City attacks property of the homeless
Ordinance would allow forced removal of personal property in parks, public spaces
This article is brought to you by Freedom Financial.
Last week, the City of Kokomo installed cameras in the stairwells of the two downtown parking garages. During cold weather, the stairwells are used by the homeless as a shelter. Sometimes they relieve themselves there.
Also last week, a homeless individual defecated outside of City Hall. As there are no public restrooms in downtown, and the shelters are full, bodily waste in public spaces is becoming a problem.
During the summer, the gazebo in Millennium Park across from City Hall is a makeshift homeless shelter, with piles of clothing and personal property stacked around a park bench. Few people choose to use the park as a result.
The administration of Mayor Tyler Moore has decided to address the problem by moving the homeless … or at least their property. The Kokomo Common Council passed an ordinance on first reading on March 11, authorizing some city employees to remove the property of “camping” individuals from public spaces. Where the campers themselves end up isn’t certain, but the council members’ dislike of poop on their doorstep was clear.
“I really hate to listen to people talk to me about people in the parking garage, sleeping in the parking garage, sleeping in stairwells, pooping and defecating on the stairs,” said Councilman Tom Miklik. “This is in our parking garage. It happens, and I heard earful again this morning.”
Miklik was one of eight council members who voted in the affirmative for the proposed ordinance, which will make it illegal for anyone to camp or store their personal property on public land, i.e. sidewalks, streets, alleys, highways, parks, trails, parking lots, public spaces, and any public area where camping interferes with the intended public use of the property.
“The best way to say it is we have people staying and having tents overnight in public places,” said Councilman Greg Davis, who is sponsoring the ordinance for the administration. “So, the city decided to pass an ordinance to give the parks department, the police department, and all of the people involved in the enforcement of this ordinance a better ability to move those people to better places.”
Of note is the fact that removal of the person camping isn’t directly addressed by the ordinance. Instead, it focuses upon the person’s belongings.
Under Section 2, it states, “it shall be unlawful for any person to camp, occupy camp facilities, or to place, store, or maintain camp facilities, camp equipment, or other related personal property on any public real property of the City of Kokomo or any board or commission of the City of Kokomo.”
In Section 5, “Enforcement,” it states, “City employees designated by the Parks and Recreation Board, Board of Public Works and Safety, Redevelopment Commission, Code Enforcement Authority, or Mayor, are authorized and empowered to enforce this ordinance on behalf of the City, including issuing citations, and taking any other lawful civil action to prosecute violations of this Chapter, in accordance with the provisions herein or other applicable procedural laws.”
In between those two statements, the ordinance deals solely with the property of the individual. Under the proposed ordinance, all property of the campers may be removed immediately if it poses a risk to public safety. If it doesn't, the city can still remove the property as long as it gives the owners 48 hours' notice to remove the property themselves.
This is important to the Moore administration because it has been the common practice of the city to forcibly remove and dispose of the personal property of these homeless individuals for the past three years. It does so most frequently in Future Park, a largely land-locked parcel located along the Wildcat Creek just south of Memorial Gymnasium.
However, rather than simply throwing away the property, as has been the city's practice under Moore, the city now will retain the property, inform the owner of its location, and provide contact information for the recovery of the property, which will be held for 60 days.
What happens to the “camper” is unclear. According to Davis, the person will be moved, presumably by some other ordinance. It has been illegal to enter a city park after hours for decades.
“We just can't let people come in and camp out and say, ‘I'm going to be here no matter who likes it or not,’” said Davis. “If there's a place for them to go, and they say, ‘I'm not doing it,’ then they have to leave or be arrested for trespass. I just hate to do that to homeless people, but they have a choice.
“If they find someone camped out in a public place, the police department or whoever talks to them will contact the homeless shelters that we have. If there's a shelter available, then that person has to be moved to that shelter. If we can't find a shelter, then by Supreme Court ruling, they have to be left there.”
The ordinance echoes this caveat in Section 6 by exempting any homeless individual from the enforcement of the ordinance in the event there is no sleeping accomodation available or the individual has not been provided transportation to that location. Ergo, not only can the homeless individual not be moved, neither can their property, at least under the proposed ordinance.
While most of the council seized upon the legislation readily, Councilman Bob Stephenson had concerns. He asked if anyone knew how many shelter beds are currently available. The answer was next to none.
“I talked to Kevin Smith, the director of the rescue mission,” said Davis. “They have been maxed out for male beds since 2022. So, that's not going to be any help to us. There may be a few beds for females.”
Davis also cited Coordinated Assistance Ministries, which is a day shelter with very few overnight options, and a church that may be housing “a handful of men.”
Stephenson also asked what will be done with animals that might belong to the “camping” person. The ordinance is silent on that matter as well.
When the ordinance came to a vote, it passed 8-1, with Stephenson dissenting. The ordinance will be heard for a second and final reading on Mon., March 25, at 6 p.m. in the City Council chambers.