St. Paul Council hears overwhelming opposition to encampment closures
The St. Paul City Council held a special public hearing on July 23 to discuss its plan to close homeless encampments by August 5, but took no formal vote after dozens of speakers—many experiencing homelessness themselves—voiced strong opposition to the policy.
The hearing on the city's encampment closure policy, which targets the Pigsai and Fish Hatchery camps, became a forum for residents, outreach workers, and unhoused individuals to air deep concerns about the city's approach. The vast majority of public speakers opposed the August 5 deadline, arguing that the city lacks adequate shelter alternatives and that sweeps cause more harm than good.
Speakers detailed the concrete harms of encampment closures: loss of critical documents like IDs and Social Security cards, destruction of medications, and the breakdown of trust that outreach workers spend weeks or months building. Kumi Smith presented data showing that overdose rates spike for up to two weeks following sweeps. Others emphasized that encampments provide community and safety that official shelters often fail to offer. "I feel more home outside in these encampments than I do in a shelter," said Jason Lopez. "That's not right."
The hearing also highlighted systemic failures in the city's response to homelessness. Janelle Freeman Anderson, who receives $800 monthly in Social Security, said current "affordable housing" options are inaccessible to people in her situation. "We need deeply affordable housing. And when do we need it? We need it now," she said. Multiple speakers called for the city to invest in long-term solutions like tiny home villages, deeply affordable housing, and direct support for outreach workers—rather than pursuing sweeps that simply displace people.
Speakers also invoked comparisons to other cities. Seattle's tiny home villages and Austin's Community First Village model were cited as alternatives worth exploring. One speaker noted that Minneapolis and the broader Twin Cities region have grappled with similar issues, suggesting the need for regional coordination.
Because no formal vote was taken, the council's next steps on the encampment closure policy remain unclear. The hearing served as a clear signal that any future action on this issue will face significant community resistance.
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Votes (1)
Public Hearing on the Encampment Closure Policy
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.
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.
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.
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.
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?
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Ordinances & Resolutions (15)
The city's plan to evict residents from homeless encampments, primarily Pigsai, by August 5th.
Upcoming financial plan mentioned in context of housing funding.
The city's primary system for assessing and connecting unhoused individuals to housing and services.
A federal housing program for homeless veterans.
Suggestions offered by a homeless advocate to the city council.
A bill mentioned as potentially cutting SNAP benefits and Medicaid.
A program for St. Paul youth civic engagement.
Media outlet that interviewed Mayor Her, referenced by a speaker.
Organization cited for evidence on the ineffectiveness and danger of encampment sweeps.
A magazine featuring art, writing, and lived experiences from Pigs Eye Encampment residents.
A survey cited for data on student homelessness and adverse childhood experiences.
Research cited regarding the correlation between rent increases and homelessness.
A list managed by Women's Advocates for domestic violence shelter placement.
A county-level committee overseeing homelessness initiatives, mentioned by a council member.
Official communications from the city about the encampment eviction plan.
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