Emphasizing it was hazardous materials, not people, that the city is focused on removing from the growing number of homeless encampments here, elected officials Thursday evening approved spending more than $1 million for outside help.
At a glance: Without a city health department or a nearby facility offering shelter and services, the options to assist the local homeless population are limited. A team of Palm Springs police officers has seen success with a recently-launched effort to help those who live outside, but encampments continue to grow, as does the homeless population.
- The encampments have appeared in multiple areas throughout the city but are somewhat nomadic. One in the wash that abuts the Tahquitz Creek Golf Resort is believed to be the biggest in the Coachella Valley.
In context: During a regular meeting of the Palm Springs City Council Thursday evening, Police Chief Andy Mills explained that officers and other city employees operating in the wash and elsewhere are not trained to handle the disposal of human waste and other hazardous materials that are accumulating in the encampments.
- Mills threw his support behind a proposed three-year, $1.2 million contract with OFRS, Inc. The remedial construction company was responsible for one of the country’s largest and most publicized homeless encampment cleanup projects — the Santa Ana Riverbed work in 2018.
- “We literally have police officers picking up trash sometimes, and that is not the best use of our officers’ time,” Mills said.
Driving the news: Following an hour of discussion, which included a discussion by Mills and City Attorney Jeffrey Ballinger about the legalities of cleaning up the encampments, the council voted 5-0 to move forward with the contract.
- OFRS is expected to start working on the encampments in Palm Springs in early June. It will do so only when directed by the city and with oversight by the police department.
Bottom line: “We are concerned with the behavior of the people, not the status of the person,” Mills said. “…The idea is to remove trash, not people. This is all about cleaning up some of those environments.”
