Jamestown’s City Council president is making clear that Jamestown stands ready to work with organizations that want to help the homeless while the city comes to grips with an explosion in the number of homeless in the city.

Tony Dolce, R-Ward 2 and council president, spoke at the end of Monday’s City Council voting session. He reiterated what Mayor Kim Ecklund has said repeatedly since declaring a state of emergency regarding the homeless population last week – that the disaster declaration opens up doors to additional funding and help for both the city and ideally for non-profit agencies that are trying to help solve the homeless conundrum.

“The state of emergency obviously is to try to bring in as many funds from the state as possible just like any other disaster declaration,” Dolce said. “That opens the doors possibly to bring those funds in for cleanup, for working with agencies and getting money that’s out there. We do not have a line item in the budget. We never have had to deal with this problem. Quite frankly, it’s really blossomed. I don’t want to speak for the mayor, she can tag on after this. The reason this was brought up recently is because it has exploded exponentially in the last few months.”

The Post-Journal has reported dozens of times on the growth in the city’s homeless population over the past three years, particularly when tents started popping up in Brooklyn Square in 2022. Over the course of the past few years interviews with homeless city residents have found a myriad of reasons why the homeless population has grown.

The city worked with the Chautauqua County Homeless Coalition to set up code blue shelters, but they didn’t open in 2023 because volunteers didn’t have the expertise to help the homeless. Volunteers burned out quickly and churches had to add paid staff to oversee the shelters.

The Post-Journal began reporting earlier this year on an increasing number of homeless encampments that were largely out of sight in woods throughout the city. Over the past couple of months more and more homeless have been seen throughout the city, with many living in Brooklyn Square in recent weeks.

“We have had this problem for the past few years, but it’s gotten worse and worse and worse and it’s putting a very very tough strain on all of our city departments,” Dolce said. “We want to be helpful. We want to try to do what we can. It’s a very very difficult issue. It’s a multifaceted issue. My and my colleagues on the council have met with several people along the Riverwalk in the encampments and throughout the city. There’s many different reasons why they’re there and what’s happened to them, why they’re in the situation they’re in in life. There’s many moving parts to that, and quite frankly it’s really a lot more than we as a local government can handle.”

Jamestown isn’t the only area trying to find a solution to rising instances of homelessness. The same day Ecklund issued the city’s state of emergency, California Gov. Gavin Newsom issued an executive order directing state agencies to start clearing homeless encampments on state land, including lots under freeways. The order comes on the heels of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling earlier this summer allowing cities to enforce bans on sleeping outside in public spaces, even if there are no shelter beds available. Newsom and supporters of his order, including many businesses, say the encampments cannot be left to exist because they pose health and safety issues both for homeless people and residents who live nearby.

And, in California, many homeless who are removed come back to the sites quickly. That has happened in Jamestown as well, as homeless are still living in Brooklyn Square because there isn’t a better place to go right now.

“What I’m afraid of is I will not allow Jamestown to become New York or California or Chicago or Seattle or Oregon,” said Councilman Russ Bonfiglio, R-At Large. “We have to avoid that. There’s no question we have to help the homeless. I’ll do anything to help. I’m not going to let Jamestown become what those cities are becoming. If you look at what California’s doing, they finally decided to do what they’re doing. Good or bad, they’re doing it. This council and this city, it’s trying.”

Homelessness in the United States grew 12% last year to its highest reported level, as soaring rents and a decline in coronavirus pandemic assistance combined to put housing out of reach for more people. More than 650,000 people are estimated to be homeless, the most since the country began using a yearly point-in-time survey in 2007, while Ecklund said Jamestown has about 300 “unauthorized campers” in Jamestown.

“Bigger cities are having a hard time handling it,” Dolce said. “We’re trying to get our arms around it to get as much help as possible to the agencies that are out there – religious organizations, nonprofits as well as working with our state government officials to try to come up with a plan to not only help the people that are there but we also need to protect the integrity of our city and clean it up and keep it safe, keep it environmentally safe and sound. It’s a moving target, it’s a growing problem. There’s been several meetings with different groups and agencies to try to come up with strategies and plans. It’s a problem that’s not going to go away. We’re just trying to do our best to get our arms around it.”