STOCKTON CITY COUNCIL members met last week to weigh the implications of a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling that allows local governments to enforce bans on homeless people from camping on government-owned property.
According to the presentation, the city is seeking to expand enforcement and scope of current city ordinances, clean-ups and continue to support services that act as a safety net in the Stockton area to address homelessness. The proposed changes are expected to cost $2,596,493 if enacted in their present form.
The Supreme Court caseCity of Grants Pass v. Johnsongave cities the authority to enforce punitive measures such as fines and bans of encampments.The decision allowscities and states to expand encampment ordinances and enforcements.
The City Council discussed the ongoing situation of homelessness in Stockton and potential avenues of response the city may take as a result of the Supreme Court case.
City Manager Harry Black noted that after the meeting, the city would prepare an agenda item to recommend potential changes to city ordinances and the potential fiscal impact this would have on the town.
Expanding enforcement
Assistant City Attorney Taryn Jones presented possible changes to the2022 Stockton Critical Infrastructure Ordinanceto allow for broader enforcement if the city deemed it necessary.
The Critical Infrastructure Ordinance is a list of public properties and guidelines where homeless individuals could not set up encampments. Violators could face penalties ranging from $250 to $25,000 for each day of violation.
Jones said the city could remove unnecessary language that permitted homeless people to set up camp on roads, sidewalks, bike paths and park now thatMartin v. Boisewas overturned.
Until the Grants Pass decision, the city was unable to enforce parts of the Critical Infrastructure Ordinance due to exceptions built in because of Martin v. Boise which prevented enforcement if there were not enough temporary shelters.
Jones noted that the city could broaden its enforcement scope by adding new publicly owned property to the list of critical infrastructure or replacing the list with broad language encompassing public facilities.
However, the dissenting opinion on the Grants Pass case does allow advocates to challenge city ordinances for specific locations. The more the city adds or broadens enforcement the more they are at risk of challenges.
Public comment
Community leaders, nonprofit organizations, members of the public and homeless Stockton residents attended the meeting to voice their concerns about the Supreme Court ruling and suggestions as to how to move forward.
The majority of public comments centered around calling for long-term solutions to break the recidivism of homelessness and criticizing the city for not communicating together to deal with the issue effectively. Rising costs of living and prices of homes in Stockton were cited as worsening the issue.
Harry Black acknowledged the concerns, noting that current programs are having success in isolated instances but not at the volume needed to combat the issue.
On the issue of interdepartmental cooperation and coordination Black said, “I think we would probably all give that a D+. But we have to get better at that otherwise we can’t solve this problem.”
Reassigning police to help with enforcement
To assist in enforcing new ordinances and cleanup, Stockton City Police Chief Stanley McFadden will reassign additional officers, purchase new equipment and create new infrastructure, which will cost nearly a half million dollars.
Stockton Police Department hopes to enforce the changes through voluntary compliance and by coordinating educational and wraparound services to assist those in need. However, SPD is anticipating an increase in arrests related to camping.
People arrested for camping violations will have their items taken to new storage containers that will act as storage lockers and their pets taken to the local animal shelter.
According to Director of Public Works Chad Reed, the department is planning to increase current cleanup efforts, with an emphasis on parks, by coordinating with Stockton PD on a weekly basis.
Reed noted that the closure of the Stockton Recycling and Transfer Station is hampering their effectiveness in ongoing cleanup efforts, which quadrupled the miles needed to dump waste.
The closure of Stockton Recycling means Public Works making 10 fewer trips and collecting approximately 12 tons less garbage per cleanup. Reed noted that private contractors are also affected by the closure, making three fewer trips per day and picking up half as much garbage.
To remedy this, Reed recommends that the city construct a new transfer station and increase staff to coordinate garbage collection. This will cost $1,265,000 to establish and have a yearly impact of $715,000.
Expanding social safety net
According to the Director of Economic Development, Carrie Wright, the city can receive funding fromProposition 1, a competitive grant funding opportunity to expand the behavioral health continuum.
Cities need to provide match funding, which Director Wright estimates can range from $3 million to $10 million to receive a return on investment to be competitive in the process.
Wright acknowledged public interest in revisiting safe camping and parking; however, the city was unable to find a qualified operator and receive state and federal funding due to preferences for housing shelters.
If the city were to revisit the idea, it would need to find a qualified individual and provide additional funding to make it work, which, according to Wright, will most likely come from the general fund.
