Roll call, please.

Vice Chair Coleman.

Here.

Johnson.

Joseph?

Here.

Kim.

Here.

Maker.

Here.

Yang.

Here.

Chair Bowie.

Here.

There are six members present, one arriving shortly.

Johnson.

Thank you so much, Pierre.

Welcome everyone.

This is the public safety committee.

We have a packed house here.

And I just want to say thank you so much to all my colleagues and also all of our partners and our Ramsey County partners as well as our assistant mayor making sure that we have this day possible.

This is not a public hearing, so we will not be having any public uh comments from the audience that is going to be scheduled or already scheduled today at 4 30 after our city council meeting.

The whole general purpose for this council, or excuse me, this public safety meeting is really for our council members to really fill the details, provide insight, perspectives, and really provide feedback to some of our partners that are leading this um encampment um transition.

Also, Assistant Mayor and the Mayor's office have already provided responses to some of those questions.

There's gonna be more, obviously, that comes.

So even what's limited on the presentation, please feel free to ask questions for follow-ups as well.

So uh we're just gonna get straight into it.

So Pierre, if you mind uh reading item number one, please.

Now reading into the record, item number one, SR 26 145, Mayor's encampment release plan.

Wonderful.

So if we can uh welcome Assistant Mayor Cedric Baker uh to the mic.

Um and also um uh Sister Mayor, before you get started, if you can just share and clarify who all is here to present um, you know, on behalf of the county, if there's any other community organizations present that we should acknowledge today.

Yeah, thanks.

Thanks, uh Chair Bowie, members of the committee.

Uh the only other person here is uh council manager Ling Becker that will be speaking with me and providing perspectives from Ramsey County.

Um outside of that, uh we did have a request in, but um our heart team members are out doing the work right now, so uh my goal is to uh speak, do my best to speak on their behalf.

Um and if we cannot get the information that you need today, we will definitely get it to you.

Okay.

And also we see there's not any presentation materials provided from the county.

Um can we ensure that we have follow-ups with some of the um materials that we cover after?

Uh uh Chair Bowie.

What we plan to do in our presentation is really highlight what to expect, and my goal is for County Manager Becker to really explain uh what they're doing and what they plan to do in the future.

Okay, thank you.

Okay, uh again, Chair Bowie, members of the committee, thank you so much for this time.

I am grateful for this opportunity to provide you with some information about our coordinated response to unsheltered homelessness and specifically our um encampments here in the city.

Uh this presentation is an opportunity um for the mayor's office to explain uh to plan to explain, excuse me, our plan and also really to acknowledge the complexity of this topic because it's hard.

The goal is to provide more insight into how we arrived at this moment, insight into our coordination efforts, and what you can expect moving forward.

So this is the agenda for my time with you.

I want to talk a little bit about their background and then the assessment that was taken to get to this moment.

Excuse me, uh County Manager Becker to come up and present with me.

We'll talk a little bit about the closure process and again next steps.

And at the very end, I just know that there are a lot of questions that have been floating around.

Um I know I'm not gonna be able to get to all of them, but I want to be able to address a few of them just in a small amount of time that I have.

So first, I'd like to ground the committee in a little bit of context for this conversation.

Um much of this work really started um with our community safety alignment team.

We call it CSAT, uh, which is a cross-functional team designed to create uh alignment within our city's public safety approach.

Uh the goal of this group is really to implement and coordinate an overall city strategy to support our community.

Um I facilitated this group when I first started and was appointed as the director of the Office of Neighborhood uh neighborhood safety, and uh as I continued and was appointed as the assistant mayor for people in a neighborhood vitality, um, I continue into that work.

Um as you see here, this department represents different um uh cross-functional departments uh within the city, and the main goal of this group was to really talk about community safety, public safety.

One of the things that came up in our conversations repeatedly at the beginning of this administration was safety and encampments.

Um what we learned is that this was a continuation of the conversations that have been had and from the previous administration.

At that time, it was called more of the quality of life work.

And um what we got insight into is some of the things that had already been done, but also getting insight into the current situation this year within the encampments.

This group really focused our attention on the overall safety uh within the encampments.

Um a part of this group is also, as you see, Department of Safety and Inspections.

Um members that are connected to our heart team that were providing us uh real-time information of what was happening not just at Pig's Eye Park but at our other two encampments, um Laureent and Randolph.

And what we really began to see, and I'll be able to address uh a little bit later, is there had been a shift.

There's a there's been a change, the um a major increase in the number of individuals in our encampments, um, in particular at Pig's Eye Park.

Um we have never seen um and never had that many individuals in one encampment.

And so, based on that, um, we made a decision, and I'll give you a little bit more insight into the elements of why that decision was made.

This group uh, as we were talking, wanted to make sure because we were under a new administration, we understand that things may have been done a little bit differently in the past administration.

We wanted guiding principles um in our work when it was coming to our overall response to unsheltered homelessness.

Uh the first one was, and I'll come back to um that part around um city ordinance.

The first one was being stubbornly helpful.

Um we use this term because we wanted to make sure that we were not just potentially offering individual services or uh meeting and connecting them one time and then pretty much saying we've done our part.

We wanted to make sure that we were staying consistently connected with the individuals.

We already see that happening in our work.

We have our heart team, which is a part of DSI, but also um our familiar faces team, which is a part of our Office of Neighborhood Safety.

These um city workers are out in community every day, every day, having conversations with individuals.

They know them by name, they understand uh potentially their readiness uh to reservice uh receive services and also housing.

And um they have been uh really instrumental in giving us insight into what specifically is happening um at our encampments.

So we said that we need to make sure that as a team, our approach is to be extremely helpful.

We say it's stubbornly helpful where you see us every day, and we're gonna come out every day.

Um it is our approach to engage the individuals that um we believe um need resources and support.

It is also to ensure that we are navigating, understanding that we are navigating a very complex and dynamic relationship out in the encampments where it's at times it can be fluid.

Um we also said that we were going to ensure that we have a coordinated response and approach.

The whole rationale for the CSAT or the community safety alignment team is to get aligned internally.

Um when we've initially started having conversations, um what I noticed is uh we were not always aligned.

And what we did is we met in a room every week and had conversations about making sure that we were all uh saying the same thing and doing the same thing, seeing the same thing, which means that we had to hear all of the perspectives around the room, all of the insights uh that these departments had.

Although we've had um new members come on to this administration, a lot of the individuals that are in uh this CSAC group have been here for years.

They have had conversations with multiple council members and different mayors, and they were giving us really, really good insight into what has changed, what hasn't changed, what is different, what's not different.

And then uh lastly, uh the four E's, which is the um really our approach uh to enforcement.

Um engage, educate, encourage, and enforce.

And ultimately in this, what we are highlighting is that enforcement is a last option.

Enforcement I'm sorry.

To that point, uh I see there's a hand from uh councilmember Kim, and I also had a question as well, but I want to Councilmember Kim maybe able to comment or question.

Yeah, a quick question.

Um I'm just interested, you know, I I visually see there's a lot of providers in the room and community organizations that have also been deeply steeped in this work around coordinated response.

It looks like it's mostly with city, Ramsey County State.

Um, where in this process has sort of some of our community partners and community organizations been included in this plan?

Yeah, so initially on the conversation has really been focused on um thinking about uh um the role that uh the city and Ramsey County can play, but we have also been talking to uh service providers um and community-based organizations.

We've had a lot of really good conversations with them, sometimes some hard conversations as well, um, where they've been really trying to understand how do we get here, um, um, what's the criteria in us getting here?

Um, but I feel like we've had um overall productive conversations for us.

