Downtown Des Moines homeless encampment cleared of feces, garbage following complaint to city
At least four people sheltering in tents near the Central Iowa Shelter and Services in downtown Des Moines vacated the area Monday as crews from Des Moines cleared out garbage, feces and debris from their encampment.
Following a complaint to the city manager's office, crews from the city's Public Works Department spent hours sorting through belongings and disposing of trash that accumulated along Mulberry Street near Falcon Drive. City officials knew of four people camping on the grassy area and sidewalk near the shelter for at least a week, SuAnn Donovan, the city’s deputy director of neighborhood services, told the Des Moines Register in an email.
An additional 30 to 50 people were "milling" around the area before the cleanup, she said.
Public works crews called for an emergency cleanup Monday after they discovered garbage, raw food, urine and feces in a tent and on the sidewalk, Donovan said. "The volume and degree of the food product and hazardous material required an immediate cleanup," she said.
Typically, when a complaint about tent camping comes into the city, officials post a 10-day notice at the site ordering materials be removed. Owners of the materials also are given an opportunity to appeal the cleanup.
However, "hazardous materials” such as human waste and needles are cleared right away, Donovan said.
Donovan said encampments typically turn up in wooded areas, near bike trails or river banks. In this case, one person was using a parking meter as a tent pole.
Crews also found a van filled with belongings parked on Mulberry Street near the shelter. The owners of the van packed their belongings and moved on their own, Donovan said.
The people living in the area cleared Monday were offered and received services, including shelter, food and showers, Donovan said. CISS employees and volunteers collected personal items belonging to three people, which are typically stored for 10 days. Two people have since claimed their belongings, she said.
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"No tents were taken. Personal belongings were secured by shelter employees," Donovan said.
CISS did not respond to the Register's requests for comment.
Homeward, Polk County's homelessness planning organization, identified 606 people experiencing homelessness during a biannual Point-in-Time count taken in January. Of those in this year's count, 94 were unsheltered and the rest were in an emergency shelter, a safe haven or traditional housing.
In recent weeks, residents and business owners in downtown Des Moines have publicly expressed concern over the number of people experiencing homelessness in the area.
Downtown Neighborhood Association President Brandon Brown previously told the Register residents are worried about people who live in tents and wonder why no one is doing anything to help. "People aren’t callous to issue, but they’re wondering what is being done to make sure these people are receiving help," Brown said.
RJ Tursi, co-owner of Exile Brewing Co., said Monday's clean-up was a small but "necessary" action on the city's part. Exile is located about a block west of the encampment.
"Obviously it's a superficial thing, it's mostly for optics, but it's something that needs to happen," Tursi said of Monday's action. "There's a lot more that needs to be done."
Last month, Tursi and his mother, Exile co-owner Amy Tursi, made public comments expressing concern for the safety of Exile's employees who've reported multiple run-ins with individuals experiencing mental health and/or substance abuse crises. RJ Tursi said his family's concern also extends to vulnerable individuals experiencing homelessness.
Amy Tursi's call for the city to address homelessness at the City Council meeting Sept. 12 drew backlash from community members who perceived the comments as callous.
"We took a lot of flack for speaking out about this and the reason why we spoke out about it was because of a concern for our employees' safety and a concern for the safety of the individuals who are living on the street and the neighborhood," RJ Tursi told the Register on Tuesday.
The city, he said, "needs to ensure the camping and the open drug markets are not allowed."
Last weekend, a man was arrested after he allegedly pulled a knife on an Exile employee while the employee was taking out the trash.
"The incident last weekend reminded me why we spoke out to begin with," Tursi said. "It is a real issue."
Tursi acknowledged multiple services provided by the city to address the needs of residents who are unhoused, but said the state should step in to create a "holistic" program to help address the root cause of homelessness.
Virginia Barreda is the Des Moines city government reporter for the Register. She can be reached at vbarreda@dmreg.com. Follow her on Twitter at @vbarreda2.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Des Moines clears downtown homeless tents, garbage
