CHARLESTON, W.Va. — City Councilman Chad Robinson does not anticipate a bill that prohibits camping in public places to be taken up by his committee in its next meeting Nov. 9.
Robinson, the Ordinance and Rules Committee committee chair told 580-WCHS Tuesday that it doesn’t mean the controversial piece of legislation will not be taken up in the future, but not this soon.
“The chair has the responsibility to set the agenda for a piece of legislation or bills or resolutions for his or her committee. It’s up to me or our committee members to decide what is on the agenda,” he said.
“We have extremes on both sides who want the bill and do not want the bill. We want to make sure that it is something that is good for Charleston and not to hamper anyone’s ability to get housing or something like that.”
Nearly two dozen people spoke Monday night at the Charleston City Council meeting, the majority against, on the bill introduced in September by City Council member Adam Knauff. Robinson said Monday was the first time he has heard from the public on this bill since taking over as chair in October.
Each speaker was given one minute to express their thoughts. Speakers asked leaders to find other solutions to help the homeless other than crafting bills criminalizing it.
If the law goes into effect, anyone that breaks it would be guilty of a misdemeanor and fined up to $500.
Robinson said there is current legal issues with the current drafting of the bill and “‘I’m not sure that passing a bill the way it is now is the appropriate way to go.”
“This issue is not going to be an issue where we can wave a wand and it’s fixed. We need to do something that is helpful for these individuals to get out off the streets, in recovery and into homes,” Robinson said.
“We have people for those homeless individuals and others that believe this is an easy issue to resolve”
The Ordinance and Rules Committee is scheduled for Tues. Nov. 9 at 5 p.m. An agenda has not been set yet.