Portland City Councilor Kate Sykes, self-described socialist and former co-chair of the Maine Democratic Socialists of America, gave a speech at the council’s Monday meeting blaming the deteriorating conditions of the city’s downtown area on federal immigration enforcement, the county and the state — every level of government except the city.
Councilor Sykes’ remarks came amid ongoing complaints and concerns from residents and business owners from Monument Square and Congress Street in Portland’s downtown regarding quality-of-life and public safety issues caused by homeless people and drug users.
The other socialist on the city’s policy-making body, City Councilor Wes Pelletier, recently gave a speech in Monument Square in which he referred to his constituents as “creeps” and “sociopaths” for wanting the city to address the issue of homelessness.
Sykes, however, took a different tact from Pelletier in her remarks on Monday, opting to pin the blame primarily on Cumberland County Sheriff Kevin Joyce, as well as on the state and federal governments, and claiming the city is already doing everything they can do address the issue.
“We’re seeing so much frustration. I just want you to know that we absolutely hear you. We see what’s going on down there, and we share your frustrations,” Sykes said.
“We’re working every single day to find ways to respond to this crisis from every possible angle,” Sykes said, mentioning the city expanding capacity at emergency shelters, launching housing navigation teams, and police patrols.
Sykes stated, however, that the “hard truth” is that the city is “at the end of our toolbox.”
“I was elected to fix problems, and I want to fix problems, but we just don’t have the more tools, and we don’t have any more money,” she said.
The City Councilor said that while police officers are doing their job in the downtown area, people who are arrested in crisis are “released within hours” due to, according to Sykes, the Cumberland County Jail not having the systems to deal with them.
“We have a sheriff right now, Sheriff Kevin Joyce, who continues to prioritize ICE contracts while citing staffing shortages as an excuse for not standing up to treatment and recovery programs that serve our community,” Sykes said, pointing to jail-based treatment services as a potential solution to not releasing people.
“Instead, we are causing immigrants (to become an issue) for the federal government,” she said.
“When we’re left to manage the follow-up like this, it’s because of state and federal failures,” she continued. “It’s because of — they’re basically sending us the bill now.”
“So please help us to put the pressure on the county and on the state, who keeps cutting general assistance, and keep moving us up the chain,” she said.
Sykes asked the public to help the city “punch up” to the county, state and federal level.
“Help us punch up to make sure that we get those services that we need,” she said. “thank you very much for all the input that you’ve provided, and please work with us, not against us, to fix this problem. I know that if we work together, we can actually organize to make a change.”
