Both area residents and City Council members were left with unanswered questions regarding the shutdown of Tent City after Council met Tuesday evening.
About a dozen people from the city and Kanawha County attended Tuesday's meeting to express their concerns for the 20 to 30 people ejected from Tent City earlier in the day. Others wanted to know why Mayor Danny Jones made the decision on one of the coldest days this winter.
A handful were from Mount Juliet United Methodist Church in Belle, which has provided food, clothing and other items to Tent City residents in the past.
"This was not a threat to the city; we were always offered hospitality, food, drink and a fire," said Johnny Meadows, a Mount Juliet parishioner. His wife, Debbie Meadows, said when she called the mayor's office after work when she heard about the dismantling, the woman who answered the phone told her, "why don't you take them in?"
"How can you just go in and decide to displace a whole community? I don't understand how one person can make that decision," Debbie Meadows said.
Ezekiel Ellis said he had been staying at Tent City for three weeks with his fiancee, Dorothy Bradfield, before they returned Tuesday afternoon from Prestera to find the site completely bare.
After five people from the community spoke, Jones discontinued the public speakers portion of the meeting. But by the end, it was clear that Council members, too, had questions about Tent City.
Councilwoman Shannon Snodgrass said she knew nothing about Tent City, let alone its shutdown, until just before Council's meeting.
"As a Council Member, I'd like to know, what happened today?" Snodgrass asked.
Jones refused to answer Council members' and residents' questions about his decision.
Councilman Chuck Overstreet also was unaware of Tuesday's events until he saw the media reports.
"I feel your pain, and just want to let you know we're not apathetic to your feelings," he told those who spoke up about Tent City.
Councilman Bernard Slater asked Jones directly: "Do we have a plan in place at all to help the homeless at Tent City?"
"You would've had to have been there today," Jones shot back. "And I'm not going to get into it."
That's when Brooke Drake, who also attended to show her support for Tent City's homeless, interrupted to ask a question as Jones concluded the meeting and the clerk called the roll, following him out of Council chambers as he left City Hall. Jones also wouldn't answer questions from the media because he'd already held a press conference on the issue earlier Tuesday.
"To not even look at me when I'm trying to speak to him, [these] people in Belle are taking better care of our community members than our own mayor," Drake said.
City Attorney Paul Ellis said after the meeting that Waste Management, which owns the property Tent City sat on, "made it clear to us that no one there was permitted to be on the property any longer." The company provided a written notice of that decision to city officials in a letter dated Jan. 19.
"The right things were done today," Ellis said. "With regard to what the mayor says or doesn't say, that's his business."
"We just were not informed," Snodgrass said.
For Ezekiel Ellis and Bradfield, their first priority is finding a place to stay in the coming days.
"They act like we're just another problem to get rid of," Bradfield said, as Traci Strickland, supervisor for homeless programs at Prestera Center, worked to help the two acquire proper identification, which many shelters require.
Also on Tuesday, Council:
n Voted to authorize the mayor to receive and administer $143,000 in grant funds from the state Department of Military Affairs and Public Safety to purchase 100 radios, microphones and cases for the Charleston Fire Department.
n Voted to authorize the mayor or city manager to apply for a 2015 Emergency Management Performance Grant through the State Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management to help the city continue its emergency management response system.
n Authorized the finance director to establish the Civil Center Project Debt Service Fund, to account for activity related to financing the Civic Center Project.
n Approved a proposal by State Equipment to purchase a backhoe for roughly $80,200 to be used by the street department. The purchase will be made by piggybacking a State of West Virginia contract.
n Approved payment of an invoice of $47,100 from Gracie R. Marker & Sons, Inc. for materials and labor related to an emergency storm sewer replacement at 908 Chappell Road.
Reach Elaina Sauber at elaina.sauber@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-3051 or follow @ElainaSauber on Twitter.