Kalamazoo’s Bronson Park campers asked to leave
Well it appears that city management in Kalamazoo have had enough and they have asked the campers, squatters and homeless in Bronson Park Kalamazoo Michigan to leave by 7 p.m. tonight, Tuesday.
Mlive is reporting that Kalamazoo City Manager Jim Ritsema has stated, as he did on my radio show yesterday morning, that the demonstration violates local ordinances. The city did allow them to remain until a surprise announcement at Monday's City Commission meeting in which they were told that if they do not leave the park by 7 p.m. tonight they are subject to possibly be arrested.
The homeless have been there since August 19th and now have been joined by outside agitators and homeless advocacy groups. The group has at the very least doubled in size and according to City Manager Jim Ritsema has group to over 110 tents.
Since the protest began City Manager Jim Ritsema has consistently stated that the demonstration is illegal and would be ended eventually. City ordinances prohibits sleeping overnight and camping in parks punishable by a misdemeanor, up to 90 days in jail and a $500 fine.
The homeless, squatters and campers attorney Denise Heberle stated that she will represent the demonstrators, wait I thought they were homeless, in a lawsuit against the city of Kalamazoo if they are removed from Bronson Park. Ms. Heberle cited a Sept. 4 U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruling against camping laws in the city of Boise, Idaho. Remember the 9th circuit, San Francisco, is where all extreme liberals go to get their social justice cases heard and ruled in their favor.
Kalamazoo City Manager Jim Ritsema stated that he still wants to work to address their demands. He was quoted in the article stating:
The city remains committed to an ongoing process to convene the community to seek solutions to these larger problems, however the growing encampment in Bronson Park is not a solution ... it is a violation of city ordinances and must end
The problem is that “protest” became too large and the city manager said that he made the decision Monday afternoon to vacate the park. He was quoted as statingL
It ballooned, almost doubled (in size) in the last week…We continue to get complaints about the conditions there
Many people who live, work, own business and use to enjoy the park called my show yesterday after my interview with Kalamazoo City Manager Jim Ritsema and said enough is enough. These callers wondered why the city did not enforce their ordnances from the beginning and they would have avoided the situation they are in today.
Now let us see where this saga leads the city and the taxpayers who ultimately pay for the park but were unable to use it.
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