City Official, Under Questioning, Suggests Homeless Take Cabs to Shelters

By Chuck Sudo in News on Oct 31, 2011 9:43PM

Evelyn Diaz, Commissioner of the City's Department of Family and Support Services, had what can be sincerely described as a brain fart moment today during City Council budget hearings. Diaz was discussing the layoffs of 24 city employees who worked the overnight shift picking up homeless residents and transporting them to shelters as the result of a cut in state funding when she was asked about how to make up for that loss.

Diaz replied, "Public transportation, cabs."

The Sun-Times called this a "Marie Antoinette moment." But in order for that analogy to be drawn, wouldn't Diaz have to register disdain and apathy to the plight of the homeless?

According to Diaz's biography at the Family and Support Services website, her career in government started at the community level as a "an aldermanic assistant in Chicago's 46th Ward where she coordinated economic development initiatives and managed the alderman's homeless, childcare, and domestic violence projects." From there, Diaz was Associate Director of the Chicago Jobs Council, where she helped coordinate Opportunity Chicago, a program "workforce development initiative involving the Chicago Housing Authority and numerous government and education agencies in a collaborative effort to assist thousands of public housing residents enter and succeed in employment."

Doesn't sound like she was channeling Marie Antoinette as much as trying to come up with an answer to a question. An embarrassing one, sure.

Chicago Coalition of the Homeless director of policy Julie Dworkin said she wasn't offended by Diaz's answer.

I don’t know that she believes it’s realistic for homeless people to take a cab. She was probably just trying to show how difficult the situation is — that we’re left with choices that really don’t make sense.

Dworkin told the Sun-Times the responsibility for getting the homeless to shelters overnight was supposed to fall to the Police Department. Instead, Police are giving the homeless the address of the nearest shelter and instructing them to go there. With many of the homeless fighting alcohol, substance and mental health issues, it doesn't make sense to point them in the direction of, say, Pacific Garden Mission and commanding them to march.