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Brockton mayor vetos City Council’s ban on tents, loitering in public places
“As the Mayor of all citizens of Brockton, I cannot support these measures,” Mayor Robert Sullivan wrote. “I cannot support any ordinance that seeks to criminalize homelessness.”
The mayor of Brockton vetoed two ordinances Monday passed by City Council earlier this month that banned sleeping and loitering in public places, measures the mayor said “criminalize homelessness.”
“While I commend the efforts of the City Council to find solutions to the problems related to the unhoused population, these Ordinances do not provide any solution to these problems,” Mayor Robert Sullivan wrote in a statement. “Rather, these Ordinances violate the constitutional rights of our residents to occupy public spaces through our City.”
Previously, the council voted 7-4 to approve the ordinances, which included a $200 fine for sleeping outside after a warning and a $50 fine for loitering. Sullivan sent the two ordinances, seeking to prohibit loitering and camping in public places, back to the City Council with some proposed amendments.
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“As the Mayor of all citizens of Brockton, I cannot support these measures,” Sullivan wrote. “My team has spent countless hours working with local law enforcement, nonprofit organizations, business owners, and city departments to try to find the most effective and humane way to mitigate the public health and safety concerns related to homelessness.”
Brockton City Council passed the ordinances months after the Supreme Court found that bans on homeless people sleeping outside in public places do not qualify as cruel and unusual punishment. In Brockton, an official told councilors in October that there are up to 300 unhoused people in the city.
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In his proposed amendments, Sullivan recommended the removal of all fines from the proposed ordinances and inclusion language that considers not enforcing the ordinance when shelters are overcapacity.
Lowell City Council passed a similar ban this month, which only applies when there is available shelter space. Their ordinance mentions penalties but does not specify a dollar amount.
The mayor also asked the council to remove the ban on sleeping on sidewalks, specify the enforcement agency and removal process, and clarify other details in the ordinances. He criticized the loitering ban and did not provide any amendments for it.
“This Ordinance seems to have been created with the sole purpose of targeting the unhoused population, who have nowhere to go to get off the streets, and institutes a fine that the unhoused have no way of paying,” Sullivan wrote.
State Rep. Michelle DuBois of Brockton, a former City Councilor, praised Sullivan on Facebook for vetoing “the ridiculous, cruel and unenforceable ordinance.”
“Mayor Sullivan’s thoughtful leadership just reaffirms what makes him such a great Mayor for our City,” DuBois wrote. “I am unsure if the City Council will override the Mayor’s veto and what is next for this poorly envisioned ordinance but it is refreshing in our often too cruel world that some people still have faith in humanity and common decency.”
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The Council convened on Monday but the ordinance veto was not on its agenda.
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