Downtown Cleveland resident Margaret Martin spoke to the Cleveland City Council on Tuesday afternoon about the continuing problem with the homeless in the downtown area. She spoke particularly of one man who has been living out of his vehicle and said that he had harassed several women in her apartment building.
The Cleveland City Council passed several ordinances recently to prevent anyone from living in a vehicle, including parking time limits and a towing policy. However, Ms. Martin said that while the man was arrested once and his car was towed, he was back in a matter of days. She said that now he just moves his car around to avoid the authorities.
Mayor Tom Rowland said that he was open to creating an ordinance that would allow downtown residents to have special parking permits. City Attorney John Kimball said he could look at parking plans from other Tennessee cities.
Councilman David May Jr. of District 4 said officials should get a head count of all the Cleveland residents living in the downtown area before the next meeting.