- Fines for camping in public places may be legal, but that doesn't make them useful
- Rushed timeline to approve rule changes is unnecessary
- Bigger approach needs to include more help from suburbs
The city of Des Moines appears poised to make an ill-advised course change Monday in how it treats homeless residents.
The public resources made available to serve people who don’t have permanent shelter are not adequate, in Des Moines or almost anywhere else in the country. But cities have another, separate problem: difficulty persuading some people who are homeless to take advantages of the services that are available.
Des Moines proposes in a set of new ordinances to allow fines so that more people will accept going to shelters. Some advocates said after the city made the proposal public that there is little reason to expect that to work, and many reasons to think it’s morally wrong.
It would be better for the city to take this policy change off its current fast track, which could see final approval delivered at an early-Monday meeting that was announced late Thursday. And it would be best for the city to then scrap the fines and concentrate efforts solely on improving services.
Fines for camping in public places may be legal, but that doesn't make them useful
The changes proposed for Des Moines would:
- Make it illegal to sleep on public property. Violators could be “immediately removed from the premises,” offered transportation to a shelter and fined $50 for a misdemeanor crime.
- Reduce the warning time the city must give before clearing encampments. The city says it would hold valuable property it finds for 30 days without charge.
The legislation was published 20 days after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that an Oregon city could arrest and punish people for camping in public without violating the Constitution. The ruling intensified debate about “criminalizing homelessness,” but lost in that discussion is whether criminal penalties are effective in better connecting homeless residents with services.
On one side: “In practice, this will only cause more barriers to finding housing and further contribute to the current housing crisis,” the American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa said in a letter to council members.
On the other: “The council has been leading on services and affordable housing for a long time,” City Councilman Chris Coleman said in an interview Sunday, citing a number of affordable housing projects approved and in the works. “Now it's time that we make sure the homeless in our community know that this amazing safety net has been created by the generous people of Des Moines, and we beg them to go use it. It's created for them.”
Service providers says criminal penalties aren’t supported by research. We acknowledge that prohibitions have their place, but too often they can create an appearance of resolute action against behaviors at the expense of more difficult work to combat those behaviors’ causes.
Some supporters of a harder line might hypothesize a scenario in which taking $50 from a drug addict’s wallet is an involuntary step toward sobriety and stability. But it’s considerably easier to imagine people who, for whatever reason, are not checking into shelters continuing to reject those options and simply facing new hassles.
In January, a labor-intensive count showed an 11% year-over-year increase in Polk County homelessness. That’s what should inform adjustments to city code and programming. It’s important that policymakers be clear that they are responding to more than just observations that homeless residents have become more visible from vehicle and pedestrian paths.
“This is necessary,” Coleman said. “Our community is at the tipping point, because we lack a strategy right now for how we're going to stem the growing number of homeless people in our community. And we need to sound the alarm that a plan is necessary.”
Rushed timeline to approve rule changes is unnecessary
Any portion of these changes to city policy deserves to be aired and debated in the city’s typical fashion. The council met July 15 (part of the meeting was postponed because of a tornado warning) and was next scheduled to meet on the evening of Aug. 5.
Instead, the city announced after business hours Thursday, the council will hear from city employees about this proposal at an unspecified time after 7:30 a.m. Monday and then vote on it. City Manager Scott Sanders has asked that at least six of the seven council members also vote to waive required second and third readings.
It’s all permissible under state and city rules. But rushing through a contentious proposal with one work day’s notice at a vague and unconventional time when many people will be working is a bad idea. It’s also unnecessary; the Supreme Court ruling is not an emergency that justifies extraordinary action. Over the weekend, the council without explanation reduced the proposed fine for violating the new camping ordinance from $120 to $50.
Coleman said Sunday that he and Mayor Connie Boesen requested the fine be lower than what was in the original recommendation from Sanders’ office. He also noted the addition of a provision that community service can be performed in lieu of paying a fine.
At the bare minimum, council members should decline to waive additional readings of these ordinances so that more constituents can weigh in before Aug. 5. Coleman said he wants Monday’s vote to require that the changes not be implemented “until these new services can be developed and created.” We welcome that clarification. Considering harsher enforcement down the road becomes more justifiable if the city ensures adequate services up front.
Better approach needs to include more help from Des Moines' suburbs
Polk County’s homelessness planning organization said this winter that more than $20 million of additional annual spending would be needed to meet the need for more shelter spaces and affordable housing units. That alone indicates that improving conditions for unhoused residents is a multi-piece puzzle.
The suburbs need to step up, too. It will require a regional effort to make shelters and other services more appealing and to increase the stock of affordable housing in the metro.
Des Moines also should not be singled out for criticism for considering fines for public camping. A Register survey found that existing ordinances in several cities, including Ankeny and Waukee, specify the possibility of fines for violating their camping rules. They fly under the radar because homeless residents mostly are in the capital city.
As with many aspects of governing the region, suburban governments should not get to enjoy the benefits of Des Moines’ unique attractions without participating, monetarily and in other ways, in addressing the burdens that confront the city.
Those are considerations for down the road. On Monday, Des Moines should slow down so it can take time to hear from a full range of voices on how the city can best help less-fortunate residents get into suitable housing while treating everyone with dignity and respect.
Lucas Grundmeier, on behalf of the Register’s editorial board
This editorial is the opinion of the Des Moines Register's editorial board: Carol Hunter, executive editor; Lucas Grundmeier, opinion editor; and Richard Doak and Rox Laird, editorial board members.
Want more opinions? Read other perspectives with our free newsletter or visit us at DesMoinesRegister.com/opinion. Respond to any opinion by submitting a Letter to the Editor at DesMoinesRegister.com/letters.
Most Popular
Comments / 0