Duluth city leaders hear from more than 200 on criminalizing homeless encampments

DULUTH – City officials were called “authoritarian” and “ethically abhorrent” Monday night as the City Council heard from more than three dozen constituents on a proposal to make sleeping on city property a misdemeanor crime.

Mayor Roger Reinert and other city leaders announced 10 proposed ordinance changes last week addressing nonviolent crimes they said drew the most complaints. Offenses include public graffiti and property damage, blocking sidewalks and streets without a permit, drinking alcohol in parks and soiling the city’s skywalk.

The majority of nearly 200 emails sent to the council and most of the packed chambers and overflow room appeared to be against the outdoor camping ordinance, which drew the bulk of speakers — some of whom sat on the floor as they awaited their turn. The comment period spanned several hours.

Many experiencing homelessness, college students, religious leaders — including the bishop of the Diocese of Duluth — physicians and nonprofit directors called on the council to reject the move to ban encampments.

“Places that enforce these kinds of ordinances are simply just shuffling people around,” earning “cheap political points,” said Dereck Williams, a Duluth man who said he chooses to be homeless and has traveled the country. “Most homeless people aren’t like me. They’re out there because of circumstances beyond their control.”

Several nonprofits and groups that work with the city’s homeless population, including the Damiano Center, Safe Haven and the NAACP, said the city didn’t consult them before rolling out the proposed changes. Both in a letter to the city and Monday night, many called for more meetings, revisions and a tabled decision, asking that “life-sustaining” acts like sleeping not be criminalized. The council will discuss and act on the measures July 29.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled late last month that fining or jailing people for breaking anti-camping ordinances when there is no shelter available does not violate the Constitution. The decision gives local governments the license to cite and possibly arrest people in homeless encampments or other public spaces. While the city expects to educate and warn before turning to enforcement, a misdemeanor can mean a $1,000 fine or 90 days in jail.

Rochester approved a ban on homeless camps in February after area police said that more legal consequences were needed as encampments grew around the city.

Since it went into effect last spring, Rochester police haven’t cited or arrested anyone but have issued several warnings.

Nearly 600 people used a seasonal overnight warming shelter in Duluth during the winter of 2022-23. In the summer, nonprofits run a new operation called Safe Bay, where services and resources are offered along with safe overnight parking for sleep. About 200 people used it last summer. Plans authorized by the city two years ago for sanctioned outdoor seasonal villages haven’t come to fruition because of difficulty securing land and staff, but efforts to build low-cost, small footprint homes with built-in resources are underway by Stepping On Up, a coalition of organizations that work with the homeless population.

The group is a couple of years into its five-year plan for permanent housing, and needs more time to raise money, said Deb Holman, a longtime outreach worker for Chum, an emergency shelter.

“We are closer than ever,” she said, before saying the names of three people who died of overdoses in tents. “We need safe housing for drug users and medical support.”

City officials have said they don’t see the move as criminalizing, and argue that misdemeanors offer alternatives to a fine, such as diversionary and restitution-type programs in lieu of jail time and a record. Those programs, including treatment and other assessments, can help channel those experiencing homelessness to resources, said Duluth Police Chief Mike Ceynowa.

The Sixth Judicial Court in Duluth recently began a voluntary specialty court that hears misdemeanor charges in an effort to stabilize those committing lower-level crimes.

“This is not something we are going to jail our way out of,” Ceynowa said at a meeting last week, noting there are a few large encampments where garbage, needles and fire have been issues.

Some supporters of the city’s efforts came from downtown business owners and employees, including Patty McGaffey, who works in real estate. Problem behavior needs to be addressed, she wrote in a letter to the Council, or businesses will leave.

“We have been forced to spend thousands of dollars replacing broken windows and building entrance doors, removing graffiti, cleaning up human feces in building doorways and in the skywalk system,” she said.

Duluth resident Eric Lindell said at the Monday meeting that it’s up to state and federal governments and not the city to solve the homeless crisis.

“There is a silent majority out there that want these ordinances,” he said.

Brad Ray, a behavioral health and addiction researcher who consults with a local harm reduction group, said in an interview that criminalizing outdoor sleeping will eventually tax an overburdened criminal justice system. And it runs counter to other city efforts, like its two-year-old crisis response team. For those who are arrested, it will likely lead to overdoses, he said, exacerbating the very problem the city is trying to solve.

“There is really no good win from this,” Ray said, “and it’s just totally not addressing the problem.”

Star Tribune staff writer Trey Mewes contributed to this report.