Working together on the Lingering Issues resulting from the Homelessness Population Explosion in the County

 

District 1 constituents are frustrated with the exploding issue of the homeless
engaging in dysfunctional (often illegal) behavior in their neighborhoods.

I had the opportunity to meet with Sheriff Chip Simmons and his top leadership staff this week, in his office, on a topic that is on everyone's minds today.  What can we do about the homeless that are engaging in dysfunctional conduct in the county?  What can the county do, what can the Sheriff's office do, and what can the community do?

I was joined in this meeting by Tim Day, the head of code enforcement and Jesse Casey, the District 1 Field Representative.

We are receiving a lot of constituent complaints about the conduct of some of these homeless individuals who are engaging in theft and vandalism of property and other behavior including drug use and in some instances sex crimes.  Constituents want action and their frustration is palpable.

The meeting was productive and the Sheriff and his staff want to assist.  The attorneys for the ECSO have been working with the county attorney on updating our ordinance relating to panhandling in the roadways, code enforcement has been working in conjunction with ECSO on some particular areas in the  county where the problems associated with the homeless  have become acute and untenable.

Here is the thing though: nobody wants to vilify or stigmatize any citizen.  Some of these folks are legitimately down on their luck and need help.  The good news is we have resources and we all, collectively, want to help those that want help.  And we will continue to assist and support those in the community that are serving the homeless and assisting them with breaking free of being homeless.

But the others who are engaging in illegal activities, the ones who are trespassing and or dumping trash all over the place trashing some neighborhoods, walking in roadways banging on windows, aggressively bothering motorists and stealing from private property to finance their substance abuse addictions--these are the ones whose behaviors cannot be condoned.

So there are a specific set of strategies that we are going to be implementing going forward.  We will find ways to quickly identify owners of private properties where illegal trespassers are camping unlawfully in order to streamline the trespasser removal process.  I believe the issuance of civil citations will also be on the table for violators/trespassers--mandating these folks appear in court.  And I do believe we will work toward an enforcable county ordinance that will assist the ECSO's efforts to keep aggressive, rude and obnoxious panhandlers out of our roadways and intersections.  There will be other tools which will also be used that are still being explored.

Additionally, I am going to seek funding for dedicated law enforcement staff at the ECSO to directly engage the homeless in the county working closely with code enforcement.  The city has a couple of officers who are doing this currently utilizing CRA funding and I hear this is working well for them.  So I would like to do something similar in the county in the areas where the problem is becomming unbearable.

So much more to come on this---but meanwhile I just want folks to know it is being worked.