After an all too-short break, the OO will be back early this week. At issue, what appears to be a joint proposal to turn an already questionable rubric that guides the City's actions on homeless dwellings and encampments into a more visibly vituperative policy—the proposal would rename the current Encampment Management Policy to the Encampment Abatement Policy. CM Ken Houston is introducing the proposal, but the Chief of Staff of Kevin Jenkins appears to have co-written it, making it for all intents and purposes a joint proposal. And for more than one reason.
At Rules several weeks ago, Committee members seemed very open to giving both Houston and Jenkins carte blanche in reorganizing the City's legislative schedule to introduce the measure. But the action will bring up questions of transparency, Houston asked that the legislation be introduced at the Public Safety Committee, not the usual area of homelessness policy, Life Enrichment—Jenkins said he would facilitate that. Then, CM Jenkins told Houston he'd create a special committee meeting for the proposal, and a special council meeting the week after with the assumption that the proposal will pass through the committee on first reading.
Houston's [and Jenkins'] legislation is itself confusing, as the title claims that the current policy will be "repealed" and a new policy introduced. But Houston's policy is instead a heavily amended version of the current policy, as a copy with strikethroughs representing deletions and underlines for additions makes clear.
Council President Jenkins scheduled a committee meeting for 9/10, several weeks earlier than the calendar of meetings would have held—the first committee meetings were to be held on 9/23, per the legislative calendar. And instead of the regular early evening Public Safety Meeting of 6 pm, the PSC will be held at 11 am.
The following week, a Council meeting which would have heard legislation forwarded from July's committee meetings has been cancelled by Jenkins, and a new Council meeting Jenkins apparently specifically scheduled just for the "Abatement" policy will be held a day earlier on 9/15. But instead of 3:30 pm, the usual time, that meeting will begin at 9:30 am.
Houston [and Jenkins'] legislation is dense—but the takeaways are a clear mandate for zero tolerance for vehicle-parked dwellings, an expansion of criteria for encampments of concern, and a more aggressive policy focused on criminalizing the return or resurrection of a former encampment site. More to come this week as the OO covers the Committee meeting live. Apologies for any mistakes, I am still literally on a much-deserved vacay.
Comments ()