DES MOINES, Iowa — At Monday night’s Des Moines City council meeting two ordinances dealing with homelessness advanced on a second reading. However, this does not mean the ordinances will take effect as they still need a third vote.
The first ordinance would ban camping within city limits and introduce a fine for sleeping in public spaces. Those found in violation would have to pay $50 or complete community service.
The second ordinance would reduce the number of days people have to remove their belongings from public spaces, going from 10 days to 3.
At Monday night’s meeting there were many groans and disappointed faces when the city council advanced the homelessness ordinances. The chamber was at capacity with plenty of people in opposition. Many even had to wait in an overflow room.
“Tonight you’re proposing ordinances that directly harm some of the marginalized people in our city,” one activist said.
Since the first reading, the council came up with seven directives for the city manager to consider before enforcing a camping ban.
First, the city manager needs to work with homeless shelters to discuss their current practices and policies.
“We have met with staff at the Central Iowa Shelter and Services,” city manager Scott Sanders said. “We’ve had good conversations about what barriers exist.”
Under the second directive, an agreement must be made with an animal services organization to have a place for the homeless to keep their pets while they stay in an emergency shelter.
“There’s cautionary concern from ARL about not knowing the sheer numbers that we may be dealing with,” Sanders said.
The city manager must identify storage facilities where homeless people can keep their belongings when they’re at the emergency shelter.
“We are looking at providing storage at the Public Works facility, which is over on Maury Street,” third ward council member Josh Mandelbaum said. “It’s not close to other services. It’s not accessible.”
Under the fourth directive, there needs to be a designated process for transporting homeless people to emergency shelters.
“Is the existing option that we provide today where the police will provide a ride to the shelter?” Mandelbaum said. “Is that going to satisfy folks from a directive piece?”
Also, public restrooms will have to be added to city parking garages.
“We are going to very quickly get two of those finalized and get those installed,” Sanders said.
Under the sixth directive, the city will need to hire four outreach workers to work directly with the homeless population.
“An outreach worker, a neighborhood inspector and possibly police would all go out together to enforce the camping ban,” mayor Connie Boesen said. “The first person we would contact would be the outreach worker.”
Finally, the city has to hire a hearing officer to speed up hearings for those facing penalties for violating the camping ban.
“This was a problem identified in the process,” Sanders said. “This is for when there are appeals from those that are unsheltered and deals with the time it takes to address those appeals.”
City council members instructed the city manager to continue working on the ordinances as well as other policies dealing with homelessness. They want a mental health team to be formed to work with homeless people refusing to leave public spaces. Council members also would like to see a rental assistance fund be established for people to have a deposit on more permanent housing.