City outlines ongoing outreach, cleanups and park work after Stanbury Park encampments

Assistant City Manager Virginia Talent told the Cincinnati Healthy Neighborhoods Committee the city has continued weekly outreach after large cleanups at Stanbury Park and near the Mount Washington welcome sign and that the administration has scaled its team supporting encampment outreach.

“we've been serving upwards of 200 people at a warming center and over the Rhine,” Talent said, describing the temporary warming‑center response during recent cold weather and the city’s effort to link people to shelter and other services. She also said the city had hired an additional social worker and that staff would continue outreach until the problem is resolved to the administration’s satisfaction.

The nut graf: Residents and officials described a mix of public‑safety, health and quality‑of‑life concerns tied to campsites in Stanbury Park and adjacent business areas, and city staff said their response combines cleanup, targeted enforcement and social‑services outreach rather than one‑time removals.

Parks Director Jason Baron said parks crews worked at a recent large cleanup alongside public‑health staff and outreach teams, and that the camps “have not come back after this last cleanup.” He described work to protect staff during cleanups, including training on safely picking up needles and managing hazardous debris, and said advocates monitored cleanups to ensure residents’ essential belongings were not discarded.

Baron said the parks department has put a bid out to clear honeysuckle on roughly 10 to 15 acres of Stanbury Park aimed at reducing dense thickets that have concealed campsites. He said removing that vegetation will push potential sites farther from housing and streets and increase visibility for quicker reporting and response. “We're putting together a plan, that's actually out to bid right now ... to clear the honeysuckle from about 10 to 15 acres of site in the park,” Baron said.

Captain Swingley and District 2 officers described coordinated law‑enforcement steps under a community problem‑solving initiative: extra directed patrols, monthly hotspot reviews with transportation engineers, drone flights to locate deeply sited tents and targeted enforcement or arrests where crimes occurred. Officer Wendeline Martin and Sergeant Sellers said police and parks maintain regular contact with business and neighborhood stakeholders and that only a small handful of individuals remained in the park area after recent outreach and offers of assistance.

Residents at the meeting urged faster and clearer follow‑up on recurring trash and fence damage near the cemetery and on whether cleanups are fully completed. A resident asked about per‑cleanup costs; parks staff said they would follow up with figures and coordinate with the Department of Public Services and health and safety staff.

Ending: City staff asked residents to report camps and park problems through 311 to create data the administration can use for targeted responses. Talent said the city would keep weekly outreach active, keep partners engaged and report back to the community on follow‑up steps and data from the point‑in‑time count used to inform federal resources.