PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Mayor Cherelle Parker hopes to open locations citywide where people in addiction can access city services. She calls them triage or wellness centers, but reaction to her first attempt shows they may not be welcome everywhere.
Philadelphia leases the building at 2100 Girard Avenue from the state. It was being used as a homeless shelter but, without any public notice, the Parker administration added drug rehabilitation services.
Neighbors soon noticed, says Tim Butters, president of the Fairmount Civic Association.
“Since the facility has been expanded to include increased services, we’ve had reports of increased drug use, increased drug paraphernalia and trash, needles, baggies, drug overdoses,” Butters said Wednesday at a City Council hearing.
He testified in support of a bill, sponsored by Councilmember Jeffrey Young, that would prohibit the city from continuing to lease the building. Young has called Parker's more "unacceptable."
“As a neighborhood, we sort of felt blind-sided by this,” said Zoe Sanderson, who lives nearby. She says neighbors don’t necessarily want to shut the facility down, but they do want openness and transparency.
“Understanding that it’s a necessity, but also hoping we can have some discussion about what that means for our community. We want to be helpful, but we also want to be informed.”
Young says that was exactly his purpose in introducing the bill: to get the Parker administration to answer questions about its plans.
“We wanted to be able to talk substance,” he said.
However, the administration submitted written testimony and sent no one to the hearing to answer questions — which Young calls “unfortunate.”
In written testimony, Deputy Managing director David Wilson simply said the Parker administration opposes the bill because it “does not align with the administration’s vision and commitment to provide long-term care, treatment and housing to our most vulnerable residents who are struggling with addiction and homelessness.”
“These folks are owed a conversation, a public conversation, a transparent conversation,” said Young said.
The bill wouldn’t have an immediate impact. The current lease has two more years on it.
A committee advanced the bill on Wednesday to the full City Council.