Daytona Beach, FL – There may be some political movement soon with the homeless issue in Volusia County.
The Daytona Beach City Commission and the Volusia County Council may agree to a joint meeting specifically on this topic when each group meets this week. The DBCC will meet Wednesday at 6 PM and the VCC will meet Thursday at 9 AM.
Daytona Beach Mayor Derrick Henry formally made that request to the county last week, but the DBCC and VCC have to approve before a meeting date can be set. The county backed away from closing the admin building on 250 North Beach Street after Henry made his request.
City and county leaders had squabbled publicly over how to move those homeless away from the building until DBPD broke up the camp last Friday night. That came after the city expanded the Salvation Army emergency shelter on Ballough Road by over 80 beds.
Daytona Beach Police Chief Mike Chitwood called the situation a public safety hazard that had to be addressed right away because DBPD had received an uptick in reports of various forms of criminal activity to businesses along Beach Street, including some sex-related crimes.
Chitwood believes a lot of it is on the homeless who were camped out there, saying a lot of them are chronic drunks, drug addicts and criminals who don’t want any sort of help – including going to a shelter – and he feels the justice system is the only way they can be dealt with effectively.
Though he thinks the proposed Safe Harbor plan won’t help people like that, Chitwood does admit that a permanent homeless shelter like Safe Harbor would allow his officers to continue forcing all the homeless from sleeping on the streets under the city’s camping ordinance.
During his appearance on WNDB’s Marc Bernier Show on Tuesday, Daytona Beach Commissioner Patrick Henry – the mayor’s brother – applauded the move made by DBPD, saying it was overdue.
He also said that he thinks the county and the city will come to an agreement on the Safe Harbor project and get it built in the near future, even if some cities won’t commit to covering the estimated $1.6 million yearly operating cost.
Copyright 2016 Southern Stone Communications.