So we've had um smaller, we've had conversations with smaller um community-based organizations as well as large community-based organizations as well.

So we have been talking to service providers.

Okay, maybe just a quick follow-up.

Um I would just be really interested how these conversations and input that we hear, both from residents of the encampment, uh residents in the city, and also our service providers that have been in this work as well, how their input will potentially adapt or change the plan.

Um so it's more rhetorical, but maybe at the end, um, you know, I have a question about implementation and would just be really interested how these voices that weren't initially in the in the room, which I understand clarifying our role as the city, um, but then how are we allowing space and opportunity for them to provide very clear input on how we're implementing or how we're adjusting course?

Yeah, um uh I know that we're trying to move through the presentation, but uh chair, if you allow me to respond to that.

Um Councilmember Kim, I think that um this has been a process where yes, we uh we have a plan, and we believe that um more feedback and input only makes the plan better.

And so we have already seen where we've had conversations, again, sometimes really hard conversations uh with um organizations where it has forced us to think a little bit differently on a few things.

Um that includes um making sure that we're thinking about um on the day of the closure, what's happening, um, leading up to the closure and supportive services, um, our interactions and um the very positive work that Ramsey County is doing, but the role that we can play um in working with Ramsey County.

So it has really forced us to go back to the table, not on everything, but definitely on some things to rethink uh elements to really improve and and I will say it this way.

But I am one that believes that you should be able to objectively look at something and make sure that you're looking at it from all angles, because in the end, I do believe that you get a better product.

I truly do believe it.

So that's how we have been, in my opinion, trying to engage the work.

And before we move forward, um, just because um on the top of the slide it says overnight camping is prohibited, and as a legislative body, I was just wondering if you can cite just if they're like legislative codes or a code um that actually prohibits um public spaces to be you know habitable.

Um I just don't see that and also if there is any like background or former resolutions that previous councils have passed to provide like sanctuary cities.

I'm just curious to know like what uh um action that council have took in the past.

Can I get that back to you because it's not not specifically in there, but I will get you that information.

Thank you.

And I'm making a note of it right now on the specific code.

Thank you.

And to that point, what we are trying our best to do is align um what we already have as um a um ordinance to just align it with our overall enforcement uh mechanisms.

Um but uh duly know the chair and we'll make sure that we get you that information.

When it comes to the assessment, um we did an assessment in that assessment um which was coordinated by our Department of Safety and Inspections.

Um the assessment consisted of uh code enforcement information, um police information, and fire information.

Um that information was pulled together um which really supports the basis of why we made the decision that we did.

Um when it comes to, and I just want to highlight this because again, there have been some numbers that have been floating around, and this is um recent information, updated information when it comes to the populations based on our count.

Um, that at Pig's Eye Park, that there is about 124 individuals that are there at Lorient 35, and that at the Shepherd Randolph encampment 44.

Um this information was also made public, but I want to provide a little bit more context to it.

Um the 853 first responder calls were calls.

This does not necessarily just also include all of the other assessment data that was used to go into the decision that was made.

And what we based it on were the types of incidents that we were seeing, such as assaults, um domestic uh excuse me, restraining orders and type of there, weapons, uh drugs, narcotics, death investigations, and missing persons.

I want to highlight and say that when individuals look at this information, we are not saying that everyone in the encampments were doing this.

What we are saying is this is what was also happening at the encampments, and based on that and the assessment, we made the determination, including uh being on contaminated land, that uh being on contaminated land, uh, that we would we needed to make a decision and have a responsibility of stopping that and stopping that environment and closing the encampment.

Chair, I do see your yes.

Quick question for clarities for the 853 calls for the no problem for the eight eight hundred and fifty-three calls, was that just from one encampment or all the encampments?

It is my understanding that that was from Higgs eye part.

Okay, thank you.

Um excuse me, I was uh miscorrecting on that.

That was from all encampments.

All encampments.

Thank you.

So yes, the assessment was done on all three encampments and it was also updated recently.

And what I want to just really highlight is um there's been a narrative that we are um doing we are attempting to characterize all individuals at the encampments in this way.

And that is just not the case.

Um we understand that there are individuals that are down there uh that are living down there, and they are not um engaging in this type of activity.

However, um, when it comes to the public safety of all individuals, we believe that we have a responsibility to ensure that we are tackling and dealing with that, which means that the environment is not safe.

And so because of that, we made the decision to move forward with closure of the encampment.

Oh, questions from Councilmember Joseph.

Thank you, Chair.

We can you um the last bullet point talked about contaminated land.

Could you say a few more things about that?

Yeah, um this isn't talked about as much, but we actually are very concerned.

Excuse me.

This isn't talked about as much, but we are actually really concerned about the contamination of land in some of the encampments.

Um in particular um at uh Shepard, um, that their um Minnesota Pollution is a control agency um has cited that the land is contaminated.

As a matter of fact, um it used to be a um a junkyard kind of site where if you dig up the land, you will actually see uh the remnants of it.

And so based on all of that, um we just don't believe it's also healthy and safe to be in the spots that these individuals are in.

And so it was another reason and um an element that led into our decision for closure.

And follow a quick follow-up.

Um can you clarify if this is city-owned property or Ramsey County owned property, which entity you own?

Um it depends, it depends on where you are.

Um because I feel like there are certain jurisdictions that have aspects of certain areas, but in all of them, there's some level of city-owned property within the encampments.

Um when it comes to Pig's Eye in particular, that is city owned property.

It it it uh butts up to uh county land as well, and also private property as well.

Okay, thank you.

Um within this assessment and based on the decision, uh just want to talk a little bit about the outcomes.

Um what the decision included was encampment closures for all three established encampments.

And uh want to talk a little bit about that because based on the increased number of individuals within all encampments, but big pig Pig's Eye Park being the largest, um, and what was also described to us uh by uh field workers as now being at a point where it is considered unstable.

Um what I have heard is that um in there have been encampments and our encampments have been what we would consider stable.

What we have noticed is that we are now dealing with encampments that are now unstable and unstable meaning uh the amount of crime activity, the large amount of individuals that are down there, and when you put all of that together, what's happening.

Um the decision um was also to close starting with Pig's Eye Park um on August 5th, and this concept of a rolling closure with Laureant and Shepherd Randolph to follow, we intentionally wanted to provide flexibility, um, which is why we did not highlight a date on that, because we wanted to ensure that there was um appropriate support for the transition of the individuals that were at Pig's Eye Park, and then also in preparation for um closures later on.

So we have not specifically said that um there would be a specific date to the closures of the others just to ensure that we're doing our duty to have a due diligence to support the individuals in transition.

I also wanted to talk a little bit about um that we just overall saw that there was a um a need or uh greater need for coordination in particular with the city and the county.

Um as I'd like to say that the county has been a really, really strong and solid partner in this in the city's decision um to move forward with encampment closures, and um the city has only certain levers that I feel like we can pull.

Um and we are working and doing our best to work with other jurisdictions that have other levers that we believe that are really important that we don't um oversee.

And so the county has done a really, really solid job, I would say, uh a really, really important job in thinking through and making sure that we're thinking about beds and mental service uh support and addiction services, uh public health support and financial assistant assistance in ways that we are just not able to pull that lever.

Uh Chair.

Uh Council President Maker.

Thanks, Madam Chair.

Um Director, I I don't know when you're planning to invite uh Ms.

Becker up, but I'm really glad that we are talking about the county, the large, largest number of concerns that I've heard from constituents related to this plan um really relate to the the services and the supports and the plan for housing and and helping folks.

