Blowback continues from Joplin City Council's response to James Boyer death

After Amanda Bearden, Carl Junction, of Advocates for the Under Served, criticized the Joplin City Council at its most recent meeting for its policies concerning the homeless that she said led to the recent death of James Boyer, 41, Joplin, council member Ryan Jackson suggested that the council no longer let people who do not live in the city limits address the council.

In a message to media, which I received today, Bearden writes about that response, as well as the city's actions concerning the homeless. The letter is posted below.

Dear Joplin City Council Members, Mayor Cortez and members of the media,

I am writing to express my profound concern regarding the response I received during the February 2, 2026 City Council meeting when I informed the council that James Boyer, an unsheltered member of OUR community, had died of exposure.

What I Expected: When a citizen informs elected officials that someone has died due to conditions the city has a charter-mandated responsibility to address, the appropriate response should have included the acknowledgment of the loss of life, condolences to those who knew Mr. Boyer and recognition of the gravity of the situation.

What Actually Occurred: Instead of any expression of empathy or concern for Mr. Boyer's death, Councilperson Ryan Jackson immediately responded with hostility, including:

Aggressively questioning whether I had spoken to the City Council in Carl Junction

Suggesting I "take all of the unhoused to Carl Junction's parks"

Specifically mentioning "Briarbrook Park is nice and has ponds" in what appeared to be a sarcastic dismissal

Continuing to aggressively lecture me about camping ordinances for several minutes

This behavior only stopped when Mayor Cortez stated, "Mr. Jackson, that's enough"

The Core Issue: Neither Mr. Jackson, Mayor Cortez, nor any other council member or city official present acknowledged that a human being had died. There was no moment of recognition, no expression of concern, no indication that this loss mattered.

Why This Matters:

A man is dead. James Boyer was a member of this community who died of exposure - a preventable death.

Professional standards: Elected officials representing 50,000+ residents should be capable of basic human empathy, particularly when informed of a death that relates to city policy.

Accountability vs. deflection: My residency in Carl Junction is irrelevant to:

Mr. Boyer's death

Joplin's charter obligations under Section 2.12

The fact that Joplin's $125,000 homeless coordinator position remains vacant

The need for evidence-based solutions rather than criminalization

The pattern this reveals: When presented with the ultimate consequence of inadequate policy - death - the immediate response was to attack the messenger rather than address the message.

My Questions:

Does this council believe the death of an unsheltered community member warrants any official acknowledgment or concern?

Is aggressive deflection toward citizens who bring forward difficult information the standard response protocol?

What accountability exists for council members who respond to reports of death with hostility rather than appropriate gravity?

What I'm Asking:

A formal acknowledgment of James Boyer's death and its relationship to the inadequacy of your current approach

Clarification of expected standards of conduct when citizens report deaths related to city policy

Renewed commitment to filling the vacant homeless coordinator position and implementing evidence-based solutions before more lives are lost, before more community members are permanently disabled

Members of the Joplin area community, including family of Mr. Boyer, will be holding a vigil next Saturday, February 14th at 5 pm. This would be one more opportunity for you to show some sort of empathy and care for this community member, their friends and loved ones.

I have spent over six years working with unsheltered community members and researching best practices. I come before this council not as an adversary but as someone trying to prevent more deaths and trying to eliminate the harm (including frostbite that currently has two community members facing amputation) . Mr. Boyer's death should be a call to action, not an opportunity to question my zip code.

The measure of a community is how it treats its most vulnerable members. Right now, we are failing that measure - and when confronted with the fatal consequences of that failure, the response was hostility rather than humanity.

I respectfully request that this email be included in the public record and/or encourage the media copied here to share this with their subscribers.

Sincerely,

Amanda Bearden

Advocates for the Under Resourced