WORCESTER—After the city’s Quality of Life Task Force was one of the main topics of discussion at last week’s city council meeting, a councilor is looking to learn more about it.
On the Feb. 13 city council agenda, Councilor At-Large Thu Nguyen is requesting a report that details the task force’s funding, its funding sources, and a breakdown of the hours the task force spends on its different responsibilities, including handling nuisance properties, interacting with the unhoused population, and cleaning up the city.
The Quality of Life Task Force was first raised at the Feb. 6 in relation to a petition from the public asking the city to allow tents in its public spaces.
The petition was submitted by Samantha Olney, who identified herself as a member of the city’s unhoused population and the director Homeless Addicts Leadership Organization of Worcester. Olney said in the petition that allowing tents in city parks is crucial to addressing homelessness in the community.
Olney’s petition was ultimately unanimously filed by the council, which means it can’t go before the council again for 90 days and only then if it’s resubmitted, but in her public comments Olney said the Quality of Life Task Force made her feel like “literal trash” that they could wash away by arresting her or issuing her a notice to vacate.
Several city councilors defended the work of the task force and its Director Dan Cahill.
“I just want to say that Dan and the staff have done a tremendous job,” Councilor At-Large Donna Colorio said.
Councilors also acknowledged the comments of Olney and another unhoused individual, with District 5 Councilor Etel Haxhiaj said she heard their pain.
Haxhiaj and Councillor At-large Khrystian King both made motions asking that Olney and/or other members of the unhoused population be at the tables where decisions are being made to address homelessness including the city’s Task Force for Sustaining Housing First Solutions that the council passed.
During the Feb. 6 meeting, City Manager Eric Batista also gave a presentation on the Quality of Life Task Force.
The task force is an enforcement agency that works to create neighborhoods that are welcoming and thriving, “from assessment to action,” according to Batista.
That work includes addressing trash, illegal dumping, vacant and unsecured properties, unregistered vehicles on the street, needle removal, and more, according to Batista.
“They’ve done an unbelievable job. [Quality of Life Task Force leader Dan] Cahill and his team have a tremendous task and one component of the task is to deal and manage the situation of the unhoused,” Batista said. When they do work with the unhoused, the group coordinates with the city’s Homeless Outreach Team and works to provide individuals with services, according to Bastia.
He listed the task force’s accomplishments in 2023, including 3,000 site visits to problem properties to hold the owners accountable and collecting over 11,000 pieces of trash.
The city also shared a video with “an inside look” into the task force, explaining that it started in 2015 with three members.
In the video Cahill explains, that the task force now consists of four nuisance inspectors, four Worcester Police Officers, two inspectional service members and members of the city’s Homeless Outreach team.
In addition to requesting more information on the Quality of Life Task Force, at the Feb. 13 meeting, councilors are requesting the city look into using undersized parcels to construct tiny homes, consider amending the city’s noise ordinance to only allow construction projects to operate from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. in residential areas, and invite representatives from the city’s colleges and universities when holding meetings related to solutions to the city’s unhoused populations.
Kiernan Dunlop is an award-winning journalist who has spent the past five years reporting in Worcester, New Bedford, and Antigua and Barbuda. Her work has been published in Bloomberg, USA Today, Canary Media, MassLive, and the New Bedford Standard Times, among other outlets. She can be contacted at kdunlop@theworcesterguardian.org
