KDSN RADIO News
New Des Moines homelessness ordinance includes $50 fine
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The Des Moines City Council has given initial approval to an ordinance that sets a $50 fine for those caught sleeping in public and refuse to leave places like doorways and alleys.
Des Moines City Councilman Chris Coleman helped draft the plan. “When the police are asking them to move on, we expect people to obey the police and there has to be some penalty,” Coleman said. “We’ve made it the lowest possible penalty with a way to ensure that people who can’t pay the fine with won’t pay the fine.”
The ordinance also lets the city remove personal belongings from an illegal campsite three days after a notice is given. Des Moines and other cities have begun rewriting regulations after a U.S. Supreme Court ruled last month that cities can ban sleeping and camping in public places. Sarah Schuler, the human resources director for a Des Moines ad agency, told council members she has begun talking with employees about safety outside their office in downtown Des Moines.
“We all know that when we live in a city, that we’re going to face challenges,” she said. “We all understand that, but since COVID and since my time with Flynn Wright the incidents have really continued to escalate.”
Alan Callanan of Des Moines, who also addressed the council during a public comment period, said the ordinance criminalizes homelessness.
“People with fines and criminal records will have a harder time getting out of homelessness,” Callanan said. “Everyone on city council knows this will not solve the rising rate of homelessness in the city and across the country, but some on council clearly want the council to be able to further punish people who are already in a dangerous situation.”
Tom Hromatka, the treasurer of a non-profit that helps homeless people in Des Moines, said the homeless population in Iowa’s capital city has more than doubled in the past two years and the ordinance is a band aid.
“We need to aggressively seek long term alternatives and permanent solutions to this problem,” he said.
The Des Moines City Council must review and approve the ordinance in two more meetings before it takes effect. The ACLU of Iowa has signalled it will go to court to challenge the ordinance.
