11/26/2022
Ed. Note: I am going to begin including this link: ShelterMeSpokane.org which will take you to the daily Shelter Beds Available provided by the ShelterMeSpokane.org website at the beginning of each edition of In The News
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The Center Square
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The Center Square
Spokane County Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich has issued a video invitation to Gov. Jay Inslee to come to the east side of Washington for a meeting with local government leaders about disbanding a large homeless camp on state land.
Photo courtesy of Spokane County Sheriff's Office
(The Center Square) – Spokane County Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich has invited Gov. Jay Inslee to eastern Washington for a meeting with local government leaders; Knezovich wants a productive conversation on how to quickly and efficiently disband a large homeless camp on state land.
“Governor, I’m asking you: Please come to Spokane, please help us resolve this—I’ll give you all the credit,” said the sheriff in a video invitation to Inslee.
Knezovich said his invitation was based on Inslee’s strong words in a Nov. 2 press conference, regarding immediate action needed to move homeless camps in Seattle. He said Camp Hope in Spokane has been in place since last December, and state officials don’t appear to be in a hurry to move people off Washington Department of Transportation property.
The sheriff told The Center Square, Inslee dropped by the camp in the East Central neighborhood while attending a football game at Gonzaga University last week. However, Knezovich noted the governor didn’t take time to sit down with county and city officials grappling with the problems it created.
“Rather than just taking time for a photo op, I invite the governor to come help us break the logjam created by his bureaucrats,” said Knezovich.
It’s inhumane to leave people “living in squalor” along a highway, he said.
“I don’t call that place Camp Hope because it is anything but,” said the sheriff.
Why the fight to keep the camp open? Knezovich said the answer appears to be simple but disturbing. Jewels Helping Hands, Empire Health, Revive Counseling and other involved nonprofits are being paid large sums by the Department of Commerce to continue providing services, he said.
“It’s appalling that it really seems to come down to profit,” Knezovich said.
None of the agencies or service providers named by Knezovich could be reached immediately on Friday for comment.
Although the sheriff set an initial deadline of mid-November to empty the camp, he amended the deadline to the first part of December, when Catholic Charities will open the doors of the former Quality Inn to provide housing for about 100 people. Between that facility and the city’s newly opened Trent Resource and Assistance Center, the sheriff said everyone at the WSDOT camp will have a warm, dry place to stay.
Knezovich maintains he, as the elected sheriff, has the constitutional authority to close Camp Hope, which has become a chronic nuisance.
“This camp started as a protest and it is unlawful assembly that needs to end,” he said.
The camp was founded following a protest at city hall over a lack of local resources for the homeless. WSDOT claims there are about 465 people remaining at the camp, Knezovich believes the count is actually about 250. He said population size matters, because WSDOT and Commerce officials claim there isn’t enough shelter space available in and around Spokane to accommodate campers, so relocation is unable to happen.
The Trent center can accommodate 250 people or more if necessary, and it’s not the only shelter available, insists the sheriff.
He has drawn fire for flying a helicopter over the camp to monitor activities, and attempt to get an accurate head count. Knezovich argues that the flights are necessary to monitor activities at the camp due to the high volume of crime that occurs there. He said problems in or near the camp have included littering, trespassing, drug use and distribution, burglaries, theft, rape, assault and a drive-by shooting, among others.
The identification badges issued by WSDOT to keep track of people in the camp, and hopefully reduce crime, are “worthless” when people can use the name “Thumper,” or some other mythical creature, he said.
One of the campers arrested turned out to be an unregistered sex offender, he said.
“We need to know what is going on in that camp,” he said. “We are being asked by the neighborhood and people running the camp to control the crime there and then chastised for using tools to properly protect the camp—you can’t have your cake and eat it too.”
According to Knezovich, the flights have been approved by legal counsel.
Knezovich said a large percentage of people living in homeless camps around the state, as well as Spokane, struggle with mental illness, or serious drug and alcohol addiction.
Let people start out living in a treatment center or other facility, and provide them with wraparound services to get their lives stabilized. Allow them to earn their way into a halfway house and then, when they are ready, independent living situation. If they relapse, then take them back to the level they need for rehabilitation, he said.
“That is the solution,” he said. “It all comes down to collaboration and where the state chooses to put its money.”
Tenants and members of the Upstate Downstate Housing Alliance from across the state, demand New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and state legislators pass universal rent control legislation that would strengthen and expand tenants rights. Across the U.S., the City of Spokane is pondering new rules to better protect tenants that will be considered at Monday's meeting.
Hans Pennink/AP Images
(The Center Square) – The Spokane City Council is poised to adopt new regulations for landlords at Monday’s meeting, but two members don’t believe the local government is entitled to being too involved in the rental housing business.
“This has the potential to run smaller landlords out of town,” said Councilor Jonathan Bingle.
He said the proposal is intrusive enough that landlords are even required to help tenants register to vote, which shouldn’t be their responsibility.
“There are so many foreseeable conflicts to this that are really nasty,” he said.
“We are essentially adding to the cost of housing while we have a housing crisis because expenses occurred by the landlord are going to get passed on to tenants,” said Councilor Michael Cathcart, who plans to introduce a series of amendments to the proposal.
The draft ordinance to establish a local program to assist landlords and tenants has been brought forward by Council President Breean Beggs and Councilor Karen Stratton. The legislative body will consider their program at the Nov. 28 meeting.
“The city of Spokane, as a municipal government, has a duty to protect public safety, to foster safe, livable, and affordable housing for everyone,” reads the proposed code.
By implementing the program, the process for people to obtain rental housing will be streamlined by establishment of universal background checks, tenant relocation and landlord mitigation programs, say Beggs and Stratton.
Their policy, if approved, will require landlords to register all units, even unattached accessory dwellings, on their property. They must purchase business licenses for each rental, and pay a $10 fee for every unit if they have more than three rentals.
Landlords must also complete an online training module created or sponsored by the Spokane Landlord’s Association, or otherwise approved by the city. Failure to complete this training within 90 days of being issued the license for a rental, will result in penalties.
Seventy-five percent of landlord business license funds will be paid into a code enforcement account to cover operational costs, including the wages of staffers who will inspect all rental properties.
Landlords will be required to provide tenants with a digital or hard-copy information packet about their rights and the responsibilities of the property owner. The packet will be developed by the city’s Code Enforcement Department, with advice and recommendations by landlord, tenant and social service housing organizations.
“The [code enforcement] program achieves compliance of health, safety and welfare code violations in/on residential rental properties that are a threat to the occupant’s safety, structural integrity of the building, and a negative impact on the surrounding neighborhoods," reads the draft ordinance.
Under the program, prospective tenants can apply for multiple dwellings and only pay once for a universal background check involving their rental history, finances and criminal offenses.
A landlord can use a screening service other than the universal check, but cannot impose any fee on the tenant for doing so.
The proposed code sets up a mitigation program to help landlords repair damages by a low-income tenant involved in a government of nonprofit-operated housing program. The city will establish rules for use of the fund, which is intended to supplement any state or federal program, and can only be accessed after the tenant’s damage deposit is exhausted.
If the code is approved, the city will provide seed money for an attorney position that will focus on tenant legal services. Fees from settlement of cases are expected to sustain the position once the program is up and running.
According to city reports, the legal program will primarily deal with rental units that have fallen below an established standard of livability. The cost of tenant relocation will be recovered from these landlords, and any settlement used to offset attorney wages and benefits.
Tenants who complain about rental conditions will be actively protected from eviction.
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