'I’m extraordinarily frustrated': Topeka councilwoman plans meeting on homeless situation

A wandering, chronically homeless man trespasses and peeks into windows of houses in northeast Topeka's Oakland community, Christina Valdivia-Alcala told her fellow Topeka City council members at their meeting Tuesday.

Valdivia-Alcala, who represents a council district that includes Oakland, said a meeting will be held to discuss how to deal with that man and at least one other homeless man who have wandered that area for years and are currently causing a "crisis" there.

The meeting will be at 6 p.m. March 29 at the Community Resources Center's Care Center at the former Lundgren Elementary School, 1020 N.E. Forest Ave., Valdivia-Alcala said.

More:Topeka leaders say the local homeless situation is spiraling. Here's how $76K may help.

Councilwoman spoke out in July 2021

Valdivia-Alcala put forth her concerns at a time when Topeka's city government is teaming up with groups that deal with homelessness to seek to address issues involved with an increased presence of unsheltered residents here.

Councilman Spencer Duncan said last month that homelessness is at an "all-time crisis" for this community, in some respects.

Valdivia-Alcala since January 2020 has held the city council seat representing District 2, which includes North Topeka and northeast Topeka's Oakland community.

She told fellow council members in July 2021 that some often-homeless males, totaling fewer than five, had been "terrorizing" Oakland through acts that include setting fires in alleys and defecating on private property.

Bryan Wheeles, who is now Topeka's police chief, responded by stressing that police were working with Valdivia-Alcala to try to address her concerns.

Valdivia-Alcala said her statements weren't a commentary on the vast majority of Topeka's homeless, who are doing the best they can to break the cycle that leaves their lives and those of their families in despair.

More:Topeka's homelessness problem reaching an 'all-time crisis.' Here's how we got there.

'It's not going to be good'

Valdivia-Alcala again voiced concern during announcements made near the end of Tuesday's council meeting over the level of discord being caused in Oakland by wandering homeless men, who appear to be mentally ill.

“I’m trying not to sound angry about it, but I’m extraordinarily frustrated," she said.

Some residents are afraid to let their children and grandchildren go outside because of the men, Valdivia-Alcala said.

"He defecates in the Kwik Shop — in the sink!" she said of one of the men. "That's what we're dealing with over here."

"He's not going to do anything" is the response law enforcement sometimes gives to residents who complain, Valdivia-Alcala said.

"Well you know what?" she said. "People think that something is going to happen, and it's not going to be good."

'I'm going to be hooting and hollering about this'

Circumstances escalated regarding one of the homeless men in the previous week, Valdivia-Alcala said Tuesday, without going into detail.

"It's because of this, and because of the extreme frustration of the lack of understanding of how this system works — and to me, an increasing realization that many times, it does not work — that the citizens of Oakland, along with myself, are calling for a special meeting to deal with what they believe is a feeling of uncertainty, lack of quality of life, lack of public health and safety, with a couple — not all, a couple — of chronically mentally ill individuals who have, for at least four years, been harassing our neighborhoods," she said.

She said she had invited officials to the March 29 meeting who included the city manager, police chief, fire chief, district attorney and a Shawnee County commissioner.

"I've been informed by the city attorney that they are doing all they can to enforce extra efforts, but when it comes to things such as involuntary commitment, that is the realm of the district attorney,” Valdivia-Alcala said.

The March 29 meeting is "not going to be about me talking," she said.

"It's going to be about the 30 or 40 or 50 people I hope that are there who said they will come to talk about what they have to continue to endure in this district," Valdivia-Alcala said. "And there has to be some kind of remedy, because until there's some kind of remedy, I'm going to be hooting and hollering about this until I'm no longer in this seat."

Contact Tim Hrenchir at threnchir@gannett.com or 785-213-5934.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Topeka officials asked to Topeka neighborhood meeting on homelessness