The people are demanding an answer to the heightened issue of homelessness in Bremerton, and while solutions offered in the July 5 City Council session were varied, it is clear all sides are sick of it being pushed to the side.
Responding to an increasing homelessness problem, namely on the dedicated portion of 7th Street known as Dr. Martin Luther King Way, the council conducted a public hearing to explore options for either amending or repealing its city code.
The code states there is no legal camping on public property within city limits, but that has been unconstitutional for some time, city attorney Kylie Finnell said, creating a need for change in its language.
She said the ninth circuit is the Court of Appeals that Bremerton and the state are in. It has made rulings involving cities enforcing anti-camping laws against community members, she said, adding the homeless can camp in public places if no shelter space is available.
Laws recently passed in Lakewood and Longview, WA, and Portland, OR, take different routes that could be used to restrict camping, whether it be designating certain illegal times, places and manners.
The biggest issue as of late when addressing the code’s language has been the closing of the Salvation Army’s 24/7 shelter that was open full-time in the early stages of the COVID pandemic. Many residents say the loss of essential beds has brought the homelessness situation to a new low.
With talk about an updated law, some in opposition feel as if those living in the camp are being betrayed again.
“I am appalled, disgusted and deeply saddened by the council’s decision to consider turning their backs even more on those who need our help the most,” Kimmy Siebens said. “Let me be unequivocally clear: This revised ordinance will not be a solution. It will be a heartless attack on those who already face immense challenges in their lives.”
Several people, some associated with the Kitsap ERACE Coalition, echoed the call for homelessness to not be criminalized and instead the homeless be given opportunity for a new chance at life. Services such as a Bremerton-based homeless shelter, public restrooms or porta-potties to give the homeless “human decency” and other public programs were proposed as solutions.
Joslyn LaMadrid said she believes homelessness should not be solved by creating more obstacles for those who truly need help. Having experienced homelessness herself, she voiced concerns with any daytime ban on camping. “When you’re looking at a daytime ban on an ordinance, when it’s assumed that everyone sleeps at night, when you can see that a lot of individuals don’t sleep at night because they’re worried about the security. So the daytime ban would prevent them from even sleeping at all.”
However, there are also many who are sick of the hand-holding approach, especially for those in the camps who pose a threat to law-abiding citizens.
Casey Kelly, a nearby resident to the encampment, said he’s been subjected to several thefts, threats and assaults and is concerned the wrong people are being given a break. “The emboldened nature in which they treat our street like we are the ones inconveniencing them. They laugh at me; they threaten me. They catcall my daughter and my wife. They steal from my children. I don’t think those people want shelter.”
Mary-Lou Long took it a step further saying that not enforcing the law within these communities is going to result in more ill-willed individuals—people she said are not taking advantage of homeless prevention programs in the first place. “The easier we make it for them to sustain themselves in that fashion, more will come. It’ll get worse,” she said. “We cannot help everybody in a very socially humane way and try to lift these people up. They are criminals.”
Nayeli Rivera, owner of Life in Mauve, said she, her husband Steven Ramey and her store have been subjected to the dumping of human feces, assault threats and violence. Crime has taken over her ability to conduct business so much so that she announced the store would be closing. “We have had to call 911 twenty-two times since October,” she said through her tears. “It is very heartbreaking to see what we worked so hard for is just going down the drain.”
All of the participants agreed things need to change rather than more empty conversation. “We are really good in Bremerton at saying there needs to be a solution and talking about it and even identifying a solution,” Susan Brooks-Young said. “But saying that you’ve got a solution and then actually acting on it are two different things. My concern is I don’t want to see one more change or one more whatever be decided by council only to have nothing happen afterwards.”
