ATLANTA — The city is now calling out a group of advocates who said they are stepping away from the mayor’s homelessness task force over the city’s “unwillingness to address the systemic issues.”
The Justice for Cornelius Taylor Coalition announced on Tuesday that it was leaving the mayor’s task force over the Dickens administration’s “failed approach to homelessness.”
The coalition is named after the man who was killed during a homeless encampment sweep by the city along Auburn Avenue in January.
The city then formed the Homelessness Task Force, aimed at providing a citywide review of policy regarding the homeless population.
The Justice for Cornelius Taylor Coalition says the task force has failed its objectives.
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“Since its inception, the Mayor’s Homelessness Task Force has not focused on changing a cycle of forced encampment clearings, destruction of personal property, and temporary housing placements that leave unhoused residents more vulnerable than before. Our system for addressing homelessness is broken, and this Task Force only seeks to put a Band-Aid on a major wound. Most recently, during the Pryor Street sweep, bobcats were used to clear personal belongings — a tactic not far removed from bulldozing. Such actions demonstrate a profound disregard for the dignity and well-being of our city’s most marginalized residents,” the group said in a news release this week.
But the city says the group’s claims are unfounded. In a statement, it said:
“Throughout the course of the City of Atlanta 90-Day Homelessness Task Force, 24 meetings have been held and many members of this ‘coalition’ who were invited to participate may have only attended a maximum of two to three of those meetings.
“To make matters worse, members of this ‘coalition’ were present during a recent encampment closure, attempting to convince unhoused people to not move into housing and stay on the streets. These tactics show a blatant disregard for our neighbors in need and further the notion that some folks are more concerned with scoring political points than finding solutions.
“It appears this group may have had nefarious intentions from the outset as they have submitted a proposal to spend at least $2 million to relocate roughly 20 individuals (with a non-confirmed by-name list) and $5 million each subsequent month for services. It is unfortunate that they are seemingly now going to the media to attempt to pressure the city into a contract.”
As for the Pryor Street sweep, the city said, to date, “25 individuals have moved into permanent supportive housing, 22 individuals in the process of moving into permanent supportive housing, 15 individuals moving into Rapid-rehousing, four individuals in the process of moving into Rapid-rehousing and 26 moving into shelter.”
As part of the task force, the members were to meet every two weeks and make reports to the mayor and Atlanta City Council within 45 days of the approval to start and make a final report 90 days after starting.
The Task Force’s final meeting is June 26, and the final report will be issued on June 10.
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