Davis, CA – On Wednesday, the Davis City Council held a special meeting and voted to promote an Encampment Response Protocol, make changes to the encampment reporting system for community members, introduce revisions to the camping regulations ordinance to better protect public and private properties
The city announced on Thursday, “These additions will become part of the ecosystem of services that the City and its partners have worked hard to develop to assist the unsheltered or housing insecure population with compassion while maintaining the safety of local businesses, public spaces, downtown and the general community.”
Councilmember Will Arnold noted, “ultimately, I’m thankful that everyone here seems to recognize that this is a complex challenge and that it requires thoughtful, nuanced attention. It’s a humanitarian crisis.”
Arnold spoke in support of the staff recommendation, arguing it is “human and reasonable.”
He said, “I think it offers a framework that strives to balance compassion with accountability.”
While Arnold acknowledged concern “surrounding the proposed ordinance and its reliance on criminalization, and I share those concerns,” at the same time, he said he felt constrained under the previous Boise decision (by the 9th Circuit) which he said, “we had no options… all we had were carrots.”
He said, what the Supreme Court decision last summer changed is “now we need to recognize that a balanced approach, the Boise decision was unbalanced and that we should achieve greater balance.”
He said, “This is not, in my opinion, this is not an overreaction. This is not the pendulum swinging in the full other direction. But this is instead recalibrating to maybe the balance that should have been there the whole time where it not for what I think was sort of a, well-meaning, but bad decision on the Boise decision.”
Councilmember Gloria Partida acknowledged that this is “a very complicated issue.”
She said, “I understand that we don’t want to criminalize homelessness. Absolutely not. I think that is important, and I absolutely agree that this is something that we’ve brought upon ourselves.”
Partida linked it to the housing crisis, stating, “. We’ve refused to build housing. We have made it so difficult for people to get social services. We’ve made it so difficult for people to access just some of the basic needs that are out there.”
But at the same time, she said, “We are not doing people any favors by being so compassionate that we don’t see the nuances for the people that need this help. And I think we’ve moved a long way from where we were when the Boise decision came down.”
Many from the community expressed frustration at the current state of affairs, but others pushed back.
Judy Ennis, who heads DCAN, noted that, “If we get to the point where someone is getting arrested, that means that we have failed.”
But she noted, “by committing to an ordinance where the penalty section has fines, misdemeanors, and jail time, we are not only opening the door, but accelerating our direction towards that outcome.”
Ennis also noted that the ordinance was only posted to the public on Tuesday and that there was no chance for example, for the Social Services Commission to review it.
She asked, “How does it compare to Berkeley? How does it compare to San Francisco? How does it compare to best practices? I haven’t had the chance to look at that now. I don’t know if you all have, right? So voting on it tonight seems hasty to me.”
She acknowledged that opening the conversation “tonight seems absolutely necessary.”
Ennis also noted that Four and Hope, “which we rely on for a significant number of our beds, is currently facing a shortage on their staffing, where they’re going to be serving 50 less people. If this goes into effect tonight, in 30 days, it’ll still be the middle of winter. And guess what? Our primary shelter will still be 50 beds short.”
The city on Thursday released a statement on all of the changes to city municipal codes related to encampments.
Davis Municipal Code Changes Related to Encampments
Revisions to the existing code include better defining camping and camping paraphernalia as well as including additional prohibited areas, such as public and private properties, whereas the previous ordinance language only covered parks and open space areas. The Council made no changes regarding how a person’s personal property with value is to be handled and stored.
The City Homeless Outreach Team led by the Department of Social Services and Housing, in partnership with a multitude of other service provision agencies and organizations, will prioritize a compassion-first approach to connecting people to services, and utilize all available tools and approaches to connect people with assistance and shelter before utilizing this ordinance. The updated camping regulations ordinance will become effective in January.
Encampment Response Protocol
The City and its partners will be working together to inform the community about the various changes and explain how staff will maintain the safety of downtown, local businesses, community and public spaces. The City will activate an encampment response, deploying outreach staff, posting notices, and coordinating clean-up where needed. The process is intended to be clear and transparent for all stakeholders, to ensure the homeless encampment response is balanced and equitable.
Calls for service from the community requesting a response to unsheltered homelessness will initiate the following protocol:
- Step 1: Outreach and Engagement: The City-staffed Homeless Outreach Team will be the first point of contact deployed to encampment sites throughout Davis to offer services and connection to basic needs to the unsheltered. The City has strengthened with Yolo County Health and Human Services Agency, Davis Community Meals and Housing, Turning Point Community Programs and others for a coordinated and balanced response.
- Step 2: Compliance: If the situation requires an additional level of support, the Homeless Outreach Team will partner with the Davis Police Department and work with an embedded mental health clinician for crisis assessments and referrals.
- Step 3: Enforcement: If engagement and compliance are ineffective, law enforcement will be called to protect people and property, maintain public order and enforce the law. Law enforcement will aim to address situations with care and minimize the criminalization of the homeless whenever possible while balancing the health and safety of the public.
Encampment Reporting System for Community Members
The City encourages two ways to report issues related to unsheltered people in need and/or encampments:
- Non-urgent response (My Davis): Community complaints regarding abandoned property, trash, grocery carts, encampments, vehicles and recreational vehicles should be submitted through the My Davis portal, which is available as an app on cellphones or via the City’s website (www.cityofdavis.org). Complaints received will be forwarded to all appropriate departments. At the conclusion of the complaint, a disposition will be sent to the complainant advising them of the outcome.
- Urgent response (Public Safety Dispatch): Urgent responses require immediate action. Complaints may include individuals sleeping in front of the business doors, aggressive behavior or erratic and concerning behavior. Depending on the circumstance, community members should call either the Police Department’s non-emergency number (530-747-5400) or 911 for emergency situations. Public safety dispatchers will either dispatch homeless outreach, a mobile clinician, or a police officer.
Options and Costing for Potential Expansion of Services
The City Council requested that staff return with additional information about possible additional or revised Respite Center hours; sanctioned camping; a possible loitering ordinance; community navigators; a Downtown Streets Team Peer Support Program; and Promotores, a Davis Joint Unified School District-affiliated group that includes Spanish-speaking community navigators to actively share information about homelessness prevention.
The Social Services and Housing Department is also working with the faith-based community about engaging with the unhoused on an organizational level. This potential strengthening the ecosystem of care in Davis is dependent on local congregations determining if they have the capacity to create and sustain the infrastructure required serve as an access point for outreach and services to Davis homeless.
I want to believe council acting here with wisdom and compassion but failure to engage commission structure weakens it legitimacy.
A joint neeting with social service commission would have been helpful.
“COUNCIL UPDATES MUNICIPAL CODE HANDLING HOMELESS ENCAMPMENTS – SOME THINK IT GOES TOO FAR”
There are also “SOME” people who think it doesn’t go far enough.