3 months ago
6
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) – In Sioux Falls Mayor Paul TenHaken's budget address, he stated there's a growing concern regarding people experiencing homelessness who are also exhibiting bad and illegal behaviors on city streets.
"I think last year we had seven or eight public intox issues at our library. We're north of 100 already this year that we've called in," Mayor Paul TenHaken said.
Staff at the Union Gospel Mission said unhoused people shouldn't be the ones taking all the blame.
"I think that the people in our community that are troublemakers will continue to be troublemakers. It doesn't matter if they're homeless or not homeless, they can be housed, but yet they're still troublemakers. They're still causing problems in our community," Union Gospel Mission CEO Eric Weber said.
In his address, TenHaken said "addition and mental health challenges create barriers for our partners who work" to provide resources to this group of people. TenHaken said the city hopes to propose policy actions that will enforce positive behavior.
"We're looking at things we can do to try and crack down on some of this nuisance behavior that's quite honestly, creating some challenges in our downtown," TenHaken said.
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