Um and all of that work is the responsibility of the county ultimately.

So I am I'm wondering when it's the right time to transition, because I looked ahead at the slides and I wasn't sure Yeah, yeah, yeah.

So uh I'm I'm uh through the chair.

I'm thinking in like one to two slides.

Okay.

Uh I will say I can pivot and um uh maybe just finish up with this slide and come back to it.

Um but I think maybe the last thing that I'd say is um speaking to that whole sorrow.

We just have two two in queue.

Um council, vice president, uh Kim, or excuse me, I'm so sorry.

Yang I'll take it.

Sorry about that.

Um and Chair Johnson.

Thank you, Chair Bowie.

Uh Assistant Mayor Baker, I'm uh I really appreciate you coming before the council to present this information.

I do just have a few questions I want to ask, and I apologize in advance because I wasn't able to get it to you ahead of time.

I was just wondering um if we're pigside park, since that is first in line for the closures.

I'm sorry, I can't hear you that would be last part of it.

Yep.

I'm just wondering if you can give a status update for for um Pixite Park in terms of the the amount of people who are there, which I see in one of your slides, it's 124 ever since the announcement of the upcoming closures.

Can you talk about how many people have signed up to go into either a shelter or housing and then for those who are pending to it'd be helpful helpful to get those numbers?

Yeah, so uh what I can say is um the county and the coordinated effort that we've been taking have really um taken the lead on connecting individuals to services.

So I think that um County Manager Becker may have a little bit more insight into um the number of connections that they've made there.

So um I want to say that for her.

Um and you have one other question that I think that was it for you.

Sorry about that.

And Councilmember Johnson, and then we have Councilmember Coleman.

Okay.

I mean, Council Council Vice President Ying asked the one question that I had.

I just think it would be really helpful.

Um folks in our ward, this is the second closure that's really tied to um Pig Sai Park first.

It was Bruce Rencho, and I do remember by the time it got to the actual closure date, there were very few individuals remaining because some folks had either sought out services and been connected and or had selected not to receive services directly, and so there was other mechanisms for them and places that they went.

Um but looking at Pig Side Park, I think one of the things that I heard from you, and I just want to make sure I understand.

So Pixai Park is the encampment that will start the enclosure as on August 5th, but the date for the other two has not necessarily been determined and is reliant on the aftermath of what kind of comes from that and what's learned from that.

Is that correct?

That is uh through the chair, that is correct.

And our rationale is because we really want to be very thoughtful about transitions for individuals.

Um we could have set a date in just working with the team and others and hearing.

We want to make sure that we are being very, very thoughtful on supporting individuals in their transition.

Um we also want to make sure that we're thinking about uh where these individuals, if they decide to say no, where they are going, so we can stay connected with them.

And then we also want to be prepared as we move into preparation for another closure.

So we didn't necessarily think it would be prudent to set um a date without making sure that we thought through the largest encampment.

Um we've never had an encampment this large uh before, and just making sure that uh we are able to pivot um to the degree that we need to for those individuals.

One thing that I think would be really helpful for community members who are looking, and I will just share since this isn't my ward, I I do actually know more about how often city staff are responding, not only to obviously we have the calls, the dispatch calls that are here, but I think just the overall hours that have been spent with ONS HART team and the CARES team out on the site over the last year is really helpful when it comes to context, because one of the things that I also see from folks is maybe wondering what the city has been doing leading up to this point.

Um and I think that that's been really helpful, at least on my end of the communication to talk to folks about what has been happening.

I know for a fact that there have been city staff that have been on site there multiple times, hundreds of times throughout the year, but really just understanding that number and translated from the team.

I would love to have the HART team and the CARES team and the ONS team also be able to share the amount of hours that they've spent there.

There's been a lot of staff time, but not just staff time, but a lot of the time and investment regarding individuals over the course of the growth period.

And I just think that that isn't captured in your presentation, but something that could be done in a follow-up.

And I just also through the chair, I just wanted to say to that point um to uh uh Chair Councilmember Johnson's uh um comments.

I I think that um what I'd like to also just kind of highlight is ultimately our staff that are actually boots on the ground, cares heart, um, familiar faces, um, they're doing this work every day, and they're not gonna stop doing this work when this encampment closes.

They know individuals better than I do, they have insight.

Um I know because when I was over at the uh Office of Neighborhood Safety, um there were parties and excitement and people were happy when people got housed and when people said yes to treatment.

I know the feeling that it is when people are actually saying, hey, I'm ready now, let's make this happen.

Or they went, they drove them to a court case, and or they drove them to get their driver's license, or whatever it is.

So I just want you to know that the individuals that are doing this work every day are deeply deeply deeply invested into this going well, and they are giving us feedback.

They are also giving us insight.

We are not doing this in a vacuum in and of ourselves.

In addition to service providers, organizations, community members, we're also receiving uh feedback from the individuals that know um the encampment um residents uh name by they know them and trust them.

Many of them trust them in ways that um they may not for myself.

And then we have uh one question from um uh council member Coleman.

And I would respectfully we can pivot in um for the last 30 minutes if we can um invite our county manager um here to help fill some of those questions for the later slides.

Councilman.

Do you mind just yes?

Thank you, Chair.

Thank you, Sister Mayor.

Um I wanna just make note you mentioned briefly um making sure that the city and that our partners are tracking every single person after the first closure on the fifth, and I'd love to make sure we come back to that to understand better what that will look like, how we'll make sure that we know where everybody has gone and are connecting with service providers to make sure that they know where their clients are.

Um but my the question that I have for right now is related to bullet points one and then the final one.

So the primary question that we've been receiving from service providers over the last couple of weeks is trying to understand if this is specific closures of one, two, three encampments based on a unique assessment of the challenges being faced at those encampments, or if this is reflective of a new policy direction for the city long term to have no encampments and effectively no camping in the city.

And I think that this gets too I I'm I've seen this a couple of places.

So this idea of aligning current ordinance with enforcement efforts.

I'm not sure what that means.

And so it would be really helpful, and I think that this will be helpful for folks in the room to understand again, are we talking about we looked at Pigsai Park, we made a determination that this cannot safely be maintained, but encampments would still be permitted in the city under a certain set of circumstances or with a certain set of supports, or we will not have encampments in the city period and they will be shut down every single time that one begins to exist.

Yeah, so uh through the chair, um to that point, we I would not characterize it as a policy change.

Um there has been no policy that will be changing.

I think what when I say around aligning ordinance with enforcement efforts, it's actually enforcing what should have been happening before or what the ordinance says is supposed to happen.

So I we are not actually trying to institute anything that's new.

I think that what potentially is new is moving forward with that.

That's number one.

Number two is um we fundamentally believe that individuals should have supportive services and shelter.

And I and in a shelter, so if that's a bid, that but we don't believe that encampments are the most appropriate way for these individuals to be out there.

What we have heard um is um a lot of people are in agreement with that.

I think the disconnect or maybe the concern or the issue is well, what does that mean moving forward?

And so we're welcome to have that conversation, but I don't think that it has actually been a change of policy.

This is just saying moving forward, and uh let me be more specific.

Um we do not want to have any more established encampments moving forward.

So our goal is to connect individuals with either the resources that they need or to in uh connect them in access to the housing opportunities that they have.

So that is um our plan moving forward.

And we just have a clarifying question from Councilmember Kim.

Yeah, I really appreciate this question.

I'm I'm wondering if you can define what you mean by established for a tent community.

Yes, one is that two, what what does that look like?

So uh we're about to get into nuance of it, but um in ordinance a tent is an encampment.

Uh a singular yes, so I am not talking about that.

