Campers in Lacey face eviction

LACEY — Advocates for the homeless will deliver bad news Friday morning to at least eight people who camp in a wooded area south of Martin Way: leave or face possible arrest.

Representatives of Saint Martin's University, the Washington state Department of General Administration and U.S. Fish and Wildlife, which either own or lease properties where the campers are trespassing, have asked the Lacey Police Department to evict them.

The agencies have raised concerns about the safety of students and employees and the mess accumulating at the camp sites. Representatives of the agencies with knowledge of the requests were not available to comment Tuesday.

Help with shelter

Advocates for the homeless asked that they be the first to notify the campers and direct them to resources that might be able to help them find shelter.

Lacey police officers plan early next week to give trespass notices and resource material to campers who haven't left, as well as trash bags to clean up the area, Cmdr. John Suessman said. He said officers will give campers a week to move, or they will face arrest.

"We're trying to be reasonable in our approach and hope that some of the social services out there can accommodate the campers," he said. "We have to be very methodical and compassionate about our approach, but we also at some point in time have to say, 'It's time to pack up and move along.' "

The pending eviction comes at a sensitive time for the city.

The Lacey City Council has deadlocked over a proposed ordinance to regulate temporary homeless encampments within the city limits.

Council members are split over whether the ordinance must include a requirement that the encampments operate inside church buildings. Similar ordinances approved by the cities of Olympia and Tumwater have no such requirement.

The council has scheduled an executive, or closed, session Thursday to hear and discuss legal advice from City Attorney Ken Ahlf on whether such a requirement could survive a legal challenge. It's unclear whether that discussion will break the impasse.

Selena Kilmoyer, one of four people who will notify the campers Friday, praised the police's "good-faith effort" to give the campers some time to move.

"They really have no place to go," said Kilmoyer, a volunteer with Panza, the advocacy group for Camp Quixote. "The shelters are at capacity and beyond. What they will end up doing is moving to another place ... and hope they don't get caught."

There is a waiting list for Camp Quixote, she said. The tent city will move from First Christian Church to Olympia Unitarian Universalist Congregation on Thursday.

The campers are staying in a wooded area north of the Saint Martin's University campus near the Department of Ecology headquarters. The Department of General Administration manages state properties.