As the City of Peoria grapples with how to address its unhoused population and discourage people from camping in public locations, Mayor Rita Ali is taking a clear but layered stance.
“The statement that I want to make is that street encampments are no longer welcome in the city of Peoria,” Ali said in an interview with WCBU.
“But we’re not, under my leadership, going to just go out there and just remove people and put them in a worse situation than they are while they’re in the encampment, and put them in more danger and exposure.”
An initial draft ordinance to prohibit unauthorized camping that includes fines and potential jail terms as enforcement tools was presented to the Peoria City Council last month. But the proposal was met with backlash from several social service organizations that provide outreach and assistance to unhoused individuals, amid claims the penalties only criminalize homelessness.
Ali said she sympathizes with that belief, but allowing the campsites to remain poses an ongoing threat to public health and safety, often resulting in unsanitary conditions and an increase in medical emergency calls.
“Street encampments can be very dangerous to the lives of those residents that are unhoused populations that are living there. So, we have to find a way that is humane and strategic at getting these people that are living in encampments housed,” Ali said.
“The goal is to move them from their street life into shelter, and preferably temporary and eventually permanent housing.”
Ali says she is opposed to conducting rapid sweeps to remove the campsites, and that she would prefer to work in a partnership with the outreach organizations.
“I've looked at some of the best practices out there; some of the best practices include prioritizing the most needy encampment and beginning to deal with that encampment,” she said. “Identifying the number of people that require housing, identifying those shelters that they can go in. Then beginning wrap-around services and to move those people – in a very humane way, not using police officers but outreach workers – and getting them into housing and then wrapping support around them. That support will include trauma services such as mental health support, such as substance abuse services, whatever services that are needed.”
Ali says Peoria cannot rush into an attempt to solve a complex issue or try to operate in a vacuum. She says examining strategies used by other cities should provide guidance.
But she also cautions that not everyone in the camps will be receptive to any assistance.
“Just talking with some of the national leaders on this, there is a percentage of this population that lives in encampments that are not going to cooperate with us. They are going to refuse everything, including housing, temporary or permanent housing,” Ali said. “Those are the individuals that you have to take more strict, more somewhat aggressive approaches. And in some cases, those approaches for that percent of the population have included citations, have included fines.”
Some approaches suggested by advocates for the homeless include establishing sanctioned campsites, or offering incentives that would encourage landlords to accept unhoused individuals receiving housing assistance as tenants.
Ali says she would not support a sanctioned campsite, but the incentives option could be a possibility.
“I think so. I think we have to look at all types of different strategies and solutions,” she said. “I can understand the resistance or the reluctance of some landlords, especially if someone is unemployed. They’re looking not at the short-term; they’re looking at the long-term, that they don’t want to get anybody in there who is not going to be able to continue to pay their rent after that incentive is gone after two or three months.”
Ali says Peoria continues to look at ways to address its need for more affordable housing, suggesting there may be ways to work through the Department of Human Services (DHS) to access potential funding.
“We've talked about some potential locations; I don't want to name them now, because we haven't talked to the property owners,” she said. “Some cities, they use motels for temporary housing until you can begin to move them into affordable housing locations.”
The mayor also acknowledged that the concerns of the downtown business community are a consideration in Peoria’s desire to have the campsites removed.
“It is a factor. We want downtown to be a place where everybody feels welcome, where it’s a safe environment, it’s a clean environment, it’s a neat environment,” Ali said. "But again, this is a human issue, and so we have to address it humanely."
Peoria City Manager Patrick Urich says the staff is working on having more conversations with stakeholders and social service partners. He says the input will be considered as the draft ordinance is revised before recommendations are brought back to the city council.
