10:48 . = Camp Hope Resolu... y Done RESOLUTION NO. 2022-. ‘A Resolution expressing the City’s position supporting the July 20" plan approved by the Mayor and City Council President to rehouse the residents in the right of way and against leading or supporting unauthorized actions to remove unhoused individuals from Camp Hope. WHEREAS, the Spokane City Council hes considered the legal and policy implications of Spokane County's threat to forcibly remove the campers and their habitation located behind a perimeter fence on property owned by the Washington State Department of Transportation without first obtaining landowner consent or judicial order issued after due process; and WHEREAS, the State of Washington with the support of the Governor, the Legislature, the Department of Commerce, the Department of Transportation and the State Patrol offered $24.5 million towards a Right of Way (CROW) initiative to renouse individuals living within state right of ways within Spokane County, especially Camp Hope located within the City of Spokane; and WHEREAS, Mayor Nadine Woodward and City Council President Breean Beggs convened a stakeholder group that included regional government officials and their staff members along with consulting expertise from homeless service providers to develop a proposal to provide long term improved housing that Camp Hope residents would voluntarily move to in order to facilitate the permanent ciosing of Camp Hope: and WHEREAS, on July 20, 2022, after providing review and commenting opportunities to stakeholders and ‘oxperts, Mayor Woodward and Council Prosidont Beggs signed a letter with an attached plan that would create up to 1,447 housing units at an estimated cost of $34,483,000; and WHEREAS, the proposed plan would leverage millions of additional investment dollars to permanently provide appropriate housing and services to the individual needs of the remaining residents of Camp Hope along with hundreds of other houseless individuals camping within Spokane County; and,10:48 al ee = Camp Hope Resolu... » Done WHEREAS, Article | Section 7 of the Washington Siate Constitution and the Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution protect individuals from seizure of their person or effects within their residential habitation without their consent or a judicial order issued after due process; and WHEREAS, Washington State laws regarding nuisance prohibit government action to abate alleged nuisances without due process and a prior judicial order or consent of the property owner; and WHEREAS, the Ninth Circuit has held in Martin v, City of Boise, 920 F.3d 584, 589 (9th Cit. 2019) that it is unconstitutional to punish someone simply for sleeping somewhere in public if the person has nowhere else to do so, and the City has enacted ordinances that require adequete low-barrier shelter beds before issuing criminal citations to homeless individuals, except with regard to certain time and piace restrictions; and WHEREAS, the Spokane County Sheriff has threatened to seize and remove homeless and cisabled residents of a fenced property owned by the Stato of Washington, potentially subjecting them to arrest and displacement without confirming that he will first obtain consent from the property owner and without a judicial order authorizing such seizures and removals; and WHEREAS, the Spokane County Sheriff has requested the assistance of the City of Spokane and its employees to accomplish his goals regarding the removal of residents and their habitation; and WHEREAS, the deployment of law enforcement to sweep the camp subverts the crucial mission of addressing homeless in Spokane and undermines months of work by stakeholders to assist and relocate camp residents to permanent housing in order to legally close ‘Camp Hope: and WHEREAS, the use of law enforcement for such a purpose jeopardizes beth the City’s July 20” commitment to work collaboratively with the State and its continued cofforts to secure funding to address homelessness in tho City; and WHEREAS, the City Council has grave concerns that participation in the Sheriff's requests could imperil City of ‘Spokane poiice officers, placing them in the dangerous10:48 al ee Camp Hope Resolu... y Done WHEREAS, the City Council has grave concerns that participation in the Sheriffs requests could imperil City of ‘Spokane poiice officers, placing them in the dangerous position of displacing homeless persons without clear legal authority. This unnecessarily risks law enforcement interactions with vulnerable individuals, including disabled and/or mentally ill persons, and places those individuals and City officers at great risk; and WHEREAS, the City of Spokane socks to protect its employees from unnecessary involvement in a non- criminal operation that could resutt in the use of physical force and injury upon homeless campers who have been receiving coordinated and State-sanctioned services and where the City’s interest in forcibly tearing down this operation without providing an appropriate zlternative for shelter or housing is low; and NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the City of Spokane strongly supports the July 20" plan signed by its Mayor and Council President and the efforts of the State of Washington through its State Patrol and Departments of Commerce and Transportation and their respective contractors to promptly and effectively implement it so that residents of Camp Hope can be permanently rehoused with appropriate services and the neighborhood residents and businesses can retum to normal BE IT ALSO RESOLVED that the City of Spokane ‘expressly disapproves of any actions to undermine the Slate's efforts to assist homeless individuals at the camp or actions that provide material support to remove unhoused individuals and/or their habitation from any fenced property without the prior approval of, or coordination with, WSDOT or absent a judicial order. BE IT ALSO RESOLVED that the City of Spokane strongly condemns any efforts to entangle City employees, in law enforcement or other operations to decommission the camp which are unsupported by judicial authority, as this could potentially run afoul of various rights and interests claimed by campers at the WSDOT right-of-way and could result in legal risk to the City and its employees. BE IT ALSO RESOLVED that it is the intent of the City of Spokane that no employee, agent or elected official of the City acting within the scope of their duties for the City shall act to participate in or materially support the10:48 all Fe) Camp Hope Resolu... » Done BE IT ALSO RESOLVED that it is the intent of the City of Spokane that no employee, agent or elected official of the City acting within the scope of their duties for the City shall act to participate in or materially support the removal of the camp without a judicial order; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the City of ‘Spokane strongly condemns any action by, or directive to, City of Spokane employees that would force them to take action against a set of vulnerable individuals or to act contrary to the City's interests by having them participate in, or provide material support to, the County's threatened removel operation without the landowner's consent or judicial order; as all such actions or directives are outside the scope of the City’s interests and mission and could violate clearly established law. BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED that the City of Spokane wil not provide a legal defense or indemnification to any city employes, agent or elected offcial who is sued in thei personal capacity arising out of that person intentionally directing City of Spokane employees to take any action or provide any material support of the prohibited removals set out above unless the City Council approves such legal defense and indemnification for that specific individual by majority vote. In considering authorizing legal defense and indemnification, the City Council will consider the knowledge and good faith of the individual directing the actions of others, along with unanticipated public safety emergency mutual aid needs created by the actions of ‘Spokane County or other actors. Passed by the City Council this day of , 2022. City Clerk Approved as to form: ‘Assistant City Attorney