1/24/2023
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KREM
KXLY
The Spokesman-Review
As pandemic rent relief ends, states struggle to prevent homelessness
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KREM
The response was issued regarding Jewels Helping Hands' motion for a preliminary injunction surrounding the camp.
SPOKANE COUNTY, Wash. — Spokane County has issued a response to Jewels Helping Hands and Disability Rights Washington's motion for a preliminary injunction surrounding the I-90 homeless camp.
Ultimately, the County requested the temporary restraining order to be lifted and for the motion for preliminary injunction to be denied
In the 29-page response, Spokane County argued that the temporary restraining order from arresting and removing residents from the property would prolong "the persistent and overwhelmingly common drug and associated criminal activity in and around the encampment."
The county also noted that the existence of the camp has taken a significant financial toll on the city of Spokane and its taxpayers as calls for emergency services and law enforcement continue to pile up. The response also highlighted illegal drug activity, trafficking in stolen property, theft, vandalism, vehicle prowling, assaults, rape, indecent liberties, littering and other unsafe and unsanitary practices.
"Residents of the encampment, their associates and visitors substantial and dramatically interfere with the use and enjoyment of the business and residential properties of neighbors in the area, preventing quiet enjoyment of their property," the County said in the response. "Threats and intimidation to neighbors and members of their families, business patrons and passersby are a fact of life."
Later in the response, the county took aim at the state of Washington, claiming that officials have "simply refused to take appropriate action to abate the nuisance."
The city's efforts to provide housing for the camp's population were also acknowledged, as the county noted the recently established Trent Resource and Assistance Center (TRAC).
"The City’s TRAC facility on East Trent has opened since the inception of Camp Hope," The county said in their response. "TRAC is a low barrier shelter with capacity for at least 350 homeless individuals in a building that is heated, has shower and toilet facilities, security for property and supervision and security for the protection of residents and staff.”
City council will send developer Larry Stone a letter with the intention to buy the shelter. It's a move Mayor Woodward does not support.
SPOKANE, Wash. — The city of Spokane could be one step closer to buying the Trent Shelter, which is housing hundreds of homeless men and women.
The resolution passed tonight is non-binding, but council will send developer Larry Stone a letter letting him know the city does intend to buy the building. It's a move Mayor Nadine Woodward does not support.
Right now, the city of Spokane is spending roughly $1,000 a day to lease the Trent Shelter. When the city entered a lease with Spokane developer Larry Stone this summer, they negotiated an option to purchase the property, but that option expires at the end of the month.
"It makes clear sense that if we're going to have this for longer than a year that we should be purchasing it," Councilmember Zack Zappone said.
in a 5-2 vote tonight, council members passed a resolution. The city and Mr. Stone will have to agree on an independent appraiser to get a market value and then agree on a sales price within 15 days, according to council president Breean Beggs.
"I'm going to oppose this because I just don't think that we're in a situation where we know this has a long-term sustainable future at this point in time," Councilmember Michael Cathcart said.
Mayor Nadine Woodward is also opposed to buying the building. Instead, she wants to invest in building permanent bathrooms, a kitchen and a laundry facility.
"Right now what happens is those services are largely contracted so that incurs a monthly fee and expense and some of those expenses are quite high." City Spokesperson Brian Coddington said. "The belief is that it will pay itself back in a matter of months rather than years."
"It just seems challenging to invest the money in bathrooms for someone else to reap the value of it," Council president Breean Beggs said. "So, I think if we are going to keep this for more than a few months, which I am assuming we are, we should buy the building."
KREM 2 was unable to reach Stone for comment tonight.
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KXLY
SPOKANE, Wash. -- The size of Camp Hope has dropped dramatically in the past five months. At one point, it was the largest homeless encampment in the state, home to more than 600 people over the summer. Now, that number is hovering around 138 and continues to drop.
The amount of garbage onsite is also decreasing; in their latest report, WSDOT says they’ve removed more than 48,000 pounds of trash.
While these are promising signs of improvement, there is still work to be done.
Mayor Nadine Woodward remains firm that the city has beds available for the remaining people at Camp Hope, though removing them from the WSDOT-owned property has proven problematic.
The city is battling a lawsuit filed by residents of the camp, along with ‘Jewels Helping Hands’. They allege the city has overstepped in their efforts to clear the camp.
The legal precedent at play is Martin v. Boise, a decision that, among other things, deemed it unconstitutional to arrest someone sleeping outside within city limits if no homeless shelter beds are available.
A ruling Mayor Woodward would love the courts to take another look at.
“I would love the US Supreme court to take that issue up,” said Woodward. “It's a huge issue with enormous impacts for nine Western states.”
In a recent federal filing, the city is arguing that precedent doesn’t apply to Camp Hope, reaffirming that there are beds available for the people sleeping there.
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The Spokesman-Review
As pandemic rent relief ends, states struggle to prevent homelessness
For almost three years since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, states have had an unwelcome but ideal laboratory to test potential solutions to slow eviction, one of the most persistent challenges in preventing homelessness.
Turns out, temporary federal and local eviction moratoriums, coupled with a $46.5 billion federal Emergency Rental Assistance Program launched in 2021, were a huge success: They helped more than a million people avoid displacement at the height of the pandemic.
Eviction case filings were lower in states that slowed or paused eviction proceedings, according to a study by the Eviction Lab at Princeton University, and could offer a lesson in how states might help people stay in their homes in the future. There were an estimated 1.5 million fewer eviction filings while various levels of moratoriums were in place, according to USAFacts, a nonprofit that compiles federal data.
Some states had stronger protections in place than others, but helping people at the earliest stages of the eviction process was especially effective at keeping them in their homes, housing advocates said. Rental assistance, in the form of cash payments or repayment plans that allow people to pay back owed rent over time, also proved effective.
“You can see it in the eviction numbers. People did remain housed and at the same time, there was a very large push for rental assistance. And that rental assistance helped tenants,” said Kim McCarty, executive director of the Community Alliance of Tenants, an Oregon advocacy group for renters.
For now, though, the federal cash infusion is over, and eviction bans have lifted. That has sparked worries that homelessness could continue to skyrocket.
Some states have had to halt the rental aid programs they created during the pandemic. Several governors and mayors have declared housing states of emergency, but public and nonprofit agencies alike are struggling for new ways to help keep residents in their homes.
Many states and local governments ran through their federal aid faster than expected. They were inundated with requests and, as a result, spent all their money and shuttered their rental assistance application portals last year or this month. In Texas, the state’s Department of Housing and Community Affairs stopped accepting applications in November 2021. Its website is blunt: “We are currently not accepting new applications or additional funding requests, but may do so in the future if more funds are made available.”