AKRON, Ohio — Brent McClung, 39, is experiencing homelessness in Akron, and now he’s also unsheltered after the city of Akron preformed a series of homeless encampment sweeps.
“They took everything,” McClung said. “It’s not right. I just got bullied off the property. I didn’t know there was some signs that they talked about. If I knew about this sign, I’d be gone.”
The signs McClung was talking about were notices the city of Akron is required to place at encampments 48 hours before they preform sweeps.
On the signs, the city listed a date as a personal property removal date. The signs state that the city will store non-abandoned property for 30 days from the date of removal.
The signs list 850 E, Market St. in Akron as the location that personal property will be stored during this period.
Those signs were at the camp Carlos Alvarado has called home for the last several months.
As Alvarado was showing Spectrum News 1 around his camp, employees with the city of Akron and other workers showed up to clear the site.
Alvarado and his wife began to tag their property with their names and phone numbers, in hopes they could pick it up at the location listed on the city’s notice signs.
Workers dragging Carlos’ tent through wooded area. (Spectrum News 1/Kristen Anzuini)
The workers dragged away Alvarado’s tent and other items, and then the truck filled with Alvarado’s and his wife’s belongings drove to a waste management facility in Akron.
Spectrum News 1 visited 850 E. Market St. and spoke with a city employee who said none of the items from these sweeps were brought to the location.
Spectrum News 1 asked to sit down with the city of Akron so they could look at the video of the truck and explain where tagged items cleared from the camps were taken. They were also sent a list of questions regarding what happened during these sweeps.
The city declined to go on camera, and sent a statement from the city’s website that did not answer the questions.
Spectrum News 1 did get a chance to speak with attorney Becky Sremack, who was involved in Moe v. City of Akron, which was litigation regarding homeless property rights in Akron.
“It was addressing the situation of which the city of Akron in the past was going in and having seizures of homeless property, at homeless encampments in the city of Akron,” Sremack said.
Through a mediated agreement, the city of Akron entered into a consent decree that states the city must provide notice before encampment sweeps via signage, and they must contact local advocacy organizations before those sweeps are done, Sremack said.
Property claimed sign on Brent’s tarps/tents. (Spectrum News 1/Kristen Anzuini))
One homeless outreach organization, Community Support Services, said the city did contact them before these sweeps.
