Saratoga's homeless remain bothersome

PHOTOGRAPHER: Patrick Dodson

A photograph of Nancy Pitts is seen inside the supply room at the Code Blue shelter in Saratoga Springs on Thursday, January 15, 2015. Nancy was a homeless woman who died while sleeping overnight outside last winter, prompting the opening of the Code B...

The Saratoga Springs Downtown Business Association and the city have begun talking about the number of homeless people in the downtown area, and what to do about them.

On Tuesday, DBA representatives met with the city’s Code Blue Steering Committee, and May 20 the DBA will hold a general meeting to discuss the presence of homeless people, which has prompted complaints from business owners and the public.

“I hope we can all work together to address this, because it is becoming a serious problem,” said Mayor Joanne Yepsen, who facilitated Tuesday’s meeting.

The DBA meeting will take place at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, May 20, at Hattie’s restaurant on Phila Street.

It’s an issue of concern for a business community whose members rely heavily on the tourist trade, especially in the summer. Stories of people visiting Broadway shops and restaurants being asked for money as they pass on the street have become quite common.

“We’ve been hearing directly from downtown businesses,” Yepsen said. “They call the police, and that solves the problem for about five or 10 minutes, but we need a longer-term solution than that.”

Yepsen said the steering committee and DBA are brainstorming ideas such as establishing a daytime drop-in center or a program that rewards the homeless for good behavior, to reduce their activities like begging for money or openly drinking alcohol.

Mike Finocchi, executive director of Shelters of Saratoga, will speak at the DBA meeting, along with a representative from the Franklin Community Center.

The Code Blue Steering Committee, which operates the cold weather “Code Blue” shelter at the Salvation Army building on Woodlawn Avenue, includes representatives of all the organizations that assist the homeless, Yepsen said, and should be part of any solution.

DBA President Timothy Holmes said Wednesday’s meeting is one of the organization’s regular monthly meetings, at which various topics are discussed.

“We have asked two groups in the city, Shelters of Saratoga and the Franklin Community Center, to speak to our members to educate us on their services and the homeless population and how our business members may help them with their services,” Holmes said.

Concerns about the number of homeless people or “vagrants” in the downtown area were a dominant theme at a City Council public hearing last week.

While the hearing last Tuesday was nominally on whether the city should regulate street musicians who play for money, a number of public speakers said they see the homeless as a bigger issue for Broadway and the merchant community.

People who appear to be homeless have been occupying benches for long periods of time and asking passersby for money — activities that Assistant City Attorney Anthony Izzo said the city can’t regulate, for constitutional reasons. Panhandlers can be arrested only if they become aggressive in approaching people, he said.

“It’s a tough nut to crack. It’s a social issue, but it has to be addressed,” Roger Goldsmith, owner of the Crafters Gallery on Broadway, said at the council meeting.

Also at that meeting, Public Safety Commissioner Chris Mathiesen said there’s not a lot the police can do unless the people asking for money behave aggressively.