Cities in Illinois are criminalizing homelessness. What will Peoria do?

Peoria appears poised to take a different path forward on combatting homelessness than some of its smaller neighboring cities in the wake of a Supreme Court decision that ruled cities have a right to criminalize camping on public property.

In July, Pekin's city council unanimously passed an ordinance making it illegal for people to camp on public property within the city. Morton passed a similar ordinance earlier this month.

Peoria, however, does not seem quite ready to jump on board with an outright ban.

Peoria debates ordinance other cities have passed

The ordinance, which was the top subject of debate at a six-hour Peoria City Council meeting on Aug. 13, would make it possible for the city to impose fines and even jail time on people sleeping on public property in tents, benches, stairwells and other outlets.

Fines for camping on public property under the proposed ordinance begin at $100 and can be as high as $750 after multiple offenses in the proposed ordinance. Continued violations could lead to time in the Peoria County Jail ranging from 180 days to six months.

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Ordinances in Pekin and Morton allow police to issue citations and arrest people who are caught camping on public property. In East Peoria, the city's policy has long been to remove people camping on public land.

Pekin's police chief Seth Ranney said fines and jail time in Pekin will be a last resort for compliance with the ordinance and said the new law was in no means meant to be adversarial in nature.

Ranney said the ordinance in Pekin has been met with no resistance from the city's homeless population and said the solution to homelessness will be done "one person at a time" as the city plans to take its time in trying to connect each unhoused person with services.

No one has been fined or jailed in Pekin since the ordinance passed, Ranney said.

"Since it's passed, we wanted to make sure we gave the people who are unhoused plenty of time to make arrangements. So over the past month, we've been working with them to try to get them housed," Ranney said. "In Pekin, very, very few people that are in the unhoused situation is economics. It's not really a lack of money. A lot of our people are dealing with mental health and, or, drug addiction issues and a lot of times unfortunately dealing with both. That makes it a much more complex problem than just people are unhoused."

Ranney said the goal of the Pekin program is to move unhoused people into the shelters, like one run by the Salvation Army, and eventually connect them with permanent housing.

"That's where a lot of our focus is ... trying to get people to take the temporary housing that's available. And the housing that's available to them may not be exactly what they want, but it gets them off the street and gets them into a more stable environment — and that's our goal, to continue to give them a better opportunity by breaking the cycle that is in the unhoused status, unfortunately," Ranney said.

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'There is a real disconnect'

Jessica McGhee, a homeless outreach activist with Lula, said Pekin's ordinance led to many of Pekin's unhoused people coming to Peoria. She, like others who spoke out against the proposed ordinance in Peoria, struggle to make sense of how fining and jailing people would help combat homelessness.

McGhee said she has worked with a man in Peoria who is chronically homeless and has severe mental illness that has led him to believe he is married with children when neither of those things are true. McGhee said at one point a few years ago the man had $40,000 in fines for various crimes, including trespassing — an insurmountable amount of fines for a man in his situation.

"What is the point?" McGhee asked.

McGhee said the common notion that all homeless people can just go to shelters isn't accurate because some unhoused people are dealing with severe mental illness or substance abuse problems that preclude them from some shelters.

"Some shelters run seven-day bans, 30-day bans, year bans and lifetime bans, so there's that," McGhee said. "Also, if they're on the street and they're not in the shelters, if they're working with outreach groups they are typically on the housing list, which means they're waiting. So if they can't go to the shelters and they can't go to the housing but they're on the list and doing all the right things but they're not allowed to be outside ... what's the solution?"

The Pekin ordinance was approved by the Pekin City Council unanimously.

Yet in Peoria, where homelessness is far more widespread, the ordinance proposal was met with far more resistance.

"There is a real disconnect between what people think they know and what is the actual reality out there," McGhee said.

Intense debate in Peoria

A large crowd at Peoria City Hall was often loudly vocal during the meeting in which tensions and passions ran high over the intensely sensitive subject.

Those opposed to the plan, which included Mayor Rita Ali and leaders from homelessness outreach services such as United Way's Continuum of Care , JOLT and Phoenix Community Services , criticized the plan as rushed, cruel and ultimately an ineffective way to combat homelessness in Peoria.

Peoria Mayor Rita Ali said more work had to be done in crafting the ordinance and by no means did she think Peoria should criminalize homelessness. She said that citations and jail sentences do not work to address homelessness.

"I want to make it clear to everyone that we have to let people know that street homelessness is no longer allowed or acceptable in Peoria. You may not agree with that, but we do have to let people know that. But, again, we have to do it in a strategic way, not too fast and in terms of stronger measures, I think those stronger measures have to go to people who refuse services, refuse to be housed, refuse wrap around support, who refuse substance treatment, who refuse trauma informed services," Ali said.

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Other city councilmembers including Bernice Gordon-Young, Mike Vespa and Tim Riggenbach questioned the plan's effectiveness and logic, wondering aloud if it made sense to fine people who could not afford basic necessities and imposing jail time as means of a final punishment.

"Believe me, I understand how uncomfortable it is to drive by these homeless camps. I work downtown, I drive by them every day. I know people in the businesses that look out their window and see them," Riggenbach said. "But for me it's also uncomfortable thinking that we're going to eliminate a perceived nuisance while we're not really addressing the underlying problem."

In Pekin, Ranney recognizes that the ordinance they passed is not going to be a "cure all" for homelessness and says they have set "realistic expectations" for it.

