By Lydia Crawley, The Parsons Advocate
PARSONS, W.Va. — Parsons resident Michael Whitely, Sr. addressed the City of Parsons Council June 18th with concerns over a recent influx of homeless individuals to the Parsons area. “I was kind of thrown for a loop about two months ago when we had an individual living down by the river who was homeless and having talked to some of the police officers, I found out that they really don’t have any way of dealing with that,” Whitely said.
Whitely said he had been a long time visitor of Parsons and a resident since 2019. “I’ve been coming into this town for over 50 years now and been living here since 2019,” Whitely said.
Whitely asked the Council if there was a plan in place to deal with the unhoused in the area. “I wonder what the council is going to do about getting the Sheriff the ability to a: deal with the homeless, b: help the homeless and c: protecting our young ladies and gentlemen who go to the park, go to the pools, etc,” Whitely said.
Parsons Mayor Bruce Kolsun said he had been in contact with Parsons Police Chief Keplinger on multiple occasions surrounding the issue. Keplinger said that legally, there is little the police can do.
Keplinger said that one individual has been trespassed from City facilities due to his behavior at the parks. “We are using every opportunity and avenue that we have,” Keplinger said. “I can say that one of the individuals who has been a chronic problem was trespassed from all City facilities. He has been trespassed from the parks, from the bathrooms, from the pavilions.”
While he hated to have to trespass anyone from the parks, Keplinger said that the behavior made the decision necessary. “I hate to take that step, I really do because they are public parks and they should be enjoyed by the public,” Keplinger said. “But, when your behavior affects other people’s enjoyment of the park, then that’s where we have to make decisions.”
