Bremerton won't clear encampments, so council opens discussion on changes to current law

“It’s getting worse,” said Reuben Wilkins, a barbershop owner and cook for the Marvin Williams Recreation Center. “Garbage, poop, piss. They get butt naked behind the building.”

Wilkins does not blame the people who live in the large encampment on the MLK Way sidewalk, just feet away from the Marvin Williams Recreation Center, a gleaming facility that opened in 2018. Instead, most of his anger is directed toward Bremerton’s city government.

“The city is definitely inactive on this … They’re not talking to us,” said Wilkins.

“These kids should be able to grow up and have some protection,” added Tovi Wilkins, who runs a summer program for children at the center. Staff usually keep most of the doors locked. They had to turn off the fountain in front of the building because people were washing themselves in it. Reuben Wilkins has found needles nearby.

Parents still bring their children for summer camp, but the one question that they want to know is “What is the city doing?” said Wilkins. She reemphasized the question: “What is the city doing?”

When the Salvation Army closed its overnight shelter on May 1, the city was left without any emergency shelter beds. According to the city's reading of a Ninth Circuit Court ruling from 2019 known as Martin v. Boise, a lack of shelter availability makes it illegal to clear encampments. Over the past two months, the encampment on MLK Way, just a block behind the Salvation Army and near where the former Kitsap Rescue Mission was located, has grown. On Friday, approximately a dozen tents could be seen on the sidewalk between Park Avenue and Warren Avenue, along with shopping carts and assorted personal items.

“[T]o clear an encampment is not legal,” said Bremerton Mayor Greg Wheeler. Although Bremerton has a municipal code for “unauthorized camping,” which bans camping “in any park or other public place,” the ordinance can no longer be enforced now that there are no available shelter beds. When asked whether the Bremerton Police Department cites residents for unauthorized camping, Wheeler replied, “As a rule, no.”

Related: Why 'unauthorized camping' laws aren't enforced, and what other Northwest cities are doing

When the Kitsap Rescue Mission or the Salvation Army's temporary shelter were open, officers could direct people who are homeless there. “Now we don’t have a place for them to go anymore,” said Wheeler.

Right now, Wheeler identifies two projects for Bremerton’s government which could address the MLK Way encampment. First, Bremerton must create a new shelter. Wheeler said the city has picked a location and partners, but he must get funding from the state before he can share a timeline for opening.

Second, Wheeler urged the Bremerton City Council to create a new ordinance which would not violate Martin. The new ordinance could ban camping on MLK Way or restrict camping to nighttime hours, so that the street would have to be clear during the day.

Last Wednesday, the City Council discussed the possibility of changing the current ordinance. On July 5, the council will hold a public hearing on the issue during its regular meeting, scheduled for 5:30 p.m. at the Norm Dicks Government Center.

Initially, council members were hesitant to even discuss the issue, because they were afraid that the public could perceive them as being too punitive without offering any housing solutions.

“Before we get any more aggressive … we better know what we’re doing as far as providing adequate support,” said Councilmember Denise Frey.

Frey also raised concerns about the optics of spending time changing an ordinance while a portable toilet that the council allocated $10,000 for has still not been installed on MLK Way. "This is for the administration,” Frey said. “Fix it!”

City attorneys have reassured the council that any change to current ordinance would be less punitive, as the current code is a blanket prohibition on camping.

Councilmember Eric Younger began to understand why Wheeler and the lawyers were pushing for the change. “I have a sinking feeling that we don’t enforce it at all,” said Younger.

Even if the language of the new ordinance is less punitive, in practice it will be more punitive than an ordinance which is rarely enforced.

Kimmy Siebens, founder of the Bremerton Homeless Community Coalition and a nurse on the task force with Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility, argued against any new law which would allow the city to criminalize and move people who are homeless.

“They’re focusing on hiding people, pushing them to the margins of society,” said Siebens, “... every single person on MLK Way has no place to go.”

Siebens pointed to other cities that have passed new ordinances where people who are homeless hide from police and no longer trust social workers, which makes it more difficult to connect them with any resources that could help.

Siebens argued that any kind of criminal penalty is short-sighted and distracts from the need to address more complex issues that lead people to become unhoused.

“The mayor wants to get rid of this unsightly thing,” she said.

According to Siebens, new ordinances have been created without real knowledge of what it means to be homeless. For example, Longview and Portland ban daytime camping, but Siebens said that many people who are homeless sleep during the day because they need to be alert at night to protect themselves from the increased risk of assault.

“They do keep each other safe,” said Siebens, “This camp is no different than a neighborhood.”

Siebens does understand the concerns of parents and staff from the Marvin Williams Center. “If we’re going to put a Band-Aid on it, let’s give them a toilet,” she said in an interview. Many in the community agree and are frustrated that money has already been set aside, but nothing has been done.

According to Wheeler, the city had not determined a safe way to install the port-a-potty without blocking the street or the public right-of-way.

“This talk about the port-a-potty is serious, but almost comical,” said Younger.

This article originally appeared on Kitsap Sun: Bremerton ordinance on tent encampments now under review