SPOKANE, Wash. — Spokane City Council President Breean Beggs has called for an executive session with council members in response to the recent police presence at the I-90 homeless camp.
The meeting is scheduled for Thursday, Dec. 8 following a scheduled special meeting, according to the city of Spokane. The meeting will discuss the legalities of law enforcement's actions and future steps with city legal.
According to a press release, Beggs has contacted city legal to clarify the legality of "this unauthorized notice of closure without providing adequate housing options" and whether or not local law enforcement will attempt an "unconstitutional invasion of the property."
“The City of Spokane’s understanding of the law has consistently been that our employees cannot participate in a forcible entry into the fenced campground without the consent of the owners or operators of the property or a signed judicial order," Beggs said in a statement. "I want to protect our officers from the personal legal risk of being dragged into lawsuits, preserve the Constitution for all community members, and focus our efforts on solving this housing crisis with permanent affordable housing and services so that Camp Hope quickly becomes a distant memory.”
Council members Lori Kinnear, Karen Stratton and Zack Zappone also provided statements in response to police presence at the camp.
Lori Kinnear:
“The millions of dollars being spent thus far on transitioning people out of homelessness and into stable and safe housing options will be wasted if this population is disbursed to resume life on the streets throughout the City.”
Karen Stratton:
“We all want Camp Hope to close as quickly as possible. It’s disturbing to see Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich waste law enforcement resources to use tactics of intimidation and antagonization going against our community values of treating everyone with basic human dignity.”
Zack Zappone:
“We all want Camp Hope to close as quickly as possible. It’s disturbing to see Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich waste law enforcement resources to use tactics of intimidation and antagonization going against our community values of treating everyone with basic human dignity.”
The city mentioned that Beggs and Spokane Mayor Nadine Woodward signed on to a multi-million dollar proposal this past summer to combine state and local resources to transition residents living at the camp into better housing. The city says these efforts have led the population of the camp to decrease from over 600 to less than 440 so far with many more beds going online within the next few weeks.
DOWNLOAD THE KREM SMARTPHONE APP
DOWNLOAD FOR IPHONE HERE | DOWNLOAD FOR ANDROID HERE
HOW TO ADD THE KREM+ APP TO YOUR STREAMING DEVICE
ROKU: add the channel from the ROKU store or by searching for KREM in the Channel Store.
Fire TV: search for "KREM" to find the free app to add to your account. Another option for Fire TV is to have the app delivered directly to your Fire TV through Amazon.
To report a typo or grammatical error, please email webspokane@krem.com.