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Resident warns proposed camping ordinance could criminalize homelessness; requests data and protections
Summary
During public comment Aaron Weaver warned that a proposed camping/storage ordinance would effectively criminalize homelessness and urged council to require baseline enforcement data, a clear definition of 'reasonably available' shelter, demographic reporting of citations, and a sunset clause before citations are used.
Aaron Weaver used the public comment period to urge the council not to adopt a camping and storage ordinance without clear guardrails and baseline data.
"We cannot criminalize homelessness and call it balanced," Weaver said, urging the city to publish the number and nature of calls related to camping or storage, the period over which the calls were made, who called them, and the types of complaints. He asked for transparent reporting of warnings, citations and misdemeanors by demographic breakdown, shelter-availability information at the time of enforcement, and a sunset clause so any ordinance can be evaluated.
City Manager Mary Bunting acknowledged receipt of Weaver's email request for data and said staff would pull the requested information. Bunting said the draft ordinance is intended to be specific about required steps and guardrails and that the stakeholder group has had both volatile and collaborative exchanges; she also read an email from a stakeholder (Miss Cipriani) who indicated earlier reporting omitted aspects of collaboration and outcomes such as placements that resulted from the stakeholder group's work.
Weaver urged precise definitions (for example, what counts as "reasonably available" shelter) and mandated public reporting before enforcement escalates to citations or misdemeanors.
