The Des Moines City Council passed two ordinances Monday night that would ban camping and sleeping on public property and lower the number of days before tents and shelters are removed from public property from ten to three.
The bans are targeted at people who are homeless and staying in public areas.
In a crowded city council chamber, the ordinances both passed 5-2 with councilmembers Mike Simonson and Josh Mandelbaum voting against them. Immediately after the votes were tallied, crowds outside in the hallway booed and chanted “shame.”
The biggest harm is the fact that this is a criminal infraction, and a criminal infraction creates a barrier.Josh Mandelbaum, Des Moines City Councilmember
Before the vote, Mandelbaum warned of possible legal repercussions from the bans. He criticized the lack of metrics and transparency in the ordinance and corresponding city action plans.
“The biggest harm is not the fine,” Mandelbaum said. “It makes no difference to someone who's not going to be able to pay a $150 fine or a $15 fine. The biggest harm is the fact that this is a criminal infraction, and a criminal infraction creates a barrier. It creates a barrier to all the things that we say we are trying to solve.”
What does this mean for the unhoused population?
The U.S Supreme Court ruling in Grants Pass v. Johnson on June 28 opened the way for cities to create their own laws that prohibit people from camping and sleeping on public property. Less than a month later, the Des Moines City Council officially introduced its proposal.
Under the final camping ordinance, someone who refuses to accept shelter space and does not stop camping would be issued a citation with a date to appear in court. If convicted, the person would then be fined $15 and charged with a simple misdemeanor. City Manager Scott Sanders has confirmed that someone could be arrested due to noncompliance.
If shelter space is “unavailable or impracticable” or if the person is unable to pay, a district court judge can decide that the person has an affirmative defense, meaning they would not be held liable.
The ordinance also excludes minors from penalties.
Des Moines Mayor Connie Boesen said the new ordinances were necessary.
“We are trying to put into place more mechanisms than we have ever put in place to help people that are unhoused,” Boesen said after the meeting. “This is not about homeless. This is about only for people that are in encampments.”
When does the ban begin?
Boesen said the council does not have a timeline yet for when the bans will go into effect. The council has also identified areas where the city will improve resources for unhoused residents. Those include reducing barriers for people to access homeless shelters, identifying a place to store people’s things when an encampment is cleared, locating temporary public restrooms downtown and hiring an officer to hear an appeal when a removal is challenged.
As part of his motion to implement the ordinances, Councilmember Chris Coleman introduced a $50,000 housing fund that could be used for services such as rental deposits and moving expenses. Coleman said the city would distribute the money through a nonprofit provider which the city has not chosen yet.
Boesen also proposed building pallet homes as temporary housing, finding a temporary designated campsite for houseless individuals and changing the ordinance to allow churches to let people camp in their parking lots and use the buildings as warming and cooling facilities.
The items were moved and seconded for the city manager to investigate the details of the proposals.
According to summer 2024 Point-in-Time count by Homeward, a group that helps plan homeless services in Polk County, there are 729 people in the county currently experiencing homelessness. The count measures the number of people experiencing homelessness, both sheltered and unsheltered, on a single night. Of that number, 404 were staying in emergency shelters and 177 were unsheltered.
