Lisa Gardner, City Council Communications Director, 509.625.6226
Thursday, December 8, 2022 at 8:07 a.m.
On Tuesday and Wednesday, uniformed law enforcement officers entered Camp Hope without prior warning to notify its residents of an impending closure of the camp. Council President Breean Beggs has contacted city legal for clarification on the legality of this unauthorized notice of closure without providing adequate housing options and the fear that law enforcement will attempt an unconstitutional invasion of the property. After individual conversations with Council Members, Beggs has called an Executive Session for Thursday, December 8th, following a scheduled special meeting, to discuss the legalities of this and future action with City Legal.
City Council President Beggs and Mayor Woodward signed on to a multi-million-dollar proposal this summer to combine state and local resources to transition homeless residents at Camp Hope into better housing. There is an ongoing collaborative effort with Washington Department of Commerce, Washington Department of Department of Transportation, Empire Health Foundation, Jewels Helping Hands, Revive, Compassionate Addiction Treatment, Spokane Low Income Housing Consortium, and others to decommission Camp Hope that has resulted in a decreased population in the camp from over 600 to less than 440 so far with many more beds going online within the next few weeks.
Council Members have provided the statements below regarding the situation at Camp Hope.
Council President Beggs:
“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. 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 Member 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.”
Council Member Stratton:
“Our neighborhoods are calling 911 when actual crimes occur, and there is not adequate response. It’s disappointing to see those law enforcement resources wasted here at Camp Hope.”
Council Member 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.”
