The would repeal the city's existing ordinances governing camping and sitting or lying on sidewalks and replace them with an ordinance regulating camping, sitting and lying in public.
This discussion follows the June 2024 ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court that upholding public camping laws is not cruel and unusual punishment. The ruling upended legal precedent regarding the regulation of homelessness and led many cities, like Eureka, to rethink their ordinances.
The city's proposed change would upgrade ordinance violations to misdemeanors, meaning the potential for a year in jail and a $1,000 fine. But, rather than going to jail, offenders could choose to receive social services, such as mental health or substance use treatment.
"This adjustment aims to assist individuals who suffer from anosognosia (someone who lacks the insight or awareness of their own mental illness) or for those community members where other forms of treatment or intervention have not been accepted or proven effective," reads the agenda summary.
The goal, according to the city, is to incentivize homeless people to accept help.
"Without having some accountability components to that, sometimes it鈥檚 difficult for folks to make a decision to change," said Jacob Rosen, managing mental health clinician for the city's CARE program. "The hope is that this tool can be used selectively and sensitively, adding another tool to the toolbox."
However, the vast majority of public comment on Tuesday was against the proposed ordinance, with dozens of residents speaking in opposition. Many said it criminalized homelessness and poverty.
"I meet people regularly who are eager to be housed," said Sarah Thibault, a social worker who was formerly homeless. "The notion that police need to force referrals is ludicrous, as is penalizing suffering community members for the brokenness of our own housing intake systems."
She also expressed concern that having a criminal record could create future barriers to employment opportunities or housing.
Some residents pointed out that Eureka recently declared itself a sanctuary city, which they saw as hypocritical.
One person in the audience held signs, including one that read, "You can't enforce care."
However, some public comments supported the proposed ordinance, calling it a step in the right direction.
Brian Hall, Sr., executive director of the Eureka Rescue Mission, said he came to the organization 18 years ago "straight out of jail, narrowly avoiding a six-year prison sentence."
"The mission helped me rebuild my life," he said. "But none of that transformation would have been possible if I鈥檇 stayed on the streets, surrounded by addiction and chaos. We can鈥檛 pretend those conditions are conducive to healing."
Hall said the proposed measure would push people toward accountability and create a more conducive environment for change.
The ordinance was eventually tabled to be discussed at a later meeting.
Under the proposed ordinance, if offenders choose to accept help from social services and successfully engage with a program, their charges would be dropped.
The program, run through Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion, would have a cap of 10 active clients and a waitlist of 10. If the waitlist limit were reached, the Eureka Police Department would be informed and stop issuing related misdemeanor charges, Rosen said.