So I just want to just highlight that even though that says in an order, I'm talking about a large group, multiple tents together.

That is what we're talking.

That's that's what we're talking about.

Um, even though I know the ordinance says that one tenth technically would equal an encampment, we're talking about multiple people coming together and um camping or overnight.

I think if I just may add a I'm so sorry, Chair.

Just a really quick one.

I am also just want to make sure we have time because we do have our county attorneys here.

You know, as a council, we have some we have a lot of time to follow up directly with our assistant mayor, but I do want to be respectful of county managers' time.

So a quick follow-up.

Thank you, Chair.

But we can I think I'm just gonna um lift up sort of maybe um some not confusion, but um for the lack of a word I can't think of, but it it's the fact that if our ordinance states that a single tenor is considered an encampment in the city, then what I'm hearing is saying that we're not enforcing that ordinance, but we haven't made any policy changes, and yet our enforcement looks different than the ordinances that are on our books.

I think therein lies um some greater clarification that is needed or change that is needed.

So it's just saying that like that's a very confusing law to be enforcing and not by the title, not by how it's written, which I would not personally support, um, but just looking at how we're defining it even against our books sounds pretty different.

I I think that um when all of us uh excuse me through the chair.

I think when all of us talk about encampments, everyone is specifically thinking about groups of individuals like at Biggs Eye at um Laureate at Randolph.

Um so you are thinking about two, three, four, five individuals in park space or in public space.

Um that's the conversation that we're having today.

And so what I want to be clear about is um when it comes to those spaces, right now, Pig's Eye Park is parked space.

It's city land.

What we are saying moving forward that when it is closed, we do not want to allow another encampment on that land.

That is what we're saying.

Um maybe I call up um Yep, county county manager beckards to just get your perspectives on what the county is um doing and thinking.

Good afternoon, Chair.

Um, council members, thank you for the opportunity to provide this update today.

Uh my name's Ling Becker.

I have the privilege of serving as the Ramsey County Manager.

Um, as Assistant Mayor Baker has said, Ramsey County has been working in partnership with the City of St.

Paul and community organizations to support residents living in encampments and strengthen our coordinated response to the homeless uh situation there.

I want to begin by recognizing our complementary responsibilities, and I actually thought I was going to be coming right after the next slide, so if we can show that slide just so I can reference it.

Um I think the one with the encampment response.

It puts the county in the role, it says housing there.

I just want to make sure I'm able to offer some clarity to that as I start my remarks.

Um, the city of St.

Paul is responsible for managing its public spaces and making decisions regarding encampments, including their closures.

Ramsey's county's role is to connect residents to county resources and housing supports.

And while our operational responsibilities, I see this slide as our operational response to the encampments.

I want to remind all of us of our shared leadership responsibility for the continuum of care.

Together, the city and county both play essential roles in building a coordinated housing system that helps people move from crisis to permanent housing.

I want to especially thank Councilmember Johnson for her leadership as the vice chair of Heading Home Ramsey, which is our county's continuum of care that we uh co-lead with the city.

Commissioner Rena Moran is here today and sh currently shares uh serves as the chair of Heading Home Ramsey.

There are many members um in this room of of that group and also are aligned with that work.

So I just want to make sure that we're really clear that while the housing uh is noted here as part of the county's encampment response, uh providing housing for our community is a shared response between the city and county, and so we can talk more about that.

Ramsey County has mobilized a coordinated countywide response.

County and city city leadership have been meeting regularly to align our decisions, resolve barriers, and coordinate in real time.

I absolutely want to thank the city's heart team for their partnership on the ground.

The county's response builds on a coordinated outreach and housing stability approach that really is a new community wellness and response initiative that we have started.

To meet the increased needs of this response, we have expanded our work by redeploying teams from multiple departments and increasing our capacity to provide housing navigation, service coordination, and operational support.

Our outreach teams continue to provide basic necessities every day, including food, water, and essential supplies, while also trying to build trust to help residents navigate available resources.

County teams are connecting residents to housing navigation, shelter options, health care, behavioral health support, financial assistance, and other stabilization resources.

Outreach efforts have focused on identifying and strengthening existing relationships residents may have already had with the county.

Last week alone, the county completed more than 330 service engagements with multiple program areas, demonstrating both scale and need and the intensity of the response.

Activity has continued at that pace this week as well, with our outreach teams connecting with many residents for the first time and experiencing consistent demand when we are there.

There is a line in working with the county right now over at the encampments, and we continue to serve those people that are coming for those resources on site.

Our teams are also addressing practical barriers that prevent people from assessing housing.

They're replacing identification documents, helping obtain social security cards, establishing uh resolving benefit eligibility issues, coordinating across our county systems.

These often are the first critical steps before someone can secure housing and begin moving forward.

Ramsey County Community Corrections is working with our second judicial district and our neighboring counties and community partners to remove uh justice system barriers that can prevent people experiencing homelessness from obtaining housing.

This includes helping residents resolve outstanding warrants, many of which result from missed court appearances when residents do not have a stable address to receive notices while um providing specialized outreach through our probation officers who are um on site every day.

This work removes barriers to housing.

Do you have such a question from Council Member Kim?

Thank you.

Um, just really quickly, I heard you uh spot out a stat it was over 300 contacts last week and continue at that rate this week.

Can you tell me kind of what the weekly average was of that engagement three months ago?

Um I do not have that information with handy.

I'd be happy to share that with you.

Yeah, I would just be interested in seeing sort of like what as a collaborative coordinating partner of what the ramp up of the county engagement has been since the first of the year.

Yeah, our public health out there, our uh correctional officers, I would say we are now you know tracking more in a coordinated level.

Yeah.

So that'll be great for a follow-up.

I appreciate it.

Thank you.

Thank you, Councilmember.

And as a as a follow-up as well to County Manager Becker, is there a dashboard or something that we're we can be able to track just kind of like the the numbers like where it's measured?

Because I know you're you're talking about all the services that the county provide, which we know is endless, but if there's something that we can actually track to see how many number of individuals are actually you know eligible to in to enter um coordinated entry or eligible for these um shelters.

Because you mentioned some of the barriers in terms of documentation or having warrants, our criminal backgrounds, um if there is a dashboard where we can see this information.

Yeah, thank you, Chair.

Um, I think you're talking about a couple of things all at the same time, so I want to make sure I address them.

Like in terms of our encampment response and the touches there.

I certainly am getting operational updates with a report every day from our team.

I think when you're talking about just like the need for shelter and that coordinated entry system, that's a different conversation.

There is a dashboard on the county's uh website, but I think that warrants an explanation and some myth busting about what that list really means.

Um, and I'm happy to do that if I can get through some of the other things I want to make sure I share with you today.

Um, so to address immediate shelter needs, uh, Ramsey County yesterday uh executed an agreement with Catholic charities to provide an additional 49 emergency shelter beds at higher ground.

These beds are paired with trauma-informed shelter advocates who provide crisis intervention, navigation, and ongoing support.

Residents also have access to the St.

Paul Opportunity Center, which offers meals, showers, laundry, mail service, and storage.

Um the shelter also accommodates um pets as well.

So I wanted to be able to announce that today that we did expand some capacity just yesterday.

Um but I did want to say that the community has needed additional emergency shelter capacity for some time.

The new beds increase overall capacity rather than shifting existing resources.

The encampment response is one use of these additional beds, but also strengthens the emergency shelter system.

The response is intended to reduce harm, improve safety, and create a coordinated path to get indoors.

Housing prioritization does not change.

Everyone continues to access permanent housing through the coordinated entry process based on the same community-wide prioritization criteria.

