Des Moines gives initial OK to homelessness ordinances, provoking criticism, some support

The Des Moines City Council preliminarily approved a change that would ban camping and reduce the number of days people have to remove their belongings from public spaces, despite resounding objections from community members and area homeless service providers.

About 80 people flooded council chambers early Monday morning, many to address a proposed ordinance that would take what city leaders call a "harder-line" approach to addressing homelessness . It would end Des Moines' complaint-based system of dealing with homeless campsites and empower city staff to remove and clean them up on their own initiative.

Council members must approve the changes at two more meetings before they take effect.

Des Moines City Council members started at 7:30 a.m. to finish up a council meeting delayed from last week's tornado before they dove into a work session about an hour later to explain the proposed changes. Several people left by the time the special meeting to vote on the changes came around ― a few mumbling they had to leave for work. Many people who were lined up to speak on the items were unable to.

More: Des Moines proposes 'harder-line' on homelessness, with camping ban, speedier removal

"This ordinance is cruelty. And as they say, you can wrap a rotten fish in a nonbinding ordinance, but it still stinks, and this whole thing stinks from the head down," Des Moines resident John Noble said during the comment period. "If this ordinance goes forward, I am ashamed of this city. I am ashamed of the way we treat our neighbors … I am ashamed to live in this city because it is clear that this city does not care about poor people."

But some attendees spoke in favor of the proposed changes.

Sara Schuler, director of human resources at downtown advertising agency Flynn Wright, said that she and other employees have had concerning experiences while walking through the skywalk and city streets and that incidents have escalated since COVID-19. Schuler said the agency employs about 100 people in its downtown office.

Schuler told a story of a young female employee who was leaving from the office to a parking lot and was chased by a person. The company called the police, but because the person didn't hurt her, "there was nothing more that could be done."

"It is imperative that we have a safe place for our employees, not just inside the walls but outside the walls, too," she said. "When you're onboarding new employees, there's lots of things that you cover with them. And I have not necessarily always had to cover safety in downtown, but I do."

Proposed changes follow increase in numbers of homeless people in Polk County

The proposed changes follow the recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling that said people experiencing homelessness can be arrested and fined for sleeping in public spaces. The 6-3 decision involving the city of Grants Pass, Oregon, the most significant on homelessness in decades, overturned a lower court's ruling that enforcing camping bans when shelter space is unavailable is cruel and unusual punishment.

It also comes amid a more than 12% increase in homelessness to a total of more than 650,000 people in 2023, the largest unhoused population since the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development began tracking it in 2007.

Des Moines City Council member Chris Coleman, who led the charge seeking to pass the ordinance, which in large part is modeled after the one in Grants Pass, said unsheltered people are becoming more visible and more concerning to Des Moines residents. The latest figures from a semiannual point-in-time count in Polk County, conducted over a 24-hour period in January, showed 715 people experiencing homelessness ― an 11% jump from the previous year.

The proposed camping ban includes a $50 fine for violators and reduces the number of days people have to clear their belongings from public spaces to three days from 10. Both items passed 5-2, with Josh Mandelbaum and Mike Simonson voting no.

Additionally, council members unanimously approved a resolution that would direct city staff to work to remove common barriers for homeless people to access shelter, such as concerns over storage of belongings and separation from their pets.

Community member Joe Dolack told council members the city should not place the burden of operations onto service providers and nonprofits, and said the work to help people experiencing homelessness needs to be a regional effort, not just in Des Moines.

"Chris Coleman, I disagree with this ordinance that you proposed in saying that it's not criminalizing the homeless, because it is. Because if it's $5, $50, $5,000 —" Dolack added before a bell sounded to end his two-minute speaking period.

What would new Des Moines ordinances on camp cleanups include?

During the council work session on Monday morning, multiple city leaders walked through the proposed ordinance changes, which have two distinct elements.

The first involves altering the city's current encroachment policy , which says structures, tents or shelter items left untended on public property can be removed and disposed of under city code.

Under the current rules, encroachment cleanups are primarily prompted by complaints from community members. The owners of the items have 10 days to remove their belongings before the city's Neighborhood Inspections Division ― a department whose duties include overseeing condemned buildings and junk abatement ― clears the site.

The cost for the public property cleanups that staff have completed so far in 2024 has totaled $150,872 for 93 cases, city officials noted in the presentation. The fastest a camp can be cleared out under the current ordinance is just under two weeks, weather permitting, said Dalton Jacobus, neighborhood inspections administrator.

More: How much has Des Moines spent on clearing and cleaning up homeless camps in 2024?

