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RangeMedia
The Center Square
The KEY - 98.3
RangeMedia
Carl Segerstrom
Exterior of the cooling tent at Camp Hope in Spokane, Wash. on Thursday, July 28, 2022. With temperatures cooled, the tent is now used for supplies and services. (Photo by Erick Doxey)
The state dismissed the city’s deadlines on the same day the city renewed demands the shelter on WSDOT property be removed.
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In a strongly worded rebuke, state agency leaders took the city to task for playing politics and failing to work on constructive solutions for Camp Hope. The September 20 public letter, signed by the administrators of Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT), Commerce Department and State Patrol, comes in response to a September 8 notice from the city that set a mid-October deadline for the removal of the camp and notified the state that the camp would be classified as a nuisance property.
On the same day the state responded to the city’s timeline, the fire marshal also issued a new warning about the ongoing operation of the tent erected across the street from Camp Hope as a cooling shelter in late July. That letter said that the large tent, which was converted to a supply tent and host site for outreach services as the threat of extreme heat lessened, must be brought down by September 22 or face daily fines of $536.
“We are not taking down the tent,” said Julie Garcia, the founder and executive director of Jewels Helping Hands, which helps Camp Hope operate.
This recent volley of letters is part of an ongoing blame game between the city administration and state agencies. Spokane Mayor Nadine Woodward has repeatedly expressed frustration with the state for allowing the encampment to grow on state land. The state has countered that the city’s inadequate response to the homelessness crisis led to the creation of Camp Hope in the first place, and that they won’t disband the camp until local leaders bring more housing and shelter options online.
The state’s letter has multiple challenges to the city’s leadership and its role in moving people forward from Camp Hope. “Sadly, to date the city seems more preoccupied with blaming the state for the problem it ultimately played a hand in creating and not acknowledging its own roles and responsibilities regarding residents of its own city,” the letter read. It also calls out the mayor more directly, “Continuing to blame the state does not actually make that narrative true no matter how many times you repeat it to the press and elsewhere. The city — starting with the Mayor — is more preoccupied by optics than action.”
Beyond the rhetoric and challenge to the city’s leadership on this issue, the letter shows the state taking a more active role in policing and beginning the process of moving people off of the encampment — a role the city was clearly pressuring the state to step into earlier this month.
WSDOT-WSP-Commerce Response to City of Spokane by RANGE on Scribd
In the letter, the state outlines the next steps it plans to take at Camp Hope. “Initial tasks would include fencing, RV removal, badging and a curfew to help address safety and security challenges felt within and outside of the camp. This work starts the process for strategically decreasing the size and footprint of Camp Hope, while transitioning people to shelter/housing alternatives.”
WSDOT responded to follow-up questions about the timing of state action by saying that the plans outlined in the letter are preliminary and that details will be provided later. In the letter, the state made clear that the city’s October 14 deadline for removal of the camp wasn't being considered. “Not only are these deadlines completely unrealistic given the scope of this issue and current lack of housing capacity, but without time to provide adequate outreach, it sets up those living within the camp for failure.”
City spokesman Brian Coddington said that there’s been confusion over the nuisance property process and that the city does not expect the camp to be removed by mid-October. He said the city and WSDOT are meeting tomorrow to discuss the status of the property and next steps. “It’s a challenging and complex issue and we expect that conversation to happen beginning tomorrow,” Coddington said.
While some of the actions the state plans to carry out to secure and begin dispersing the camp, like putting up additional fencing and enforcing a curfew, are self-explanatory, badging requires a touch of explanation. According to WSDOT spokesperson Elizabeth Bousley:
“Badging is providing Camp Hope identification badges to those currently living within Camp Hope. This is not [an] official ID and doesn’t require legal names. It is a proven community safety method that helps identify those that are part of the camp (and who are not) which in turns helps understand who needs services, how many people are living within the encampment, and who needs to be worked with in the event of concerns, etc. This is also a community safety measure. This will allow us to know who should and should not be at the site. We can also follow up with any potential complaints or concerns from neighbors having to do with possible individuals from the camp.”
Julie Garcia, the de facto leader of the camp, said that the processes outlined in the letter are welcomed by the camp community. She said she loves the state plan and that the Camp Hope community has already been informed about the measures the state agencies outlined in the letter. “We've already spoken with the camp about all of them. There are very few that are opposed to it,” she said. “It keeps them safe, it keeps the optics up in the neighborhood and it moves them closer to a meaningful solution.”
“These are folks that are ready to participate,” Garcia said. “There are some folks in our camp that aren't and those folks will probably leave once there's a curfew put on the camp. But the folks that are truly willing to engage in services — for hope for something better — are willing to participate. They understand, and they’ve asked for a fence for months.”
Garcia also said that the badging program will provide an invaluable way to track data and outcomes for people at the encampment and people experiencing homelessness throughout the community. “We have to have data to know what does or doesn't work,” she said. “If it's shown to work, then let's replicate it over and over and over again until we don't have people experiencing homelessness in our county.”
Coddington said the city is encouraged that the state is pledging money for the operation of the Trent Shelter and hopes to see more of the projects proposed to Commerce funded in the near future. So far, Commerce has only announced funding for the assessment process and the transitional housing project in West Hills — a project the city proposed and later attempted to distance itself from amidst neighborhood backlash.
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The Center Square
Spokane moves to control homeless activities
A large homeless camp has been set up on state Department of Transportation land along East Second Avenue in Spokane. Called “Camp Hope," the site has drawn 400 to 500 people. Spokane County has been offered $24.3 million by the state Department of Commerce to relocate people from the camp to shelters and other locations.
