What is the city doing about the growing homeless camp in the city park, Seminary Park? Is the intention to make this camp permanent? It seems to have been growing for about a year, with seemingly little effort to address it, the safety of passersby, or the sanitation issues that accompany it.
People spending the night in seminary park
Was harassed in Kroger parking lot by people from seminary park. Asked for money, when I said no they aggressively tried to follow me. I had to run to my car to leave. Very unsafe area for Bloomington residents.
I am deeply saddened that our City would remove the encampment in Seminary Square. Does every park have to be for the primary enjoyment of those who HAVE homes? Can't the homeless at least have primary use of THIS one? Are people so small-minded that they begrudge this just because they then aren't comfortable using it themselves? I walk by it all the time, and sure, it isn't as pretty as it could otherwise be, but how about considerations of justice? Let them enjoy the space! I know there may be more clean-up needed for city workers, but that is a cost we should be able to bear. Let's make it safer as needed by installing port-a-potties or whatever is needed. Bloomington supposedly cares so much about the housing problem that they are prepared to ruin historic neighborhoods (though I suspect this is mainly at the behest of developers), yet they won't allow homeless people to live in tents in Seminary Square??
Every since the parks department allowed tents at seminary park throughout the day there are increasingly large numbers of people not social distancing without mask in a small confined space. They are then dispersing throughout the community (Kroger, shalom, rally’s, etc...), once again not wearing mask. This is not what the CDC means when they say not to tear down homeless communities. It’s to prevent them spreading disease. Our homeless community still socializes without regard to others in the community and therefore not breaking up that tent camp is irrelevant to what the CDC recommends. Also there are tons of laws being broke at seminary park every day. The park is filled with trash, used needles, and feces just to name a few problems. Litter is blowing everywhere in the surrounding area. The law and rules apply to everyone in the community. Please hold everybody accountable! Failure to do so will impact Bloomington’s economy and slow the recovery through this pandemic.
A large, event-sized tent with fully closed sides is setup in Seminary Park.
Open air drug dealing, harassment and intimidation, public inebriation, at Seminary Square Park.
Seminary Park -- need I say more? I work at the Post Office right beside this park. I have worked at this location since the Post Office took over the old Ponderosa. Daily when I get to work at 7:15 until when I leave around 5:00 pm there is a steady stream of people who are using this park as a shanti (I know the parks dept. along with the police dept. know all about the issues and the police even know most of them by name). I first submitted my complaint in May 2013 and have all copies of my correspondence --along with Mick Renneisen's responses. There are regularly large groups of people going back & forth to Big Red Liquors and taking their booze back to the park to drink openly all day long. There is filthy language, shouting cuss words, fighting, loud boom-box music that we can hear inside the Post Office, stumbling through our parking lot, leaving trash everywhere in the park and through our parking lot, they hang a hammock, (twice this month), last week they hung a large green tarp (it was raining), and cars coming and going all day long. Those cars park in our parking lot (that entire lot is leased by the Post Office--it IS NOT for Seminary Park and they should not be using it) mainly at the northwest end. As these cars come to park people come from all through the park to come up to the window of the car and surround it doing, well, you can guess at that! Then, they go back to the park and the car leaves, only to come back later in the day with, again, people flocking to surround the car. I have come to work on a morning after one of their big parties and there is trash everywhere. You know this because you send your employees several times/week to clean up after them--sometimes more than once/day. Is the cost to clean up that park made public? A couple of years ago there was "supposedly" a camera installed on the pole at the northwest corner of the Post Office parking lot that you were to use to monitor this park. Obviously that is not happening. When I 1st submitted a complaint and Mick Renneison responded I had witnessed a man urinating on a tree--around 1:30 in the afternoon as I was stuck trying to get out of our lot on my lunch break on a busy day. You could not miss this man as he was stumbling while holding his privates to try to pee. Mick's response was that the only time anything could be done is if skin showed! There's no doubt I saw skin! Just last week it happened again and I witnessed it, and so have my co-workers and customers who visit our business. In May 2013 a question I asked was about loitering in public parks and Mick's response was that it's hard to determine if someone is loitering in a park, or just enjoying it. Please!! When they set up camp before I get to work at 7:15 and stay all day drinking--seems like loitering to me. What will it take to clean up this park? I work right beside this park and cannot enjoy a lunch outside there. What about the rights of the citizens who work within a couple of blocks of this park and wish to walk there for their lunch? I am having to call the police frequently on issues involving that park. With the current COVID-19 issue it does not appear that Blgtn. Parks and Rec is enforcing any of the social distancing rules--except to put up signs in the park! Obviously that isn't working. When I left work tonight I counted 5 cars and 2 trucks (and a tan Lincoln SUV that is there every day!) -- all parked at that northwest corner with one truck parked sideways--not in a parking spot. There were large crowds all over this park along with crowds surrounding the parked vehicles. There was about maybe 1 week early in the COVID-19 stay-at-home and social distancing rules that we observed police coming through the park to spread people out of their crowds. Now just signs that they ignore--or take up completely. This park is at a major north/south and east/west intersection. This is not a pretty picture for the mayor who wants to tout Bloomington as a beautiful city. This is not a beautiful sight and something we should be ashamed of when we have out-of-town visitors driving by that spot. It seems to me that that crowd of people KNOW that nothing will be done to them.
Homeless blocking bench in front of Seminary park
Repeated complaints about Seminary Park, most recent #172269 submitted 4/20/20. This park is a very shameful example of how our city is handling (not handling) the homeless/drug population. The mayor should be ashamed of what message it sends that the issue continues with everyone looking the other way. This is a major north/south & east/west travel point. DAILY I have to deal with this as a working citizen of Bloomington at the Post Office. I know that you know the issues because I call the police at least once/week. Daily, besides the usual littering the park and Post Office parking lot (including mattresses, office desk chairs, tables, etc.) there is suspicious traffic in & out of that park via the Post Office parking lot. Within the past month we have had 5 different instances where someone backed up against the outside of our building to relieve him/herself of #2, then proceeded to smear it all up the wall. Today I witnessed a man walk behind the post office to a little white truck that is there daily with no plates. He handed that person something, then waved and walked away. Several people came from the park up to his window, went back in the park, then came back to the truck. Didn't appear to be just chit-chat. A transaction had been made for sure. And, what about a few Fridays ago when someone provided the park a nice big bbq complete with a huge grill that was brought in. Are grills and full-sized tents allowed to be brought into a city park?? They were there that day! This brought a huge crowd filling that park and creating a big scene. They trashed the park, the Post Office parking lot, and the area in front of the Post Office by the street. Both our custodian and your city employees are using a lot of resources & money to clean up after that population. Mayor Hamilton, you out to be ashamed of our city right now! This is not the Bloomington it used to be and you're looking the other way. I do not feel safe going to my job to make a decent living because I have been approached by these people and our customers have been approached. When election time rolls around again I will be paying very close attention to which candidate has plans to clean up our city.