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Monday, March 18, 2024
March 18, 2024

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In Our View: Join Together on Homeless

As Vancouver works to address crisis, it’s good county officials are getting involved

The Columbian
Published:

Among the many topics relating to homelessness that were discussed this week by the Vancouver City Council, the most notable is this: A joint city-county meeting on the subject is scheduled.

Vancouver, as with most cities of any size throughout the country, has faced a growing crisis in recent years. Housing is in short supply, rent prices are going up, and more and more people are left without shelter. While the city council has afforded much attention to the situation in recent years, it is encouraging that county officials are becoming more involved. A joint meeting is scheduled for May 1 at the Vancouver Community Library.

As the problem has grown, the city of Vancouver has established an Affordable Housing Task Force and proposed a property-tax levy to provide funds for building low-income housing and helping to keep people in their residences. That measure passed in November with 58 percent approval. But the issue extends beyond the city limits, with unincorporated Hazel Dell being one of the hubs for homeless residents in the area — a fact that demands cooperation and input from county leaders.

Not that there are easy solutions. Among the issues discussed Monday at a council meeting was the city’s camping regulations. In 2015, the U.S. Department of Justice filed a brief directing that cities could not prevent camping in public spaces if shelters are unavailable. Vancouver allows camping between 9:30 p.m. and 6:30 a.m., and there has been consideration of altering those hours, perhaps even seasonally.

We recommend that the camping hours remain unchanged. Adjusting them would create confusion and make enforcement more difficult. Police have a tough enough job ensuring the safety of homeless residents and the general public without having to tell somebody they need to leave because the hours are different than they were the day before.

When talking about the hours for permissible camping or for any other solutions, the key is enforcement. Plans for reducing homelessness often sound good, but the words can be empty without follow-through. As city Councilor Ty Stober said: “The frustration of our business owners is around our current inability to enforce our ordinance.”

The reality is that the allowable camping hours represent a minor facet of the issue. The only effective way to address homelessness in the community is through an increase of available shelters and available housing. Vancouver has one of the tightest rental markets in the country, and rapidly increasing costs have priced many people out of the market. According to a report prepared earlier this year, each $100 increase in monthly rent is associated with a 6 percent increase in homelessness in metro areas.

That proves costly for the community, in terms of both economics and image. A city cleanup of a homeless camp near downtown last month cost more than $16,000 for staffing, property storage, and waste removal — while doing little to prevent a recurrence of the situation. Most important, the persistent issue is troublesome for residents and business owners in the areas where homeless people congregate, creating both safety and nuisance problems.

City officials have made great strides in approaching an issue that is hardly unique to Vancouver. With county officials taking a more active role, there is increased hope that comprehensive solutions can be forged.

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