hear from some of our neighbors and this evening's public comments but they're not in this room and so we will approach this discussion with the greatest measure of dignity and respect. They are our neighbors and they belong in this community."

Three County Continuum of Care, which is the entity through which federal funding comes to the city for homeless services, determined that about 18 individuals are unsheltered and 92 individuals who are homeless but sheltered in a transitional housing program or in the shelter itself.

Tyer began by outlining the city's allocation of about $8.6 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds to housing initiatives including $354,500 for the Fenn Street Emergency Shelter; $6.5 million for Pittsfield Permanent Supportive Housing and Housing Resource Center; $750,000 for White Terrace Apartments; $500,000 for an affordable housing trust; and $500,000 for the mayor's At Home in Pittsfield program.

The largest allocation will go toward eight units of permanent supportive housing on the second floor of Zion Lutheran Church's hall, 28 new units at 111 West Housatonic St. and a housing resource center.

Last month, the Community Development Board supported the new housing development, which combines affordable housing and support services to build independent living skills and connect people with health, treatment, and employment resources.

The emergency shelter operated by ServiceNet in First United Methodist Church will feature 6,000 square feet of sleeping space, meeting rooms, and common areas for relaxation.

It will have up to 45 beds, bathrooms with showers, and access to a fully upgraded commercial kitchen and dining area of about 3,000 square feet.

This shelter will replace the COVID-19 temporary emergency shelter at the former St. Joseph High School, which will remain open until the new one is completed in the spring.

The Affordable Housing Trust met for the first time last week. Tyer said it will include additional funding from various other sources that will help to provide housing assistance including rental assistance programs, first-time homebuyer mortgages, and workforce housing programs for residents who will benefit from them.

Director of Community Development Justine Dodds outlined the city's community partners such as the Department of Mental Health, the Christian Center, ServiceNet, Berkshire County Regional Housing Authority, the Sheriff's Department, and the Brien Center.

"Prior to COVID, the city often reached out to these partners when issues came to the forefront, particularly with people who are sleeping outside, whether that's in public land, or not," she said.

"COVID has only strengthened these partnerships."

Dodds also highlighted the Homelessness Advisory Committee, which has not taken a voting action since January when it sent recommendations to Tyer.

Officials said the city often receives calls about unsheltered individuals and reaches out to the relevant city departments and partner agencies to coordinate visits to offer support services or provide a wellness check.

"This work is done behind the scenes and it ensures that individuals are treated with dignity and are given an opportunity to access the assistance that they require," Dodds said, adding that the city follows through to make sure people are utilizing the resources with the goal of helping them live the life they are looking for.

She reported that city funds directly assisted 207 individuals with shelter services and 129 with prevention services. Additionally, 96 households had their housing preserved with emergency rent assistance funds and more than 1,000 households received assessment and screening services in the past fiscal year with 287 receiving financial assistance to preserve housing.

Tyer gave an update on the city's two social worker positions that were passed at the last City Council meeting. There are two applicants for each position, one in the Health Department and one in the Police Department, and all candidates have been identified as highly qualified.

Councilor at Large Earl Persip lll asked if there has been any discussion about landlords who take advantage of tenants' situations and not keeping properties up to reasonable standards.

Tyer said landlord and tenant disputes can be handled through the Berkshire County Regional Housing Authority's mediation program or Community Legal Aid, which received federal American Rescue Plan Act funding.

The city is considering sending out regular information to its email list of non-owner-occupied landlords about how to properly maintain a building before issuing violations.

"I think that we should really put this on the front burner because I think we have some great developers out there and some great landlords, we also have a lot of bad ones and the bad ones are well-known, management companies that don't hold up their end of the bargain," Persip said.

"And I think as a city, we really need to address that because I think those landlords and property managers are taking advantage of people who don't want to end up at the park or somewhere else and I think it really needs to come to the forefront of what we're doing."

Ward 5 Councilor Patrick Kavey recalled Ward 3 Councilor Kevin Sherman's remarks on quality of life from the last council meeting when Ward 2 Councilor Charles Kronick's second attempt to evacuate homeless encampments was shot down.

"The overlying theme, I think that actually a lot of us were saying is that our community is only as strong as the most vulnerable people in our population," he said. "And with the people in this room, the minds that we have here, we're capable of dealing with this."

Kavey also addressed the public's concern with panhandling, which he described as the "elephant in the room."

Tyer explained that the state law stipulates that a person can ask for money under the First Amendment right to free speech but if a person touches you, gets aggressive, or touches another person that is conduct that could require police interaction.

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