Should the proposed ordinance pass, the city wouldn't need to wait for a complaint. Instead, a team of city staff such as police officers and public works employees would likely take action proactively depending on resources, Des Moines Assistant City Manager Malcolm Hankins previously told the Des Moines Register. The city also would reduce the time owners have to remove their items to three days. Any order still could be appealed within those three days.

After three days, city staff would remove any remaining property. People's items of value would be stored in containers without charge for up to 30 days, Des Moines Neighborhood Services Director Chris Johansen said.

The second proposed change is an ordinance that prohibits people from camping in public spaces, including sidewalks, streets, alleys, parks and under bridges.

People found occupying a campsite in a public space would have 24 hours to clean it up. After that, the city could remove the campsite and personal items. As with encroachment cleanups, belongings of value would be stored for 30 days.

People who violate the rule could be fined up to $50, the proposed ordinance states. Violations would be misdemeanors and would not include imprisonment. Des Moines city leaders on Friday lowered the fine from an initial proposal of $120.

Campers in violation of the ordinance would be offered one-time transportation to shelter space or given directions to shelter. A camper would not be penalized if there is no shelter space in Des Moines. The city could order community service if a person cannot afford to pay a fine.

Hankins said last week that the camping rules wouldn't apply to designated campsites in city parks, during special events or other times when the city authorizes camping. He said, ideally, the ordinances would prompt people to clean up their campsites so that the city wouldn't have to.

The city would continue to hold off on notices and camp cleanups when the National Weather Service forecasts wind chill below 10 degrees over 48 hours, as well as during the winter and summer point-in-time counts .

If approved, the ordinances would go into effect 14 days later.

Council approves resolution to find storage space, transportation to shelter for people experiencing homelessness

Coleman and Mayor Connie Boesen said the city is simultaneously working to remove common barriers to accessing shelter, such as concerns over storage of belongings, separation of people from their pets and lack of transportation.

In addition to providing 30-day storage, the city approved a resolution to formalize partnerships with organizations such as the Animal Rescue League of Iowa to host pets and to work more closely with local service providers and shelter operators to connect with people who are camping in public spaces.

Some service providers already get a heads-up from the city about encroachment complaints, allowing the providers to link up with people experiencing homelessness before the cleanup occurs.

Boesen on Monday added three additional provisions to the resolution: Public restrooms should be added to multiple parking garages, and the city would hire four service providers that would work with people who are homeless, as well as a hearing officer.

None of the ordinances would be implemented until these "safety nets" are put in place by the city manager and staff, Boesen added.

Ahead of the vote, Mandelbaum said that the steps in the resolution were important but that it gave him "a little bit of heartburn" over it being a nonbinding resolution compared to the law, which once passed, would be binding.

'I'm confused by this process': Council member poses questions over proposed ordinance

Council members, primarily Mandelbaum, asked multiple questions during the work session about timeframes for notices and how the city would enforce violations.

City staff struggled to answer a question from Mandelbaum on why the timeframe for the notice was shortened to three days, except to say that city officials wanted to create a model for due process.

Mandelbaum also noted the city has an existing 90-day storage policy in its ordinance and asked why it would be changed to 30 days under the new ordinance. Johansen clarified it was under the discretion of the city, but under the new ordinance, the city would be mandated to store belongings for 30 days.

Questions also swirled about imprisonment, fines and jail time under the proposed camping prohibition ordinance.

Mandelbaum cited a section of the proposed ordinance that noted people can be immediately removed from the premises if they are violating the ordinance .

"By immediately removed, do we mean arrested?" he asked.

Des Moines Police Department Maj. Michael McTaggart said it was his interpretation that the police would ask people to leave ― after giving them time to pack up ― and if someone refused, officers would enforce it by arrest.

"How does that comport with the statement that imprisonment is not a punishment for this offense?" Mandelbaum asked.

Des Moines city attorney Thomas Fisher reiterated that violation of the ordinance is a simple misdemeanor, and he said an arrest is not the same as imprisonment.

"I guess I'm confused by this process, right, because we say imprisonment is specifically excluded, but we also say a remedy is immediate removal, and what I've been told is there's no other way to immediately remove someone who doesn't voluntarily comply other than arrest," Mandelbaum said.

Ahead of the vote on the camping ban, Mandelbaum called the ordinance both overly "broad" and "punitive."

Virginia Barreda is the Des Moines city government reporter for the Register. She can be reached at vbarreda@dmreg.com . Follow her on Twitter at @vbarreda2 .

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Des Moines gives initial OK to homelessness ordinances, provoking criticism, some support