Letter to Lawrence City Commission
To Our City and County Elected Officials:
We are experiencing a crisis in and around our local businesses and the downtown business district. The safety of our guests and our employees is a daily issue. In the absence of a clearly articulated plan to humanely shelter the homeless population in advance of the winter months, the signatories on this letter request that our City and County elected officials take the following immediate actions:
Proclaim a Sheltering and Housing Emergency
The “Camp One” encampment along the levee does not have access to running water, electricity, showers, or restrooms, and is therefore not an appropriate or humane location for people experiencing homelessness.
There are more appropriate locations adjacent to facilities and services. However, those sites require more lengthy public processes in order to be converted to an emergency shelter location. Those processes cannot be completed before winter, causing the City to choose less safe and humane options. Declaring a sheltering and housing emergency will allow the City and County to expedite the selection of appropriate and adequate sites.
Rescind Ordinance 9754, which provides an exemption from the general prohibition against illegal camping on any public right of way or public property located within the area of the city zoned Commercial District.
Providing a safe and humane alternative, the City should again prohibit camping on any public right of way or public property in commercially zoned districts.
Additionally, we ask for further investment and collaboration from the City and County and other agencies and organizations and stakeholders to:
Increase the Lawrence Community Shelter (LCS) occupancy from 50 to 125. Putting resources towards temporary tent encampments that must house many individuals with severe needs while our community shelter is operating at less than 50% of capacity is unacceptable. The City of Boulder faced a similar scenario in recent years. By reducing the number of people in the intensive Housing First program and increasing the number of people in the emergency shelter, Boulder was able to safely increase their shelter occupancy.
This will require additional resources and staffing to ensure the safety of both shelter staff and clients.
If LCS leadership is unable or unwilling to raise occupancy, the City, County, or other safety net organizations should enter into negotiations to take over operations at the shelter.
Invest in additional staff to engage the homeless in our parks, downtown business district, temporary encampments, or wherever they may be. Additional field staff within our local agencies must be designated to stay in the field, interacting with those who may benefit from services.
Extend access to the homeless database to all agencies involved in our community's homeless services system. We must track and coordinate services across the system to fully capture and understand the needs of all who are experiencing homelessness.
Send cease and desist letters to communities that transport their homeless to Lawrence. It is becoming more common to find that people are bussed to Lawrence from other communities. This is not fair to the individual or to our community, and those communities that engage in this practice must be identified and held accountable.
