Pre-meeting work session will present concerns
12/14/14
Eureka city staff on Tuesday will look for direction regarding the homeless encampments located inside city limits.
An open work session scheduled for 4:30 p.m., immediately before the city council meeting, will have city officials presenting various perspectives on homeless encampments in Eureka, as well as presenting ideas on what can be done. Then, during the meeting — after the council’s newest members have been sworn in — an action item will see council members voting on how staff should proceed.
“We want to get the issue in front of the council and describe the problem,” City Manager Greg Sparks said. “We’ve got a few options we’re looking at and we’ll see if there’s an interest from the council and get some direction for staff. It’s a brainstorming session.”
Sparks said the session will bring a few city officials in front of the council in order to present different departments’ takes on the issue. For instance, Eureka Parks and Recreation director Miles Slattery will discuss encampment cleanups, and Eureka police Chief Andrew Mills will weigh in on enforcement.
Sparks said the discussion will also look at different methods to address the issue.
“You’re not going to solve homelessness by enforcing your way out of it,” Sparks said. “It comes down to getting these people into housing and providing mental health and substance abuse services. The gamut runs from enforcement to positive solutions.”
Sparks stated that resources are thin and there are too many homeless people in the area to provide housing for everyone, so he said staff has been looking at intermediate solutions. Which is where Community Development Director Robert Wall will come in. Sparks said Wall will go over potential locations for a sanctioned camp that will give the homeless somewhere to go.
A sanctioned camp isn’t a done deal, Sparks said, but it is one possible route the city could take.
“We want to visit with the council about everything because we’re trying to determine what some interim steps could be,” he said. “With the size of our homeless population, getting all these people into housing — no one has that ability. But we want to make sure we’re thinking through this. At the end of the day, we only have so much for resources and we want to make sure we’re using those the best we can.”
Sparks said community concern and recent incidents, including an accidental shooting in November at the encampment near Del Norte Street, inspired the meeting, as well as concern that the city isn’t doing enough to help the homeless.
“We don’t view it as an end to the issue, but really as more of a start,” he said.
