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July 22, 2026 - Special City Council Meeting on the Mayor's Encampment Plan

St. Paul City CouncilThursday, July 23, 2026
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St. Paul Council hears overwhelming opposition to encampment closures

Full Document Analysis

Votes (1)

Public Hearing on the Encampment Closure Policy

Meeting recessed; no formal vote on the encampment closure policy was taken during this session.

Dissent: The vast majority of public speakers expressed strong opposition to the city's encampment closure policy and its impending deadline.

The hearing served as a forum for St. Paul residents, outreach workers, and unhoused individuals to voice their strong opposition to the city's plan to close encampments by August 5th. Speakers highlighted critical issues such as the city's inadequate provision of safe and appropriate shelter options, the inaccessibility and slowness of the coordinated entry system, and the devastating impact of sweeps, including the loss of personal documents, medications, and community trust. Many argued that sweeps merely displace people, worsening public health outcomes and increasing risks of violence and overdose. Calls for action included advocating for a moratorium on sweeps, investing in deeply affordable and recovery-based housing, developing tiny home villages, and repurposing abandoned buildings for shelter.

Notable Quotes (13)

We cannot dismantle recovery and housing pathways, watch homelessness increase, and then threat and then treat the people living outside as the problem.

Nikolai Selnus Whitehead
Public Hearing on the Encampment Closure Policy

Disbanding the encampments is not the correct decision. It is kicking the can down the road and wishing for someone else to deal with the problem. It is shameful, cruel, and inhumane.

Samuel Tway, Ward 6
Public Hearing on the Encampment Closure Policy

No matter who does it or the reasons they give, every eviction from a camp, from housing, a foreclosure of an owned home, everyone is a botched public policy and a moral failure. Every single eviction every time.

Caitlyn
Public Hearing on the Encampment Closure Policy

It is no housing. Y'all say affordable housing. I get social security. $800 and something dollars. That don't do nothing. We need deeply affordable housing. And when do we need it? We need it now.

Janelle Freeman Anderson
Public Hearing on the Encampment Closure Policy

How can we move on when they throwing away our IDs, they throwing away our social security card, throwing away every single possession that we have? How can we better ourselves when the people that you hire is doing this [...] to us?

Justin Ford
Public Hearing on the Encampment Closure Policy

I am grateful for their hard work, but to inform many of you who have never interacted with a person living on the streets, those relationships take weeks or months to build, and a sweep can destroy that trust in one single morning.

Adam Beers
Public Hearing on the Encampment Closure Policy

Our data shows that the overdose rate consistently spikes in the wake of a sweep up to up to two weeks after. I'll say that again. The overdose risk of not just encampment residents as of everybody spikes in the two weeks following a sweep.

Kumi Smith
Public Hearing on the Encampment Closure Policy

If you separate us all, we won't be able to even have a say cuz we're scattered. We're a community, a community that that most of us were taxpayers, voters, and we will be again.

Melissa Kennedy
Public Hearing on the Encampment Closure Policy

I feel more home outside in these encampments than I do in in a shelter. That's not right. I should not feel threatened in a shelter.

Jason Lopez
Public Hearing on the Encampment Closure Policy

To tear down these encampments is is like saying that we don't care what happens to you. We don't care if you get murdered, raped. I have lost many friends out here who I consider family more than my own.

Wolf
Public Hearing on the Encampment Closure Policy

We are not animals and we deserve to get treated like human beings. I don't know what we're going to do. A lot of us don't have family to help us. We are struggling, but we live together. Let us live. No evictions on stolen land. Please don't take away our homes.

Nen
Public Hearing on the Encampment Closure Policy

Assistant Mayor Baker, I heard you earlier say we want to look at creative solutions. I am so in so in for creative solutions. Those come before we do camp closures. This is putting This is putting the cart before the horse.

Senica Krueger
Public Hearing on the Encampment Closure Policy

The eth amendment of the constitution forbids cruel and unusual punishment. Unfortunately, this plan isn't unusual. other cities do it, but you cannot convince me that it's not cruel.

Ben Ames
Public Hearing on the Encampment Closure Policy

Ordinances & Resolutions (15)

Encampment Closure PolicyPlan

The city's plan to evict residents from homeless encampments, primarily Pigsai, by August 5th.

Mayor's First Budget ProposalPlan

Upcoming financial plan mentioned in context of housing funding.

Coordinated Entry SystemSystem

The city's primary system for assessing and connecting unhoused individuals to housing and services.

HUDVASHProgram

A federal housing program for homeless veterans.

ProposalsOther

Suggestions offered by a homeless advocate to the city council.

Beautiful BillLegislation

A bill mentioned as potentially cutting SNAP benefits and Medicaid.

St. Paul Program, Youth on BoardsProgram

A program for St. Paul youth civic engagement.

Minnesota Public RadioOther

Media outlet that interviewed Mayor Her, referenced by a speaker.

American Public Health AssociationOther

Organization cited for evidence on the ineffectiveness and danger of encampment sweeps.

Zen (magazine)Other

A magazine featuring art, writing, and lived experiences from Pigs Eye Encampment residents.

Minnesota Student SurveyOther

A survey cited for data on student homelessness and adverse childhood experiences.

US Government Accounting Office StudyOther

Research cited regarding the correlation between rent increases and homelessness.

Ramsey COC Domestic Violence Priority ListOther

A list managed by Women's Advocates for domestic violence shelter placement.

Heading Home Ramsey Steering CommitteeOther

A county-level committee overseeing homelessness initiatives, mentioned by a council member.

City's Press Release and FAQ WebsiteOther

Official communications from the city about the encampment eviction plan.

Transcript