ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The St. Petersburg City Council discussed a potential new program on Thursday at a committee hearing which could provide support for the homeless in downtown, cleaning services and safety ambassadors for residents.

What You Need To Know

The Clean and Safe program was presented at the Public Services and Infrastructure Committee hearing on Thursday

Council Member Gina Driscoll, whose District 6 covers downtown, has been spearheading the initiative  

Last week, many downtown residents and business owners told city council that the problem with aggressive homeless and transient people has been growing

The program will next be discussed at a committee of the whole meeting in October

The Clean and Safe program has been proposed by Council Member Gina Driscoll, whose District 6 covers the downtown area. The program has been used by more than 1,000 districts across the United States. Including, Tampa, New York City’s Times Square and San Diego.

Last week, many downtown residents and business owners told city council that the problem with aggressive homeless and transient people has been growing over the past few years. Residents said they see the problem on a daily basis and some fear for their safety.

Driscoll firmly believes downtown is a safe place but said as the area grows in popularity it will need more attention.

“We’ve got more people and more activities than ever before,” she said. “It’s time for us to make some adjustments in the way our day-to-day operations happen in this city to meet those needs that come with today’s popularity.”

There were about 3,000 downtown units in 2009. Currently, there are more than 20,000 units, according to the St. Petersburg Downtown Partnership. The taxable value in 2014 was $1.4 billion. In 2023, it had grown to a whopping $4.7 billion.

Police calls in the downtown neighborhood have been nearly doubling over the past three years. In 2023, there were 5,598. Last year, it was 12,011. So far this year, there have been 8,598, but if the trend continues, it’ll be more than 20,000 police calls by the end of the year.

St. Petersburg Police Chief Anthony Holloway believes this uptick in calls is due to more residents living downtown and not because of more homeless or transient people in the area.

“Now you have more people down here,” he said. “Our unhoused population hasn’t changed.”

Holloway said there are nearly two dozen “habitual unhoused” individuals who refuse to be helped.

“We’re going to keep trying to make contact to see what we can do for them,” he said. “But a lot of them just say, ‘this is where I want to be.’ So as long as they’re not breaking the law, then there’s nothing that we can do.”

The owner of Shiso Crispy, Ronicca Whaley, said she has had many run-ins with aggressive homeless or transient people and has been frustrated with the police response so far.

“The police come and they’re gone and they can’t do anything,” she said. “If we have it on video, if he has witnesses, there’s nothing they can do. They’re gone.” 

Holloway said officers must witness a misdemeanor in order to write a citation or make an arrest. The police chief said business owners can authorize officers to do enforcement at their establishment while they’re away.

“You see people sitting on the side of the street some places. Well, some of those businesses used to be vacant. Now they’re occupied,” he said. “So we’re telling the owners to come and let us know, to give us permission to move those unhoused people from in front of the business.”

The chief said the police department added a new lieutenant to the downtown night shift about two months ago. Holloway said as the city grows, the police will likely need to add more units.

Holloway also wanted to set the record straight about a deadly incident downtown just before Memorial Day weekend, which sparked much of the recent public debate about safety.

On May 23, Dustin Hedenburg, 41, was killed when he was “behaving erratically,” punched a person and then attacked the owner of AHI Sushi, according to St. Petersburg Police. The restaurant owner stabbed Hedenburg with a screwdriver and has not been charged as the incident remains under investigation.

Holloway said many people believe Hedenburg was homeless or a transient but that’s not the case. The police chief said Hedenburg had been living at a downtown hotel for more than two years.

“He wasn’t unhoused, he wasn’t homeless, he was a tenant that lived downtown,” Holloway said. “He was probably someone who was going through some type of episode, mental episode, and that happened that day. That could happen anywhere.”

Allendale United Methodist Church Pastor Andy Oliver has been an advocate for the unhoused. Pastor Oliver said he does not appreciate the way the public has been talking about the homeless.

“They attacked their humanity. They talked about them in dehumanizing ways,” he said. “I think instead, we need to be a people that lead with compassion and care for people that are hurting.”  

Oliver attended the Public Services and Infrastructure Committee hearing on Thursday about the Clean and Safe Program proposal. The pastor said he appreciated council members putting an emphasis on services over security.

“It was refreshing and encouraging to hear the comments of city council saying, ‘if we do anything downtown, it’s going to prioritize the lives of those who are living there without shelter,’” he said. “To make sure they have one-on-one support and that we lead with compassion and empathy.”

Many council members said they were concerned about funding the program with the city’s tight budget. The pilot program is expected to cost $1 million. They also did not want a program that just moves the homeless around the city.

Driscoll said the Clean and Safe program has a had a lot of success around the country and hopes to strengthen support over the coming months.

“We’ve got more than we can handle right now,” she said. “In studying this program, I feel like this is a way we can come to a real solution that uplifts everyone.”

The program will next be discussed at a committee of the whole meeting in October, although Driscoll has pushed for it to come up sooner.