Um then I just want to also make a couple of other announcements of things that is kind of uh hot off the press here.

Um, at noon today, Ramsey County also released a re uh request for proposals to expand housing case management services for individuals transitioning from encampments into emergency shelter.

Selective providers will deliver comprehensive housing case management that helps individuals obtain and maintain stable housing through housing navigation, stabilization services, coordination of public benefits, uh connections to health care, behavioral health, and other community resources.

We know that shelter alone is not enough.

Uh lasting outcomes require coordinated wraparound services that help people navigate the complex systems, maintain housing, and then maintain and build towards stability.

I think maybe there's might be a couple questions, so maybe this is a good time for me to pause.

Thank you, County Manager.

Uh, we do have three questions.

We have here in the queue, Councilmember Coleman, uh President Naker, and uh Chair Johnson.

Thank you.

Thank you, County Manager.

This is very helpful.

Um I'm trying to get a my head around.

I think the big questions are where are people going to go on August 5th or in the weeks immediately following?

And I think it would be helpful to get some concrete numbers.

I'm really thrilled to hear about the new investments, the new capacity that's being opened.

I think that that's excellent and long overdue, and I'm really thrilled, and I know we have a council action today to financially support some of that.

Um my understanding is that we're looking at a wait list for permanent supportive housing of about 1,400 people currently, and that there are about 26 current openings.

Is that accurate?

Okay, so let me I think thank you, council member.

Those are great great questions for me to share the things I I want to make sure I leave behind here.

So, in terms of shelter capacity, um, I've been getting reports every night.

Um, even I don't recall even in the last two weeks that maybe there was one night that actually there was completely zero shelter capacity.

I just want to make sure that that's clear that each night there's likely, like last night, I think there were seven men's beds, maybe there are four women's beds, either between safe space and um higher ground.

I just want to make sure that that's clear that currently if somebody is looking for a shelter bed, that there generally most nights there is one.

Now that's not true every single night, it kind of fluctuates, but that is um hopefully helpful to just know that.

Um so I I think that point drives home a lot of the things that we continue to work with when our teams are meeting with people.

There are other reasons that people are not going to shelter besides just being able to find a bed.

It is not as simple as finding a bed.

Now, it is an important part of the answer, but there's a lot of other components, which is why the county is focused on continually re-reducing some of these other barriers that sometimes hold people back.

It could be trust of government, which is why the community and partners are so critical, and it very much could be that oftentimes you know there's there's a lot of other reasons why people are not necessarily going.

I don't know if beds are your answer.

However, I think with a situation of this magnitude of people, we certainly know that our shelter system does need more capacity.

That is why you know the county did sign that contract yesterday.

Now, in terms of coordinated entry, and um, and I'm I'm grateful for you understanding this is not my uh you know the best subject matter expertise.

I have other people, but I do I can explain it.

So the coordinated entry is um a place where everyone's completed an assessment who wants to be in some sort of permanent housing.

It can be um, and I have some of the numbers, but it can be men, it can be women, it can be families.

So I have 400, so out of the 1400 people, 442 are single adults, 941 are men, 50 of those 54 women, there's youth, okay?

So there's a lot of people that make up that 1400.

Of those 1400, many of those people are actually in our shelter system, if that makes sense.

They're not all looking for shelter.

They are looking for some sort of permanent housing in the continuum.

Does that make sense?

And so the the call-out of where we have gaps in our system is actually, while while I did say there are some challenges to the shelter system, we could use some more capacity.

The problem is like all the things after that, there is a bottleneck and some pressure, and we need to uh work closely with our continuum of care, our partners, and and to continue to have that conversation.

Now, both the city and county get um what is the local housing aid, these new law funds.

We've advocated at the legislature for lots of resources.

We all collectively have to work on that other part.

It is like a pipe.

Imagine a pipe where everybody is stuck at the front end, and we have to keep moving people down the continuum.

Does that help a little bit?

It it does.

I I do think for purposes of this conversation and again for understanding what is happening in the city of St.

Paul in the coming weeks, having the numbers of both shelter beds, emergency emergent emergency shelter beds that are available on a nightly basis, understanding where the bottlenecks are, understanding what our current capacity is, all of which is getting at the fact that my understanding of the numbers is that we are still going to have people, whether because of barriers or lack of capacity who are needing to sleep outside in our city.

And so that is where I think understanding what the intentions are for what will happen with them and understand some of the distinctions that Councilmember Kim was getting at around what constitutes an encampment, what is being done when multiple people are gathering.

If, for example, there are people who are displaced from uh fish hatchery and don't have the ability to enter a shelter for you know any one of a number of reasons, and they choose to gather in a small group to maintain that sense of community.

Uh understanding what will happen and what the consequences will be and how they will continue to receive support rather than just criminalization is something that I think is really foundational to this conversation.

So, County Manager Becker, I appreciate the information you're able to provide.

Um, if you want to follow up.

Okay.

Uh through the chair, uh to Councilmember Coleman's question.

Um so we understand that at certain times enforcement will need to be a part of the process.

As of right now, um, from our police department all the way to our code enforcement officers.

Enforcement is the last result.

We do not start with enforcement.

We are not looking to start with enforcement.

We are not looking to criminalize any type of behavior.

We're looking to support individuals.

That is what we're looking for.

We're we're looking to s um to ensure that there is safety in these groups.

It is not to put them on a pathway within the criminalization or uh the criminal justice system.

So please know that that is how we're looking at this.

That is what we have discussed internally.

Our strategy is not to move forward with enforcement.

There will be situations or there could be situations where enforcement is necessary and and we will move forward in that.

But overall, the the goal is not to lead with enforcement.

It is um what we've talked about um in uh in our conversations is um before you even have a conversation with the police officer, you should have had multiple conversations with our um familiar faces team or with our heart team or even with our code enforcement officers, um uh not police, but those that are dealing and thinking about code, before you have a conversation with police officers, and when you do potentially have a conversation with police officers, it's still a continuum before you even get to enforcement.

We are trying to make it extremely hard to get to what everybody is thinking about in their mind, which is enforcement.

Now we're talking about violence.

We're talking about safety concerns.

But in general, we do not want to criminalize being homeless.

That is not what this is about.

We are serious about trying to actually deal with the issue.

I think the other thing that is happening at the same time is we are having to navigate and deal with an issue or a system, uh, deal with Pig's Eye Park, which um um was brought to us based on safety concerns.

And at the same time, we understand that um aspects that we are all navigating right now with the system is broken.

And so we are also trying to do two things at the same time, which is also have the appropriate conversations, bringing uh individuals, jurisdictions, organizations together, and to reimagine what can this look like.

I'm moving a little bit fast just because I know we don't have as much time, but I do want to highlight that um the mayor and I have talked, and we want to partner with the city council, and we also want to partner with the public.

What could uh Pig's Eye Park look like?

What how can we reimagine that space to really highlight the dignity of the individuals that are out there, not sleeping in a tent, but actually maybe sleeping in a I'm just throwing out things now, but maybe it's sleeping in a um uh a trailer.

Yeah.

It could be streaming in the trailer.

Uh it could be sleeping in a trailer, it could be sleeping in a container that is uh prefabed.

It could be, it could be a lot of different things.

What we're saying is we don't have all of the answers.

But what we do know is something has to be different, and something has to change.

We are wanting to work with you, we're wanting to work with the community to reimagine, not just at Pig's Eye, but in other areas, what could this look like?

Because right now the status quo is not working.

The status quo is actually leaving people on in unsafe situations, and as much as we are all saying that we need housing, we have been dealing with this issue for years and years and years.