(The Center Square) – The City of Spokane is moving on two fronts to regulate the activities of a growing homeless population, with a ban on camping in certain locations and restrictions on where people can hang out during business hours.
On Monday, the city council voted unanimously to prohibit camping along the Spokane River and Latah Creek, within three blocks of congregate shelters, under and within 50 feet of downtown railroad viaducts, and anywhere else police determine is a danger to public safety.
When people violate the local law, police officers will direct them to community court, which handles low-level crimes and connects people to services they need to stabilize their lives and get into permanent housing. Offenders will have to perform community service and meet with service providers in order to have charges dropped.
With the opening of a new homeless shelter on Trent Avenue that can accommodate up to 250 people, and more during extreme weather, council members believe the ban will hold up in court if legally challenged.
Although Spokane has had an illegal camping law on the books that makes offenses a criminal misdemeanor since 2018, a federal ruling that year made the law unenforceable.
A decision four years ago by the U.S. District Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit prohibited cities from banning camping on public property unless they provide adequate shelter space.
Because the new law only bans camping in specific areas, and not all city properties, officials believe it complies with the 9th Circuit ruling in Martin v. Boise.
City council members have said the camping ban is necessary to protect the environment and address the public safety concerns of area residents and businesses.
Councilor Lori Kinnear noted on Monday that camping along the two waterways has damaged riparian areas and increased the amount of trash and waste entering the river and creek. She said camping along viaducts has created a pedestrian hazard, and individuals living on the streets near homeless shelters have been known to prey on those staying inside.
Councilors Michael Cathcart and Jonathan Bingle proposed a camping ban with more teeth, but voted for the milder version supported by the majority of their peers because, "it's something, barely something, but it's something."
“I’m not willing to let perfect be the enemy of the good,” Cathcart said at the Sept. 19 meeting.
Council President Breean Beggs said the legislation is a compromise that attempts to address legitimate public safety concerns while also being compassionate to the homeless.
Cathcart believes the ordinance is the humane way to go.
“There is nothing compassionate about letting people remain on the street,” he said. “Anyone who says otherwise, I don’t know, I guess our value systems are very different.”
The new law will go into effect 30 days after Spokane Mayor Nadine Woodward signs it.
On another front to control homeless activities, the city has resumed enforcing its sit and lie ordinance in a sector of downtown Spokane.
The ban prohibits people from hanging out on sidewalks 6 a.m. to midnight from Maple Street to Division Street and Spokane Falls Boulevard to Interstate 90.
Prior to receiving a citation, people are given a warning. Officers are referring people to the newly opened Trent shelter and informing them of other services available to them.
There are several exceptions to the rule, including business owners with permission to occupy the sidewalk and area residents and visitors attending events such as parades and festivals. People are also still allowed to sit in a bus stop zone and to gather for protests.
Anyone who is homeless is also exempt when shelter space is unavailable.
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The KEY - 98.3
Aj BrewsterPublished: September 20, 2022
Spokane is working to clean out the largest homeless camp in Washington with an estimated 600-1,000 people living there. They are trying to provide shelter and homes for them, but can only provide a fraction of what is needed. When they tear down the "tent city" where will all the homeless go? Will some of them move to the Tri-Cities or spread out over the rest of Washington?
HOW BIG IS THE PROBLEM? The Spokane homeless camp is larger then any in Washington state with an estimated 600-1000 people living there. Spokane is estimated to have as many as 1,800 homeless total living in the city limits according to a Point-In-Time survey in 2022. To help battle the problem, Spokane just opened a new shelter on September 6th and is funded through December of 2023 according to news reports. The problem is that it only hold 150 beds right now with more space for beds in the future if needed. That only holds a small fraction of the shelter needed for the homeless camp, so what do the rest do?
HALF DO NOT WANT THE SHELTER The other problem is that most people living in the camp do not want to move. Mike Shaw, CEO and founder of the Guardians Foundation which is the facility’s operator thinks "I truly believe that most of the people at Camp Hope, 45 to 50% of them, are in that outdoor transient lifestyle.” In another interview, a resident of the camp said ""We planned on traveling. Just living out, seeing things and moving around." He went on to say "I don't want to be locked into one location."
SO NOW WHERE DO THEY GO? That is the question that everyone has been asking, and there still are no real solutions. The plans they are working on only cover a small percentage of the need. There are literally hundreds, if not 1000 people, that will need to go somewhere when the camp is taken down, which is the end game. Local Franklin County Commissioner Clint Didier raised this question back in February of this year. He claimed to be told by a State Patrolman that the homeless people were gathered and someone was "busing them in from Seattle" according to a report by Northwest Public Broadcasting. Human Services Manager for Benton and Franklin County Kyle Sullivan says exactly the opposite. He deals with the homeless in the Tri-Cities area and says that so far "the people we have encountered that are experiencing homelessness lived here."
Didier's claims seem to be completely false, but his concern is understood by the community. If the homeless camp in Spokane is taken down, those people will have to have someplace to go. Tri-Cities weather is much milder then Spokane in the winter and there are a lot of hidden secluded places they could set up without being noticed for a while. Tri-Cities already had to deal with one homeless camp when the area caught fire in May of 2021. There is also an increasing amount of homeless and panhandlers being seen on almost every busy street corner for the last couple years.
Right now nobody seems to have the answer to solving this problem, probably because the answer is multifaceted and definitely not simple. I am not saying when they tear down the city all the homeless will move here, but we should be prepared and have a plan in case some of them do. They have to go somewhere.