Motions regarding change to Vernon homeless camping defeated

Photo: Contributed

It was a hot topic at this afternoon's city council, and ultimately to no avail.

Both of Councillor Scott Anderson's motions to shake up the camping situation in Vernon were soundly defeated in a motion vote.

The first item on the agenda was the camping hours, which are currently 9 p.m. to 9 a.m. Anderson wanted to change the hours to 7 p.m. to 7 a.m., but points brought up by Councillor Brian Quiring led to the defeat of the motion.

"The Mission opens at 9, the Salvation Army food bank opens at 9 and the clinic opens at 9:30," said Quiring. "If we change the hours to 7 a.m., then people would just be hanging out in front of these places anyway."

The second issue was moving the camping location from Polson Park to City Hall.

Anderson said it wasn't fair to the citizens of Vernon to be fearful of Polson Park because of needles and drug use, among other things, and that the camp should be moved to City Hall. Councillor Dalvir Nahal wasn't on board with that action.

"I don't feel like this is a solution," says Nahal. "This is merely shifting the problem. You say we would be giving back Polson Park but then we would be taking City Hall away from the people."

Anderson agreed with the point Nahal made, but only to an extent.

"Shifting it is the point, and it puts it right in our faces," he said. "Moving the camp here and what issues that may bring outweighs the positive aspect of people being able to use Polson Park with their kids."

Ultimately that motion was defeated as well, as council shifted to discussing the annual homeless count in Vernon.