We're trying to step up to the plate and do something different, and a part of that difference is ensuring that we reimagine and think outside of the box on what we can see out there.

There are two things that are going on at the same time.

One is we are needing to deal with um a health and a safety situation.

But on the other side, we are literally trying to say, let's let's dig in and think differently.

What can we do?

Who do we need to bring together and how can we all have a more effective conversation on how people that are experiencing unsheltered homelessness can be really supported and actually end up thriving because ultimately what we are seeing down there is a lot of those individuals are not thriving.

And we want them to be thriving.

Thank you, Assistant Mayor Baker.

Um it's really enlightening to hear that there is an interest around partnership to reimagine the space.

That's the first time I have heard that.

I do think there's a lot of ideas that um council can look for, look towards in terms of other models.

Um I definitely see this as a part one to uh more conversations to come.

Um but I also I do feel a little complex because um with the invitation of reimagining the space, um there it doesn't seem like there's really a lot of space or agency for that, especially if we're looking at a closure.

Um and if there is interest around reimagining what that space could be for people to live dignified, not saying it's at Pig's Eye Park or uh uh some other public space that uh we can partner on.

Um it just it just doesn't seem sincere that we're closing just uh reopened a door to a re reimagining.

So I just want to note that.

Um I respond to that.

Yes, and then we I just want to after you respond to that.

I wanna um have the open up the floor for um um council president Acre, we have Chair Johnson, and then um council member Kim, and we'll end wrapping up um with any last words from county manager and yourself as well.

Yeah, um uh Chair, I just want to highlight two things.

One is when I brought up around the concept of reimagining.

Um when I say that there are two things that are happening as the city, we have to think about the safety and the well-being of individuals.

Um to me, that is a different conversation about than reimagining.

What we see is that we have city land, we have different space, right, that we own, that we can do something about.

Maybe there are some zoning changes that need to happen.

I'm just throwing things out there at this point.

Ultimately, there are things that we can do that we have not done.

And what I'm saying is I don't want it to look like we are pushing people out to reimagine.

We are responding to a safety issue, and at the same time, we are trying to make sure that we are reimagined.

So we are trying to do those things concurrently.

Um we care deeply about everyone that is down there.

We care um and at all of our encampments, we care deeply about their transition, which is why we are partnering vigorously with the county about the supportive services.

To me, and my understanding based on uh previous closures, it has not looked like this.

And my rationale of saying that is because I want you all to know that we are trying to say that we want this and we believe that this will be different.

Um we understand that we may take some bumps and there may be some things where we need to pivot, but we are open to the feedback, we're open to the partnerships, we're open to um thinking differently about it, and we just want to make sure that all voices are at the table.

Thank you.

Thanks, Madam Chair.

Um, I do appreciate this information.

I think it's helpful to hear the the long-term problem and and the opportunity.

I think it is true, this is not a problem that arose overnight.

We have needed better services for years.

Ramsey County has needed more shelter beds for years.

Um so this is not a new problem, and I do hope that this gives us this urgency gives us an opportunity to work better together across partners as is already starting to happen.

I do want to come back to Ms.

Coleman's excellent questions about the short term.

We are talking about August 5th.

Um I think I and others around this table have said if there is a plan to help everyone find a place inside if they want to go inside, then that is one thing.

If there isn't, that's something else.

So I'm still trying to figure out if I am an individual, I am in Pig's Eye, and on August 5th, the shelter beds are full, and someone is coming to me and reaching out to me, what are they reaching out to offer?

During COVID, we opened up lots of spaces that weren't already available.

We have partners in other counties, many of whom actually have um that's their residents who are now in Pig's Eye.

These are not all folks from St.

Paul Ramsey County, right?

So what is the offer to someone on August 5th when our Ramsey County shelter beds are full?

Through the chair, I'll start and maybe you uh say a few words.

Um as of right now, as um County Manager Becker uh highlighted that we're bringing more beds online.

So that's number one.

Number two is we are doing our best.

So there's a list of individuals that we have insight into for all of these encampments.

We do understand for who they are connected with if they're in our system.

We also can understand, we also know when they're not actually in our system, they're connected with a neighboring county as well.

We are trying our best to coordinate and connect individuals to where they need to be in getting the services that they need.

We are right now working on making sure that if anybody needs to be inside, they can be inside.

And is that that's August B.

That's the commitment?

That is the commitment.

Okay.

And then we have uh council member Johnson, Kim, and then it looks like uh council member Joe's.

I appreciate just being able to uh hear from both of you, both county manager um Becker and uh assistant mayor Baker.

Um I think one of the things that would be really helpful for folks is looking at your kind of joint piece, right?

If the cities, I will just share over the last three years as a council member, when we started at Bruce Frento, which was county owned land, and it was an encampment, it was 30 to 40 individuals since 2024 into 2025 and 2026, as you've seen, the numbers have basically went from what was on average 30 to 40 folks to 124.

And I think that that is a piece that for me was like this didn't happen overnight, and for a lot of residents, both in the encampments and then the surrounding area, it we are very familiar with how it has basically grown in size and has changed dynamics drastically.

I also, as a council member, was involved in several conversations, even with the previous administration and the county.

And so I'm really you know happy to see um you know Commissioner Moran um in the audience.

I do remember what it was like to have conversations with the county about what we were going to do then.

Um I will just be honest that one of the things that has been discouraging is that I do not fully think that if the city we if we were primarily focused just on code enforcement, law enforcement, emergency medical response and communications, um, that alleviates a lot of our direct response pieces, and I think we've existed kind of in the both for a minute.

Um I I am curious to see what the county numbers will be, just so I can also know, like prior to this closure, what the numbers look like.

And I want to reiterate, I'm very excited about the commitment that is happening.

I know you had mentioned just a couple things around the 49 beds coming back online with Catholic charities.

I do want to make sure that uh my colleagues can also make the connections.

Can you clarify as well?

The city is joining in that partnership, correct?

Yeah, so through the chair, um what you will have before you later today during the city council uh meeting is a resolution to move funds over to the um county um to support in that effort.

Um I think it's in the amount of a little over a million dollars.

Um, and the goal is to support the effort that is happening when it comes to the recent um uh signed agreement between the county and um Catholic charities, as well as um asking the county to do a larger solicitation of um gaining more shelter beds alternative housing.

Um so that's where that money is going.

So we we do believe that we have a role to play.

We do believe that um the county um is partnering, uh we appreciate the county's partnership in this, but we are looking at and pulling all of the angles that we can on this.

Like we're trying our best to do what what we have access to and the resources that we have.

Um a part of that um is levels of funding, um, but also a part of that is convening and having conversations around a larger systemic issue within our system.

Okay, and then in addition to that, one of the things that I would just note um I appreciate all of the questions that have been brought up too about the overall continuum, and I know that in the short term we're looking right now at truly like the encampment slash prevention aspect of the continuum.

Like there is the supportive housing, and there's the what happens when someone's in the shelter system, as it relates to Pig Sai Park specifically.

My understanding too, and is that several individuals maybe literally migrated from Bruce Ronto to the fish hatch, the fish hatchery trail, Pig Side Park in this case.

Um, while other folks also came from other neighboring cities and other neighboring counties, um some of those same counties have talked about just having like a net zero amount of homelessness, but really in reality, some of the residents just came here.

Um I think one of the things that's really important to talk about through is like along with that migration is that if you are tracking them, which it sounds like we'll be able to track community members and where their resources and their services are with the other remaining encampments staying open.

