KALAMAZOO, MI -- Negotiations between protesters occupying city property and Kalamazoo officials hit a snag after demonstrators declined an offer to relocate their encampment.

Wednesday morning, Sept. 5, City Manager Jim Ritsema assembled a work group to find a safe location for the encampment and provide basic needs and resources. The Kalamazoo Gospel Mission extended an ill-fated offer to allow camping at a vacant field as an alternative to a city-sanctioned camp on Cedar Street.

Around 60 people are considered to be part of the demonstration, according to Ritsema. Many in that group moved their tents back into Bronson Park Wednesday and plan to occupy the site overnight.

"I don't know what I'm expecting any more," Ritsema said. "We've been trying to work with them since last Friday, in good faith, and will continue doing that."

For the time being, Ritsema said, overnight campers will not face arrest.

"We're going to take this day by day right now," he said.

Last week, the city manager was prepared to arrest demonstrators who slept overnight in their tents pitched at Bronson Park.

The City Commission is willing to decriminalize ordinances that make sleeping and camping in city parks a misdemeanor, Ritsema said. A first attempt at changing the ordinances -- a proposal which included decriminalization but also less popular language changes -- kicked off the protests on Aug. 19.

Protesters do not want to be exposed to the elements, and many have grievances with the Kalamazoo Gospel Mission. The campsite designated in Wednesday's offer has no natural shade and is located behind the Gospel Mission.

"If this is the only proposal, I think this is ridiculous," said Stuart Hamilton, one of the protesters chosen to speak on behalf of the group. "In my opinion, it's not acceptable."

Ritsema said there was a sense of urgency to provide immediate amenities to the group.

The deal still stands for those who want it. Until Oct. 5, the Kalamazoo Gospel Mission will allow outdoor camping on a vacant lot west of North Edwards Street.

"Right now, we've offered options for them to consider and what they do is their decision," Ritsema said.

A shade tent, tables and portable toilet would be brought to the site. Protesters can receive showers, meals, indoor beds, laundry and other services at the Gospel Mission and nearby Ministry with Community -- even those who had previously been barred from entry.

Service agencies will work to find shelter for people sleeping outdoors.

After two weeks of protest in the park, an agreement signed by both parties on Aug. 31 moved the camp two blocks south of Bronson Park to the exterior of a city-owned former public safety facility.

The Cedar Street site is viewed to be unsafe by protesters and the city, in part because it lacks basic amenities, has little protection from the sun and few grassy spaces to set up tents.

The city's new work group assigned the task of resolving the conflict came to the Cedar Street site to deliver the terms of the deal to the encampment. Protesters flatly declined the offer.

The protest is partway through its third week. Another meeting will be held Friday, according to city officials.

"We're working toward solutions with them," Ritsema said. "That's going to be our message right now, we want to work with these folks and address their immediate needs."

Back to Bronson Park

Hamilton said Bronson Park feels like home. He doesn't plan to leave the park, and others asked for permission to temporarily return to where the protest started.

"I am not moving, period," Hamilton said.

Ritsema said demonstrators were welcome to stay in Bronson Park until 4 p.m. Wednesday while the work group came up with other options. A storage truck rented by Kalamazoo resident Zachary Lassiter helped part of the encampment to move back into the park.

The work group acknowledged that the encampment sees itself as a family. There was an expressed desire from multiple service providers to keep them together.

However, Ritsema said, camping in Bronson Park is a fraught situation. There are no toilet facilities, showers, laundry or immediate access to food and water.

The demonstration began Aug. 19 to highlight a perceived lack of overnight shelter space in the community.

Since the protest began, the group expressed a litany of issues with the Kalamazoo Gospel Mission.

Pastor Michael Brown, Gospel Mission president and CEO, said he is hearing many complaints about staff misconduct, religious discrimination and sanitation issues for the first time. Gospel Mission is investigating those issues, he said Wednesday.

"I want to make our organization better," he said.

Brown said you don't need to be Christian to use Gospel Mission services. If staff says otherwise, Brown wants to know.

Last week, people previously banned from the Gospel Mission and Ministry with Community were allowed to use those services again.

Members of the work group included city staff and representatives of various community organizations like Local Initiatives Support Coalition, the Kalamazoo Gospel Mission, Kalamazoo Community Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services, United Way of the Battle Creek and Kalamazoo Region, Kalamazoo Community Foundation, Open Doors Kalamazoo and others.

Kalamazoo City Commissioner Shannon Sykes Nehring joined protesters by sleeping in Bronson Park Tuesday night after unleashing a harsh critique of her colleagues during the City Commission meeting, at which some members of the encampment spoke.

For approximately 30 minutes, the first-term commissioner offered a sprawling, and at times explicit, criticism of the city's handling of a sit-in protest. She called the City Commission "cowards" for not discussing the group's demands.

A few hours after midnight on Wednesday morning, Sykes Nehring expressed relief at getting some things off her chest. Several hours later, it was clear that she would continue to take an active role in the protest.

"When I left the meeting and walked out to the park, I was like 'Oh, what have I done?'" she said. "But I felt safer last night sleeping in that park than I have ever felt anywhere in my life. This is the best sense of family and community I've ever experienced anywhere."