news Residents Ask Gulfport to Arrest Homeless Man The City Refuses, Explains Homelessness is Not a Crime By Jim McConville
CATHY SALUSTRI
Although not at the council meeting, Charles Crudup later praised the city manager for understanding that people can legally be homeless. The city has created a semi-secure space for Crudup’s belongings.
Gulfport City Council got a crash course on the wide range of public opinion voiced when a homeless person becomes a fixture in town. More than a dozen residents spoke to the council Tuesday night (Dec. 7) to air their grievance or concern for the plight of a man known to Gulfport citizens as “Charles,” – his name, The Gabber learned, is Charles Crudup – a visible presence seen around Clymer Park and sitting on a bus stop bench on Beach Boulevard. Gloria Eckhart, who identified herself as a former psychiatric social worker for the Veterans Administration, started, asking what had happened to Crudup.
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“I want to know if someone has intervened; Charles is no longer there,” Eckhart said. “I would like to know if he is safe. Does he have shelter? I would hate to think that this man is running the streets with none of his belongings.” In response, City Manager Jim O’Reilly said he’d convinced Crudup to let O’Reilly drive Crudup to a homeless shelter in Safe Harbor, but Crudup did not stay at Safe Harbor. “I met with Charles on three separate occasions,” O’Reilly said. “We did transport him to the shelter; he chose to come back.” O’Reilly said the city, with Crudup’s permission, gathered Crudup’s possessions, placed them on a pallet covered
with shrink wrap and placed them in a fenced area adjacent to city property. Several residents expressed frustration with what they claim is Crudup’s license to roam unfettered around Gulfport residential property. Paula Parnell, a Beach Boulevard resident and self-described snowbird, said she returned to her Gulfport home in November to find Crudup on her property. “When I returned last month, I found an unwelcome trespasser living in front of my house,” Parnell said. “I feel completely powerless and violated by a person who puts a shanty up in front of my house.
theGabber.com | December 16, 2021 - December 22, 2021