I think it's just a valid question to ask like what happens with the if um folks are just truly what happened at Bruce Ventro was literally we had trucks on site, individuals who were organizing trucks to move people from one location to another.

And that didn't help.

That didn't necessarily provide it provided more of an immediate relief.

And so assuming, right, community members that especially folks that maybe have well intentions, but don't fully understand the that it's not just as simple as leaving someone outdoors today.

That's like uh overall cycle, but quite literally during the Bruce Vento and camp.

I was there most of the day during the enclosures.

We had trucks pulling up, people just literally taking their bags and moving them to another place, um, thinking that they were helpful.

And I think just in that capacity, if we see that again, which I'm assuming that will happen.

Um what does it look like when it comes to being able to not only provide services for folks that are just gonna be literally in transit at that time, but for the community members who are trying to help for the community members that are gonna show up trying to uh be of assistance to them by literally packing their stuff up, putting it in their trucks and taking people elsewhere.

What do they need to keep in mind?

Um because what has been incredibly frustrating, and I will share just from um what I've seen and even just from talking to neighbors.

My staff and I, we've knocked over 250 doors um in the last two days to talk to individuals directly.

Prior to that, we've had multiple conversations.

I've been on the encampment site, both on uh official capacity, but also in an unofficial capacity, because you can get a long way when you're just a normal community member dressed in sweatpants and your name is Chinique, but people don't realize that you're a council member.

Um so they really tell you things.

Individuals have a lot of barriers, like not just um, you know, we're not even touching the surface when we're talking about 911 calls.

Folks have multiple layers, and it's not all pretty.

Um and some of it is like, you know, some of them have outstanding warrants warrants.

It's not to say that that's everyone, but it's like some of it gets real deep.

And some people are simply like, I don't want to be out, I don't want to leave my significant other.

I don't want to leave my pet.

I don't want to leave my safe space to go somewhere unsafe.

Um I hear that, and we all experience like this space where like when you have that, that's what people are saying.

Um but I think there's a lot of people who are like tapping into this conversation either for the first time or maybe have not been down there themselves, or if they have been down there, they're tapping in now the last couple of weeks because it's closing.

And I think that was an element of ringing the alarm.

But like, what do you need for the average community member to understand?

Because there will be a flesh load of people that are showing up.

Uh the camera crews will come just like they did with Bruce Vento, and then they're all gonna go away in like a few days.

So, what exactly does that look like when it comes to what do people need to keep in mind when they quote unquote want to help now?

Uh uh you mind if I respond to the stuff.

Oh, absolutely, please.

Um when it comes to just the the reality of individuals wanted to help, we understand that people wanting to help is because they care.

They're trying to figure out how to support these individuals that are out there, and they're thinking about what ways can they do it.

When it comes to um everyone kind of coming down on August 5th, that is not always actually helpful.

Actually, sometimes it could be um a little bit distressful for individuals that are out there.

Um take for instance if uh if one of um the heart team members or service providers have been out there working kind of consistently because what I have heard in this process, individuals are going out every day saying, Hey, let's talk through your plan.

Hey, let's talk through your plan.

Are you ready for resources?

What type of resources do you need?

And sometimes they're saying yes, but m multiple times or you know, many times up into uh or getting closer to that day, we hear no, right?

They're just saying no, they're not ready for for whatever the reason is, they're just not ready.

I think that um continually allowing um those individuals that have already been down there and have built trusting relationships with um those experienced in unsheltered homelessness to be for them to be able to continue that conversation.

I think that it can be hurtful at times to have other individuals just come out, even though they have a big heart and they want to help to try to engage when there hasn't been really any trust um been there, and also to um you don't necessarily know what you're navigating and what you're dealing with, and so I would say yes, we need all of the help that we can get, but not on the day of August 5th.

We need other types of help.

We need people to um get insight and to work on some of our shelters.

We need help in making sure that we have volunteers um with basic need or mutual aid.

We we need other types of help.

We don't necessarily need individuals coming down on the fifth.

There's already a lot going to be going on during that time, including um the individuals within the encampment, if you're still there, because a lot of them would have left, but if you're still there trying to make decisions on what you will do and where you would go.

That special time, in my opinion, should be really focused on the individuals that have already built relationships with them, working with that person to try to ensure that they are moving forward with whatever the plan that is necessary.

So I would say please don't actually come down on the fifth.

It's not because we don't want your your help, we just want it placed in different ways.

We just want it placed in different ways.

Thank you for that clarity.

And then we have um three uh questions uh councilmember Kim Councilmember Joseph and then uh council member Coleman.

Great thank you.

Um I'm still a little like my colleagues a little unclear like you know what what is the quantity and like the numbers of what we're offering and so like yes to the shelter beds the city I know also hands out hotel vouchers right so it's not just about shelter beds.

I think to your point um county manager it's about like the continuum of what we're offering and so I'd also like to see numbers of the investment that we're making in the hotel vouchers you know and how long that stay is good for.

I'm also really interested in how the city is defining success and to me defining success looks like folks that are accessing services have lower um repeat cycles of experiencing life and having to um uh live outside and how be housed outside so like what are the tangible things like I hear the goals that we want people housed then you know there's a way that we have to both be critical of what we're offering if the hotel voucher is only good for five days that is that's not good enough right and I'm I'm just I want to be clear that there's investments along that continuum but we need to name what those are and that making sure that we're resourcing those options.

The other thing that I wanted to um just lift up is you know DHS put a moratorium on new service providers for certain Medicaid services and one of them is pretty large.

It's some of the um r uh restorative um and recovery care.

So if you enter a shelter that has wraparound services, right?

So we are not accepting new providers.

Some of our private providers aren't even being paid right now.

They have pause.

So even though we talk about the beds and we talk about right like it's not just I think to the great point that's being made is like where are they going?

What is even available that is out there but our ability to expand in this moment in time is very difficult.

And so I just I think it starts to beg the bigger question is like are we helping or is this approach harmful?

And so I think you know I I said this before um but I really want to emphasize to the administration and to those involved please include folks from the encampment.

You know I'm really hoping for us from the encampment come similar to council member Johnson um I've been to the fish hatchery in Kmart and not just as this I go as a normal human being doing mutual aid distribution it's really important that I'm listening and hearing from them directly our service providers that are in the room, you know I see a lot of government entities being named but I strongly encourage you to tap in.

They are our strongest knowledge holders for community that are face to face with folks every day just like parts of members of our team but having that sort of collective wisdom and I would just want to emphasize um you know work with them on measurements of success.

Work with them on figuring out what services are needed and what resources we need to be putting towards even for this next budget cycle because the funding landscape for this type of service that we're offering is pretty fraught.

And so if we're pushing people around and we say you can't stay here to go, right?

There's no other option.

If there's no other option that at one point do we start to understand that we're part of the problem.

So my ultimate question which is rhetorical to you but mostly because I know that you know from the position and from what you've shared today and I know you personally assistant Maybreaker is like you know if it is a caring approach then at what point is the city willing to say look we've gone so far down this road it's not working.

And not only is it not working we don't have the resources needed to follow through on an actionable plan that actually provides meaningful solutions to the folks that are living in tent communities.

And when that point comes, I think it's just very important that the city is willing to pivot and be imaginative and reimagine our approach and with community and folks living in our tent community at the center of our policy making excellent no thank you so much for those points.

It's really really important particularly to know how we are measuring that success um and I I'll have some follow-ups um towards the end but we have another question from our comment from councilmember Joe saying Councilmember Coleman.

