Homeless say communication went awry

About 50 people crowded into the Clarkston City Council meeting for a limited public comment session on the homeless crisis.

City Administrator Steve Austin faced some backlash from homeless people who objected to the city’s lack of communication. Decisions are made with no input from a task force that’s been working on the issue or the unhoused, said John P. Hoene.

“You do stuff without talking to us,” Hoene said.

For example, the city provided maps of public properties in the Lewiston-Clarkston Valley that included areas where homeless people are being trespassed, Hoene said.

Austin said the maps were not intended as places for unhoused individuals to move when the camp near Walmart was no longer an option. They were merely to show the council where all of the public properties in the valley are located, he said.

“You play a lot of good word games, Steve,” said John Parke. “I’m not going to leave.”

Steven Bott, who is homeless, told the council that Austin “talks like a puppet for you,” and something’s got to change in the city of Clarkston. He objected to being told the land near Walmart was public property and then learning it was private.

“Do you really care about all of your citizens?” Cinnamon Stewart asked the council. “Or do you only care for your positions?”

Public comments were limited to 15 minutes, so not everyone who had prepared statements got an opportunity to speak.

A resident who identified himself as Jesse said he supports the city’s actions 100%. Each individual has a chance to help themselves, he said. The people in need of jobs could go fishing, pull weeds for grandma or find other odd jobs, he said.

“It’s not your responsibility to take care of other people,” the man told the council.

During council comments, Councilor David Vinton said he’s the father of four young kids who attend Grantham Elementary School. They can no longer play at Foster or Arnold parks because of the homeless situation.

When feces and “dead people start showing up in your bathroom,” I cannot support that, Vinton said. He was referring to an overdose death at Foster Park last year. The restrooms remain closed to the public.

Foster Park has been identified as a place the homeless can sleep overnight, from 9 p.m. to 7 a.m. The city is following court laws that say people can camp on public property when no shelter is available, Austin said.

Vinton said his wife was once homeless, but she is clean and has completely changed her life. Programs are available to help, he said.

After one camp resident suggested city officials spend a night at the homeless site, Vinton spoke of his 20 years in the Army and being deployed to Iraq twice.

“I’m not sleeping in another tent if I don’t have to,” he said.

Vinton, who ran unopposed for his seat, said bigger issues of drug and alcohol addictions also need to be addressed when speaking of the homeless crisis in Clarkston. He told the group about firsthand knowledge of being asked for money by homeless addicts in his family that only ended up enabling their addictions.

The city doesn’t “owe” anyone anything, he said. “I’m not throwing a dime at it,” Vinton said of the camp.

Councilor Steven Ebert said each person sitting in the room got here today because of personal choices. Good or bad, people live with the consequences of those choices.

“It’s not up to you to make my dreams come true,” Ebert said. “It’s not up to me to make your dreams come true.”

Another hot topic was a resolution to recommend Asotin County use a portion of the recent 0.2% optional sales tax, which was imposed in December, to help fund the Asotin County Family Aquatic Center.

The council approved the resolution with a split vote, 4-2, with one councilor abstaining. Councilors Skate Pierce and Pat Holman cast the no votes, and Councilor Sheila McDougall abstained.

Pierce described the resolution as a “smart ass response” to a “smart ass” letter sent by the Asotin County commissioners to the Public Facilities District. The gesture from the city of Clarkston was meaningless, Pierce said, because the city can’t tell the county how to spend its money.

Austin said he and the mayor contacted Scott Stoll and Connie Morrow from the Public Facilities Board after reading a letter written by county officials. In it, Asotin County said the amount contributed to the aquatic center would be cut by $100,000 or more this year.

“We will continue to support the efforts of the PFD, and we strongly encourage the PFD to seek funding from the city of Clarkston,” the county wrote.

Austin said the city’s response was the resolution calling on the county to donate its proceeds from a recent sales tax hike. The money is collected in the city and 15% goes to the county, beginning April 1. The city opted in and will receive 85% of the revenue.

The resolution is a “novel approach” to the city being thrown into the middle of the conversation without any communication or warning from Asotin County, Austin said.

Because the county thought the city should come up with an idea, this is what we came up with, Austin said.

Asotin County Commissioner Brian Shinn, who was at the Clarkston council meeting, gave a brief history lesson on aquatic center funding and the formation of the public facilities district and a dedicated sales tax stream.

The city pulled its contributions from an earlier imposed optional sales tax in 2012, he said.

In the middle of the discussion, pastor Nick Hasselstrom burst in the room, saying God had commanded him to pray for the lost, which included city officials. “I had to say it,” Hasselstrom said of his message, as he left the room. “You can put me in jail.”

After he left, the council voted on the resolution. Councilor Robin Albers, who attended telephonically, said her vote was in support of Mayor Monika Lawrence. She later thanked Shinn for speaking and advocated for more collaboration between stakeholders.

Pierce suggested sitting down with the county and coming up with a reasonable plan if the aquatic center is in jeopardy over the loss of $100,000 in funding. Maybe the city and county could each give up 3% of the proceeds from the new sales tax, he said. There has to be a better method than the meaningless arrows slung back and forth between the two entities.

Todd Snarr, of Clarkston, said the city needs to focus its energies on the homeless crisis rather than the latest aquatic center debate. “I think it does come down to a choice by each individual,” Snarr said of the unhoused.

The private property owner has asked all trespassers to be removed from his land near Walmart, and the deadline was 5 p.m. Monday. Most people have complied, officials said.

Sandaine can be reached at kerris@lmtribune.com.