Lacey says it is offering housing to people living in a Desmond Drive camp, but questions remain
Eight people living at an encampment on Desmond Drive have been offered housing in anticipation of the site being cleared, according to the City of Lacey.
The individuals are the last of a group of 26 who were identified in 2021 as occupying an encampment on state-owned property near the Washington state Department of Ecology’s Lacey headquarters.
The city’s Community Resource Unit (CRU) and Mobile Outreach Team (MOT), which are part of its police department, offered housing and wrap-around services to the individuals on Jan. 10, according to a Lacey news release.
That same day, the state Department of Enterprise Services, with help from the CRU, notified people at the encampment that they had to vacate the property with their personal belongings by Jan. 17, Lacey spokesperson Donna Feliciano said in a statement to The Olympian. Signage was also posted in the area, she said.
“DES indicated any personal property left behind would be maintained at their facility and the trash and debris would be disposed of,” Feliciano said. “At this time, future action plans are being finalized by DES.”
The Wednesday news release says three of the eight campers have moved to the Maple Court Enhanced Shelter in Lacey and three were in the process of moving there.
When reached for comment Friday, Feliciano said four out of the eight have accepted the offer to move to Maple Court and completed an intake process. The remaining four have not accepted offers, but Feliciano said efforts to offer this housing option continue.
The timing and nature of these developments have prompted questions from Thurston County officials about what will happen to any people at the site who refuse housing offers or may be ineligible for them.
On Wednesday, Lacey officials met with county commissioners to answer questions about the situation.
Grant Beck, planning and development services manager for Lacey, told the county commissioners that Lacey police officers have been consistently trespassing people from the location at the request of the state.
Lacey Police Chief Robert Almada, who also attended the meeting, said he would not describe these actions as a “sweep.”
“We don’t engage in sweeps,” Almada said. “We go out, contact folks, learn their story and try to get them to a better outcome, try connecting them to services.”
What led to this situation?
The city has worked with community partners to “find solutions” for those living in the encampment since 2019, the news release says.
The latest housing offers were made possible by the state’s Encampment Resolution Program, an effort to remove encampments along highways and on state property. This effort was previously known as the Rights-of-Way Initiative.
The state Department of Enterprise Services (DES) entered into an agreement with the city in 2021 to “address this encampment,” the news release says. In March 2021, the parties reportedly identified 24 occupied campsites with 26 people and 12 abandoned sites at the site.
Those 26 people were offered an assessment and placed on a list to be offered housing and services, according to Feliciano. The release says no new campsites were allowed at the site thereafter.
“Through the resilient and dedicated efforts of the city’s MOT and CRU, in addition to help from other partners, over time the number of people at this encampment decreased to eight (8) individuals,” the release says.
Feliciano said 18 people either left the site on their own or accepted services from CRU and MOT. She said Lacey does not track the individual status of people on the list.
Almada said Lacey police have arrested a “couple” people on felony warrants at the site but officers generally avoid enforcement action.
“Other folks have come that weren’t on the original list,” Almada said. “They’ve been characterized as visitors, frankly, to the camps. We advise them, ‘You can’t set a new camp, you can’t stay here.’”
Individuals who relocate to Maple Court receive case management and behavioral health services from the Low-Income Housing Institute, a Seattle-based affordable housing developer, according to the news release.
The city expects the DES to lead a site cleanup once all individuals at the site are relocated. The city and DES plan to keep no trespassing signs on the site and prohibit new campsites.
Linda Kent, a spokesperson for the DES, told The Olympian on Friday that the department has had the site cleaned periodically as people have left or abandoned campsites.
The DES will hire a contractor to fully clean and improve the site once the remaining people leave, but Kent said they are still developing what those improvements will be.
Why are county officials concerned?
On Wednesday, Interim County Manager Robin Campbell said the county is considering requesting “emergency funding” from the Regional Housing Council to provide additional services to people at the site who are not going to Maple Court.
Thurston County officials expected the Desmond Drive encampment to be cleared, but they did not know when it would happen until earlier this month, said Tom Webster, Office of Housing and Homeless Prevention Manager at Thurston County.
Commissioner Carolina Mejia said she didn’t want the county to get in the middle of an agreement between Lacey and DES. However, she said she felt the RHC needed to have a conversation about how to support the removal of the encampment.
“Those individuals have to go somewhere and it affects all of us, jurisdictionally.” Mejia said. “So, having that conversation, regionally, in a legislative body, I think would be a good approach for us to help support as well as see if there’s any other resources that we can use to assist in this.”
Mejia said people experiencing homelessness may refuse housing for a variety of reasons. She said some people may prefer sober housing or they may want to stay with a partner that was not offered housing.
“I know for a fact, I wouldn’t want to leave without my partner,” Mejia said. “There are just different situations that happen. Life happens.”
Assistant County Manager Robert Gelder and Commissioner Tye Menser asked Almada for clarification on what happens when someone is trespassed from the location.
Almada said an officer gives a person a citation and that person is expected to go through the court system. That process can take weeks, he said.
“We issue a citation and we walk away,” Almada said. “So, their property isn’t touched. Everything is still there. It goes to the courts.”
But new Commissioner Emily Clouse called for an audit of Lacey’s Mobile Outreach Team, prompting a tense exchange with Almada.
Clouse asked Almada if the Mobile Outreach Team meets people at the encampment on a daily basis. Almada said the team tries to “contact everybody every day.”
Clouse said the Mobile Outreach Team is highly regarded in the community because of claims that they are going out on a daily basis.
“I actually go out to the Desmond camp personally, once a week, as part of my outreach program,” Clouse said. “So, I know for a fact that this is not true.”
Almada said he “totally” disagreed with Clouse on that point and he believed the Mobile Outreach Team was doing an “outstanding job.” In response, Clouse clarified that she was not contesting whether it was a good program.
“I’m not scrutinizing the program itself, but the comments you made about them going out on a daily basis I think is misinformation.”
This story was originally published January 19, 2024 at 12:38 PM.
