Community opposition to the Grand Rapids proposed ordinances to further punish the unhoused was the dominant message during yesterday’s Public Hearing

It was pretty clear to most people that the overwhelming message sent to the Grand Rapids City Commission was to vote no on the proposed ordnances that would further criminalize the unhoused in this city.

MLive put the number of those who spoke out against the proposed ordinances at 50. If you watch the video from yesterday’s Grand Rapids City Commission meeting, the Public Hearing position begins at 1 hour and 12 minutes in and goes for about three and a half hours.

Just prior to the Public Hearing portion of yesterday’s meeting, City staff provided an “overview” of the proposed ordinances. The language that was being used was rather vague, plus one staffer kept saying that these ordinances would not criminalize the unhoused. I overheard someone say that the pre-public hearing commentary was a masterclass in the art of bullshit.

Fortunately, people were not buying the rhetoric from City staff and presented a whole range of reasons and talking points for why the proposed ordinances should be voted down. There were numerous people who challenged the commissioners around the whole principle of what public space means, especially since City staff kept saying that people needed a reason to be in public space. This claim was dismantled by several people, who countered with the belief that no one needs a reason to be in public spaces, especially those who are unhoused. 

A representative with the ACLU spoke and pointed out that the City’s proposed ordinances would violate people’s Constitutional rights, and were very similar to the anti-panhandling argument the City used in 2012, which the ACLU defeated. One of the proposed ordinances emphasized the view that people who were asking for money from those who were downtown are now seen as accosting the public. The ACLU had sent a 9 page letter earlier in the week, a letter which is well worth reading.

However, maybe the best statement against the whole “accosting people for money” framing that City staff used was from someone who does political fundraising for candidates. This person stated that the commissioners should be familiar with the notion of asking people for money, since they all ran for public office, essentially making them nothing more than glorified panhandlers. 

Another major theme for those opposing the proposed ordinances was around economic realities. Several people pointed out how those who supported the ordinances were not only business people, but those who are members of the Capitalist Class in Grand Rapids. The Capitalist Class wants the downtown of Grand Rapids to be their person play area, which will attract tourists and other consumers to spend time making more money for them. The last thing these people want are unhoused people people who are in public spaces and asking for money. 

There were a few of the members of the Capitalist Class who spoke up at the public hearing, along with a few that work on behalf of the Capitalist Class. A few notables were the Executive Director of the Right Place Inc., which is an entity that seeks to attract businesses to the Grand Rapids area. The Right Place Board of Directors is essentially a who’s who of the Grand Rapids Power Structure.

Another member of the Capitalist Class that spoke in favor of the proposed ordinances was the CEO of Rockford Construction, Mike VanGessel. Rockford Construction is the DeVos-preferred developer in this city, especially with their role in the RDV Corp land grab in the Boston Square area working in collaboration with the DeVos-created AmplifyGR group.

There were also several minions from the Grand Rapids Chamber of Commerce who spoke in favor of the ordinance, especially since they were the ones who crafted the horrendous proposed ordinance last December, which deeply influenced the current ordinance proposals from the City of Grand Rapids. Then there was John Helmholt, who works for a company that represents the Capitalist Class, Seyferth PR. Seyferth PR is the preferred PR agency of the Grand Rapids Power Structure and has denied access to GRIID for years in our attempt to report on the Biannual Conference of the West Michigan Policy Forum.

However, maybe my favorite Capitalist to speak was Sam Cummings, with CWD Real Estate.  What was almost comical was that Cummings stated, “up until recently he was referred to as one of this city’s greatest champions. Now I’m greedy, cruel, mean spirited, I’m a looter.” Sam went out of his way to say hi to me during the Public Hearing, no doubt because I am the person who named him as a looter, especially after he made some ridiculous claims after the 2020 uprising in downtown Grand Rapids.

Such absurdities from members of the Grand Rapids Power Structure were clearly met with impassioned arguments about why these ordinances should be voted down. A statement from the Grand Rapids Area Tenant Union was read during the Public Hearing, a statement that was signed by 86 people, many representing groups such as the Urban Core Collective, the Grand Rapids Red Project, the Comrades Collective, along with several faith-based groups. In addition, the Grand Rapids Area Tenant Union has created an electronic Action Alert, which has already sent 1200 letters to City officials telling them to vote no on these proposed ordinances. And since the Grand Rapids City Commission did not vote on the proposed ordinances last night, we encourage you to send more messages to City officials by going to this link.

Lastly, since the Grand Rapids City Commission did not vote on the ordinances that would further criminalize the unhoused, we encourage people to follow the Grand Rapids Area Tenant Union on Facebook for updates and future actions that will be necessary to defeat these proposed ordinances.