Kokomo approves controversial homeless ordinance

May 1—The Kokomo City Council passed an ordinance targeting the homeless despite opposition from the public and some religious and nonprofit leaders who criticized the proposal as unhelpful and called on the city to tackle the issue another way.

The ordinance passed by a 7-2 vote Monday during the board's regular meeting. Councilmen Bob Stephenson, D-District 2, and Jeff Plough, R-District 4, were the two no votes.

Monday's vote came after a contentious few weeks that saw the city administration hold a "community conversation" to inform and address criticism and coverage from statewide news agencies. Due to the controversy, the first floor council chamber at City Hall was unusually packed Monday.

THE DETAILS

The ordinance specifically bans "camping and the storage of personal property" overnight or for one or more nights in public spaces, such as a sidewalk, street, park or trail, not designated for such activity because it "presents a public health and safety concern" due to the possibility of increased spread of disease.

Legally parked recreational vehicles, if not being used as a temporary living space, are exempt.

Violators could be fined and could face other civil legal action.

However, those "indigent" or homeless are exempt from enforcement unless there's overnight sleeping availability at one of the city's shelters and the person is provided transportation to the shelter.

If one refuses to leave or turns down a spot at an overnight shelter, they could be charged with criminal trespass. Brian Seldon, assistant police chief for the Kokomo Police Department, said officers in the past have arrested those who are homeless but that it is a "last resort" option.

Additionally, if an unauthorized encampment does not pose a "substantial risk of harm," the city must give the 48-hour notice that it will be removing the encampment and any other personal items and leave a note detailing where the items can be picked up.

If the city deems the unauthorized encampment is a substantial risk of harm to any person or the public, it may remove it immediately.

If personal property is removed and taken by the city, it will store the belongings for at least 60 days before disposing of them.

The ordinance comes after the city says it has experienced an uptick in those experiencing homelessness sleeping in public spaces, particularly in the city's downtown area.

In 2020, a "tent city" was established alongside the tree line of Future Park. It was removed by the city in early 2021, with many of the personal items of those living in the encampment being thrown away.

City employees have also had to clean up urine and feces from the city's downtown parking garages and sidewalks outside City Hall. To hopefully deter such acts, the city has spent tens of thousands of dollars equipping the stairwells of the parking garage with security cameras.

PUBLIC CRITICISM

The ordinance has received constant criticism since it was first proposed in mid-March, particularly from some religious and nonprofit leaders who work with the city's homeless population.

For one, the city's ordinance is nearly identical to an ordinance considered and voted down by the city of Elkhart last year, a fact pointed out Monday by county resident Clee Oliver during the meeting's public comment portion.

"If this was a college paper, I guess you'd be expelled from school," Oliver said.

The ordinance was criticized by Oliver and others from the public who spoke at Monday's meeting as being hastily put together and that the city did little or no research into the issue and how to properly address it.

Dennine Smith, executive director of Coordinated Assistance Ministries; Derick Steele, CEO of the Kokomo Housing Authority; and Wendell Brown, pastor at Refreshing Springs Church of God in Christ, all spoke in opposition to the ordinance and asked the City Council to either vote it down or table a vote so it could conduct a study on the city's available overnight shelters. The group also wanted the city to sit down with those in the community who work with the homeless population to possibly draft a better ordinance.

"As someone who works with the homeless population daily, I'm concerned that this ordinance has the potential to add barriers to our brothers and sisters who are experiencing homelessness," Smith said. "Let's explore other options by working in partnership with other agencies and stakeholders with experiences in finding alternative solutions to addressing the challenges that we are facing."

Others who spoke Monday pleaded with calls for compassion.

"Most of the people are who homeless, if they really had some support, they would put themselves in a position to change their life, but an ordinance to lock them up or take away the little that they have is not helping," said Alan Arnett, elder at Refreshing Springs and a chaplain at the Howard County Jail.

Stephenson and Plough both said they had issues with the ordinance and did not believe the ordinance, as currently written, was the solution, or even a good first step, to address the issue.

"Over the last month, I've listened to many people in this room and talked to many people, and no one has come to me and said 'This is a great first step,'" Stephenson said. "We may need to get to this point, but I don't think it's a good place to start. I'd like to see more involvement and more people consulted. It's a community problem, not a government problem. I don't think we can solve it by passing this ordinance."

Plough, who originally voted in favor of the ordinance on its first reading, said he changed his mind over the last several weeks after talking to many of his constituents.

"The more I educated myself about an issue that has been relatively foreign to me ... a couple of things come out in my mind that really question the viability of the ordinance," Plough said. "First off, it's a fairly well-known fact that a majority of the time there are no beds available. ... We're going to be moving them from this location to two blocks down the road, and we're going to start the process over again."

CITY COUNCIL EXPLAINS VOTE

Most of those on the City Council who voted in favor of the ordinance said they, too, don't believe it to be an answer but see it as a necessary first step, merely a formalization of what has already been happening the last few years, and, at the very least, a way to get a conversation going in the community.

Many of the statements made by those who voted in favor of the ordinance parroted comments by Kokomo Mayor Tyler Moore's during the April 18 "community conversation" where he defended the ordinance by saying the city sees it as a small step and not the end all be all.

"Christ says, 'What you do to the least, you do to me.' I believe that too," Councilman Greg Davis, R-District 5, said. "But I also believe that we can't just stick our heads in the sand and say since we don't have a complete answer, let's do nothing. That's not the answer."

Councilman Matt Grecu, R-at-large, said he sees the ordinance as a "tool" and not the solution.

"This wasn't designed to, in any way, be mean or cruel to anyone," he said. "It is simply trying to put in an ordinance what the (Kokomo) police department is essentially doing right now."

Councilmen Dave Capshaw, R-District 1, pushed back against the notion that the ordinance was going to lead to an increase in the city incarcerating the homeless and stated no one has come up to him to offer an alternative to the ordinance.

Tom Miklik, R-at-large, said he was happy to see multiple religious and nonprofit groups come together over the last several weeks but asked where the collaboration was before April 18.

"Where were the churches? Where were the people that are supposedly caring about the homeless outside of CAM and the (Kokomo Rescue) Mission?" Miklik said. "Where are the people that can pull this together? ... The city is not in the business of coordinating all the churches and all the people that are working toward fixing this."

Both Capshaw and Miklik's comments drew audible negative reactions from the crowd, forcing Council President Ray Collins, R-District 3, to bang on his gavel in an effort to restore order.

*Correction: A previous version of this article should have stated Councilman Dave Capshaw pushed back against the notion that the ordinance was going to lead to an increase in the city incarcerating the homeless. The Tribune regrets the error.

Tyler Juranovich can be reached at 765-454-8577, by email at tyler.juranovich@kokomotribune.com or on Twitter at @tylerjuranovich.