Thank you Chair Bowie uh thank you Assistant Mayor Baker and uh County Manager Becker for being here I I just wanted to circle back to Councilmember Coleman's question and some of Council President Icar and a few others I I want to understand um you know I the very ideal situation is that by the time we get to August 5th every individual that is there has been connected to housing will have a place to stay um and there isn't anyone left at the encampment and I understand that's ideal that's plan A.

I want to get a better understanding of plan B.

I've heard folks talk about it a little bit um but what happens um because I don't think I I mean I really hope that that happens but I do think we should be prepared for every scenario.

So what does that look like and maybe could you talk about um the other times that we have closed encampments and seeing that situation what happens do what where what do people do?

Where do they go?

Do they go to other encampments?

Um I know like council member Kim just said sometimes we've given out hotel vouchers, but we also understand understand that those aren't long term, and I know you said the goal would be everyone has a place to stay um overnight, but is that for one night, is that for multiple nights.

I'm just trying to get a clearer picture of what this might actually look like.

Um and without with also understanding that uh you know there's still a lot of uncertainty around what might happen.

Yeah, thank you.

Uh through the chair, uh Councilmember Joe Jost.

Um when it comes to the uh the kind of the overall plan for individuals that are um moving forward on August 5th.

As of right now, the thinking is that um we are lining up the uh space and beds that are necessary.

When it comes to um if they say no, is that more of kind of your concern?

If they say no, or if there are still people left that did not get connected with the bed because we don't have any, and and what have we done in the past because I I guess I'm not aware if if the other times we've closed encampments, did everyone get connected with the yeah.

Yeah, so um what I've been told uh from past experience through the chair, we've been told through past experiences from individuals that have been a part of each of the encampment closures that it has been actually really anticlimactic because um ultimately there's really a handful of individuals that are left at the encampment.

Uh but thinking is leading up to the uh closure, that the individuals are um having conversations and then ultimately making a decision on what they will do, either will it be bad, um and past uh encampment closures as being uh as upfront as possible.

Um some of those individuals were picked up and then um dropped off at another encampment site that has happened in the past um made connections with um different individuals.

So it's it's right now, even though we have been told that it has been anticlimactic, we are not necessarily preparing for it to be anticlimactic.

We also understand that there may be some individuals that are still there.

And we have been talking, um, we just had a conversation about it um around with the team yesterday about what does that look like, what do we do, how do we handle it, and how do we support those individuals without the process of um criminalization in it.

So we do have a plan with it.

I'd like to provide more insight to uh the council um uh separately about what that specifically looks like so you have more ins information about what's happening to the overall safety plan.

Thank you.

Councilmember Coleman.

Thank you.

I will keep this really quick.

Um I I really appreciate and I think that starting this conversation with understanding that there are deep, deep, deep challenges at our existing encampments, and that uh assessment mayor to your point that the status quo isn't working and it isn't good enough for members of our community is there's absolutely no disagreement from me on that.

Um it isn't good enough and it isn't working, and what we have been hearing from folks in the encampments from providers is that the official numbers of the of what's happening and what the concerns are in these encampments isn't doesn't tell the whole story, that there are people who aren't reporting crimes, that there are people who aren't reporting some of the very serious safety concerns.

So I think that that is that is all deeply heard and shared and addressing that is critical.

I also just want to name that it is imperative that as a city we are not in our intent in our attempt to solve some of those problems and to address those problems that we are not exacerbating harm.

And so one of the places where it would be helpful to hear additional information after today, because I know we're way out of time, is that just understanding when we've looked at encampment closures in other cities, we know that overdoses will rise in the time period immediately following the closure.

We know that the spread of infectious diseases will rise as people are unable to find the folks who they've been providing public health treatment to.

So understanding what we've learned from other cities and how we are mitigating against those public health concerns and how we are ensuring that we are not again in our in our attempt to address a set of concerns, exacerbating harm um and in and causing increased trauma for community members who are already being traumatized, who are already in need of so much so much and so such deep support.

So it would be helpful to have some follow-up on that.

I think that you know I understand that the county is responsible for our public health response, but I think understanding what the uh administration sees as their role and how we're supporting with that and what information is available and what conversations have been had would be extremely helpful.

Thank you, Councilmember.

So I just want to say I really you know genuinely appreciate um you uh Mr.

Baker for just really and also County Manager um Becker for just really responding um on the spot, also taking note of follow-ups.

Um as you can see, you know, we are making a really big decision.

It's a big decision to say we're gonna be closing a camp when campment, it's gonna big decision to say that we are creating a plan that people's livelihoods are dependent on it.

Um there's real consequences, life or death uh with this plan and ensuring that we have something that's solid that's accountable, and it also gains public accountability and trust.

Um I think moving forward, um, you know, in the beginning of this conversation and as we're just getting into kind of like the details, I definitely think it's um it's important that we have a value-based um approach and that we are on the same page philosophically, but it's even more important to ensure that we are outcomes driven and that we can be able to see when we need to pivot, um, and that there is uh um uh a display or a dashboard of some of this information in terms of availability, not only beds, but availability of staff capacity.

Uh we have many people here in the audience today that people are just they see themselves as service providers and they're volunteers and like how do we ensure that they are also integrated into that system.

And um, and last but not least, I wanna just also just highlight um I I do see I see um a really strong coordination across the different departments in the city, but I also will want to encourage for us to partner with Metro Transit.

Um they also have a um law enforcement agency, they have community resources, um they are highly visible um and they have been so beneficial, particularly on the green line in university with some of the challenges.

Also um exploring um some of our medical providers, um, and I don't want to be listing and naming all of them, but we have medical providers for helping um some of our um residents who need medical care, right, and don't have access to it.

And um, and also um, you know, we have a Ramsey County.

I I didn't see on here the Ramsey County Sheriff's Office.

I know they have the Capital Vitality Um office on Rice Street, and they have been highly visible and growing their staff.

Um so it would be important to ensure that we aren't leaving anything on the table in terms of a partner um and how that's actually integrated into our plan.

Um and uh last but not least, I uh I know earlier we had our budget conversation and we have our budget chair here as well as the vice chair of our continuum of care.

I would love to see this plan reflected in our budget.

I think it's important to have a plan, but it's also even more important to make sure we don't have unfunded mandates and unfunded um policies and commitments going forward.

So um I would love to see how that's going to show up in the budget presentations moving forward.

Um and last but not least, I know I said last but three times.

I need a different transition.

Um finally um finally therefore be it resolved.

Um, you know, we uh we want to just say thank you, particularly again.

I heard that there were some commitments from people from Ramsey County and also from the mayor's office to join us during the public hearing um at 4 30.

Um I think just like we are you're presenting the plan, ensuring that you have opportunities to have feedback if that looks like a portal system or questions or feedback can be gathered.

Um, but I really just really appreciate if you can join us at 4 30 here in the council chambers.

Yeah, uh Chair, um I will say that the mayor's office, I'm committed to being here.

Um, not necessarily um county um manager, but I am committed to being here, our team.

And I will also say that um I just want to say um I am grateful and appreciative to actually all of the service providers.

Um a lot of times a lot of the larger service providers get a lot of the attention and rightfully so based on the capacity that they have.

Um but I'm also grateful for the smaller service providers that are actually out there every day that are doing the work every day, and also to um just thinking about the overall toll that they are navigating right now before this decision was made and potentially after this decision is made on just working and working and trying to um capacitate and find ways of to supporting these individuals in the encampment.

So I just wanted to end by saying I want to continue this conversation.

I I am um committed to making sure that we are transparent in what we are doing and looking forward to future conversation.

Absolutely.

Well, thank you so much and well done everyone.

We are now adjourned.

Thank you.