Duluth debates ordinance to crack down on homelessness encampments

It was standing room only in the Duluth City Council chambers earlier this week when more than 60 people addressed members over more than three hours, virtually all of them speaking out against a controversial proposed ordinance to make camping on city property a misdemeanor crime.

“This is heartbreaking, and this is dehumanizing. It’s not right to criminalize people who are simply trying to live,” said Shyla Johnson, who told councilors she had once been homeless with her young son.

Several people currently living in an encampment outside city hall spoke. So did religious leaders and other community members who called the proposal unethical and immoral, and said it would do little to address the root causes of the homelessness crisis, which has been festering for decades.

“Don’t make us look at our relatives out there in vans, in cars, in tents, being arrested, or charged with a thousand dollar fine,” said Babette Sandman. “You are our representatives. You’re hear to listen to us tonight. Bizindan,” she concluded, explaining that’s the Ojibwe word for listen. “Please.”

Duluth Mayor Roger Reinert unveiled the proposal last week. It’s part of a package of public safety measures aimed at what he calls “problem behaviors” — nonviolent crimes such as graffiti, blocking streets and sidewalks, and property damage that also impact residents’ quality of life.

Duluth Police Chief Mike Ceynowa told the council last week the proposal would help address public health and safety concerns at large encampments, which he said have proliferated in Duluth since around 2018, coinciding with an influx of fentanyl to the region.

“Our staff are responding to people who have died in the encampments, or people who’ve been assaulted physically and sexually,” Ceynowa said. “Other constituents are calling us to say their children can’t play outside because they don’t feel it’s safe.”

Ceynowa and other city leaders argue that a misdemeanor option — something that Duluth doesn’t currently have — can allow people access to behavioral health assessments and other services, and diversion programs through specialty courts.

“This is not something we are ever going to ‘jail’ our way out of,” Ceynowa said. “This is about trying to work with people to get them in better places and spaces.”

Help or harm?

Last month the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that cities can legally ban people from sleeping and camping in public places. That overturned lower court rulings that deemed it cruel and unusual to punish people for sleeping outside if they had nowhere else to go.

Earlier this year the Rochester City Council passed an ordinance similar to what Duluth is considering. Brainerd is also considering one.

In Rochester, police say the city’s camping ordinance has led to more people utilizing overflow shelter space, and a large drop in the number of encampments — four as of this May, compared to 15 last year.

Those who continue to sleep outdoors have kept their camps small and out of public spaces. As a result, police say they haven’t issued any citations, but have delivered 11 warnings.

But service providers in Duluth told the city council they’ve heard a slightly different story from their counterparts in Rochester.

Joel Kilgour, who helps lead an effort called “Stepping on Up,” a five-year effort to address chronic homelessness in Duluth, said the Rochester ordinance has resulted in more encampments on private property on the edge of the city and made it harder for agencies to reach people.

“So if the intention was to help people access service, at least in their community, and their initial experiences, that hasn't happened, and it may have had the opposite effect,” Kilgour said.

Kilgour and other leaders of social service organizations in Duluth were miffed that city officials failed to consult with them before releasing the proposed ordinances. Kilgour and others say they met with city leaders before the council meeting Monday and had a productive discussion.

“Our ask is that you give us more time so we can offer constructive feedback on the ordinances and how they relate to existing strategies that are working to end homelessness,” said Seth Currier, director of the Damiano Center, the largest emergency meal provider in the region. “We are doing this.”

Many providers in Duluth are expanding their shelter capacity. Chum, the largest shelter in the city, plans to add an additional floor to its downtown facility. But in the meantime, shelters are almost always full.

“So even for our neighbors who are doing everything right, by the books, there may be few options besides sleeping outside, or in very overcrowded congregate shelters,” said Kilgour.

“The only way to really address homelessness in our community is to create the housing and shelter infrastructure necessary to support our neighbors.”

Downtown safety

But many downtown residents and business owners support the proposals, saying public safety needs to be improved.

“We had an employee quit over feeling unsafe,” said Robert Lillegard, co-owner of Duluth's Best Bread, a downtown bakery and coffee shop, who wrote a letter to the council expressing his support of the ordinance changes.

“We’ve had a naked man in the bathroom smoking crack. We’ve had two young female employees trying to deal with a man camping out in the stairwell.”

He acknowledges those were isolated incidents. But he said the “softer touch” dealing with homelessness hasn’t worked.

Heidi Nelson, who lives about two blocks away from Lillegard’s business, said she’s afraid when her daughter walks the dog.

“I’m not one who’s very scared,” she told the council. “But I’m scared to live where I live. Something needs to be done.”

The Duluth City Council takes up the issue again on July 29.

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