Officials continue to clash over homeless encampments in Norristown, Pennsylvania, after recent comments from the borough's council president sparked controversy.
There are currently multiple homeless camps in Norristown, including a camp on state land, another camp on SEPTA property and another camp on land partially owned by PECO.
PECO officials said they can’t have unhoused people living on their land due to safety concerns over high tension power lines. They also said those people would have to be moved at some point though there’s no firm plan regarding when that would happen.
As officials continue to discuss possible solutions, Thomas Lepera, a longtime member of the Norristown Borough council who became council president more than a year ago, recently sparked controversy due to comments he made about the homeless encampments.
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A recent Philadelphia Inquirer article reported that Lepera stated he would bus Norristown’s homeless population to Villanova University. In a Facebook post, Lepera accused the article of misrepresenting his positions and clarified his stance.
“I never said I wanted to bus homeless people to Villanova. I said I wanted to bus people, including myself, to the Villanova campus to make a point: a wealthy institution like Villanova University - with ample grounds, empty dorms all summer long and strong Catholic values to offer help to the underprivileged - could very well ease Norristown’s immediate homelessness crisis, especially since Stephanie Sena is an anti-poverty fellow at Villanova’s law school,” Lepera wrote.
In his statement, Lepera referenced Stephanie Sena, an anti-homelessness advocate and anti-poverty fellow at Villanova’s Charles Widger School of Law, who has been working on behalf of an estimated 160 people experiencing homelessness in Norristown. She also runs a homeless shelter in Upper Darby.
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Sena has publicly criticized Lepera’s handling of Norristown’s homeless population.
“He has made policy choices to ensure that people will end up homeless. And he doesn’t just want homeless people out. He wants poor people out,” Sena told NBC10 on Tuesday.
Sena said Lepera’s policies have only added to the growing homelessness problem in the borough.
“If he really wanted people off the street, he would put them in shelter,” she said.
Lepera said social services tend to hub in Norristown which is the county seat of Montgomery County. He called on other counties and towns to step up and allow more affordable housing to be built rather than have Norristown bear the brunt of Montgomery County’s homeless problem.
“All I’m asking is for everybody to come to the table, all 62 townships, municipalities and boroughs to come to the table, and take on their fair share of the problem because we’re sick and tired and my residents are overburdened by taxes and all I want to do is help them,” Lepera said.
Lepera addressed his comments at the start of Norristown’s council meeting Tuesday evening.
"First and foremost, I never had a plan to bus homeless people to Villanova. That would be immoral and inhumane," Lepera said. "I'm not anti-homeless but I also do not believe that a homeless encampment that operates pretty much as an open drug market, should be able to continue to operate."
The council also called rumors of a citywide sweep of the homeless false, stressing there have never been any discussions on that. Mike Hayes, who joined other demonstrators outside the Norristown municipal building during Tuesday's council meeting, doesn't believe Lepera however.
"I don't believe him at all," Hayes said. "He's tried to walk back all his previous statements including the one about the $500 gift card to lure the people on the bus to take them to Villanova."
The demonstrators said they're looking for ways to safely help the homeless.
Montgomery County officials said the county has been paying for hotel rooms for those affected by a recent shelter closure. The county is also working with Norristown, state and federal government officials to address the issue.
PECO officials, meanwhile, said they want to treat everyone involved with dignity and respect and if anyone has to be relocated, they will be given ample time to collect their belongings.