"Our goal, as it has been from the beginning, is to try and reach one person at a time and to try and meet them where they are and try to figure out how they have come to where they are today, because that will help us figure out how to best help them," Ranney said.

Peoria city attorney Patrick Hayes, who crafted the ordinance at the behest of councilmember Zach Oyler, highlighted all of the money and resources Peoria has poured into combatting homelessness but added it was city staff's view that people did not have a right any longer to camp on public property. He said people did have a right, however, to expect sanitary and safe conditions on public property.

In June the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that city's did have the right to arrest and fine people for sleeping in public spaces, overturning a lower court's opinion that it constituted cruel and unusual punishment.

Hayes also noted that Peoria spent $30,000 last year cleaning up homeless encampments around Peoria. Peoria undertook efforts last year to clean up prominent homeless encampments along Knoxville Avenue and Interstate 74 near Dries Lane, among other sites across the city.

This summer, a significant homeless encampment that has been growing in size popped up along I-74 in Downtown Peoria.

Hayes, too, said that the city has received lots of feedback from business owners and residents who reported issues with the homeless population and encampments in Peoria.

'Sleeping outside like animals'

City councilmember Chuck Grayeb stood alone at the council meeting among councilmembers voicing their support for the ordinance. Grayeb's 2nd District includes Downtown Peoria, where the city's most visible camps are often located.

Grayeb disagreed with Riggenbach's notion that the ordinance was punitive and then drew ire from the packed crowd at City Hall when he likened homeless people to "sleeping outside like animals."

"The people I represent, and I dare say the people you represent, and all of you around this horseshoe have nothing but compassion for people who are unhoused and are living like animals outside, like animals... yes, like animals," Grayeb said. "So who is lacking compassion, ladies and gentlemen? We are trying to do something about it. Nobody is trying to be punitive despite the fact that somebody is trying to set this up that if we take any real action we are trying to be punitive. That is absolutely ridiculous."

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As for those who do prefer to live outside in tents and camps and refuse shelter, McGhee said it is "so difficult" and too complex of an issue to solve. But she does not think that fines or jail time will be the solution.

"I think it's a slow progression, and when you're like, 'well you're not going by the rules, so we're going to fine you until we have to put you in jail' — it's not that simple," McGhee said.

McGhee said one potential solution in Peoria could be sanctioned encampment — one with bathrooms and garbage cleanup — where the unhoused can live and be connected to the services they need until they find permanent housing.

"I know everyone wants to solve homelessness in Peoria and that's great. But if you look at the state of the world, we're not special, but we're trying to just kick the can down the road or put people in jail," McGhee said. "I think it needs a multi-tiered approach."

Peoria city councilmember Zach Oyler, who asked city staff to draw up the ordinance at a previous meeting, chastised other councilmembers for saying they wanted a "seat at the table" in discussions around homelessness solutions during a first reading of the ordinance he asked for.

"I've heard several times in this discussion already that folks around this council want to be at the table — this is the table," Oyler said. "So, I am not really sure what the confusion is. The elected members of this body are here to actually make policy and try to solve problems. So any time any of you want to provide some ideas, I am sure the manager and city attorney will be more than happy to listen to those and craft them into the ordinance. But sitting here on Tuesday night after staff has done their job and saying 'we need to come up with some new ideas' ... be a part of those ideas. This is the table."

The debate at Peoria City Hall was a first reading of the ordinance which meant it was the first time councilmembers could give public feedback to staff about the proposal.

'Dangerous step backwards'

Chris Schaffner, the executive director of JOLT, criticized Grayeb during the meeting for his comments and said he had a "strong opposition" to the ordinance.

"This ordinance, which follows a recent Supreme Court ruling of Grant's Pass, Oregon, is not just a misguided policy, it is a dangerous step backwards and one that betrays the core values that many on this council have historically championed," Schaffner said. "This ordinance is in direct opposition to those values. By criminalizing homelessness, we are not solving the problem, we are merely punishing those who are already struggling the most."

Christine Kahl, the president of Phoenix Development Services, encouraged the council to delay implementation of the ordinance. She said there was a 40% increase in the unsheltered population in Peoria last year. Kahl said the problem was growing at a faster rate than solutions that have been put forward.

"I think it is important to understand that just because a network exists does not mean it has the capacity to address this," Kahl said. "There are only 1.5 staff supported by a grant specifically to do homeless outreach. That grant covers four counties. So street outreach by only 1.5 people is not at capacity to meet the need of the unsheltered community."

Kate Green, the executive director of United Way's Continuum of Care, told the council it does not have to turn to criminalization to solve the homelessness problem in Peoria.

"I want to extend the offer to be that bridge between the passion and the work that you're doing here tonight around this table to connect with lived expertise, to connect with providers, to connect with all of those different institutions and systems of care as we work to effectively address this so we don't have to turn to criminalization and we can have a more whole-hearted approach to ensuring we are effectively addressing encampments in our community," Green said.

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People who are currently or have in the past been homeless also spoke in opposition to the ordinance at the meeting.

"Criminalizing is wrong, that's not right, you've got to have a solution ... these are people not animals," said outreach worker Aaron Slaughter.

Christopher Short, who used to be homeless in Peoria, said that a lot of unhoused people have their own stories.

"Who are we to really even give our opinions or our assumptions without knowing personally what that's like, what that experience is until you've gotten close enough to see and unveil the truth of people's lives," Short said.

This article originally appeared on Journal Star: Cities in Illinois are criminalizing homelessness. What will Peoria do?