On Tuesday, Redmond City Council held a public hearing regarding temporary encampments to consider further provisions related to human service organization access to temporary encampments and background checks.

The hearing was part of the city’s continuing work to address homelessness following a community meeting in March 2015. After that meeting, the city formed a Community Task Force on Homelessness that brought together residents, business owners, members of local advocacy groups and faith communities and more. The 14-member group met six times from April 2015 to August 2015, presenting its final report to Redmond City Council in September of last year. The report details the activities of the task force and includes a slate of recommended action steps.

At Tuesday’s hearing, a number of people spoke on the issue of temporary encampments.

One speaker expressed her concern about treating people who experience homelessness as criminals and said she was troubled by the need for background checks, though she understands the need for warrant checks for when an individual first checks into a temporary encampment.

“When I check into one of your motels in the City of Redmond, am I required to do a background check?” she asked.

The woman also noted that if the city is going to ask for things such as background checks, they also need to look at where the money is coming from to pay for this. She said it is very inappropriate to ask the religious community — who have historically hosted encampments on their property in Redmond —and nonprofits to do the checks for free. The city would have to come up with the financial resources required or provide case management services, she said.

Michael Ramos — executive director of the Church Council of Greater Seattle and a member of the Faith Action Network’s Interfaith Leaders Council — also spoke.

He explained that the need for encampments stems from the fact that there is not enough shelter available for everyone and faith communities have stepped up to fill that void. Ramos added that religious communities are also able to do this with limited government interference, referring to the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

This being said, Ramos cautioned that an ordinance requiring human services coming into encampments hosted by faith communities could lead to lawsuits. He said the argument that providing human services is for human safety — both for those experiencing homelessness and the greater public — implies that homelessness poses a danger to the community. This is not true, he said.

Rather than requiring human services coming into encampments, Ramos suggested language in the ordinance that encourages organizations to request and invite human services be provided when hosting an encampment.

“That way, we can meet the same shared goal of having access to services onsite,” he said.

The need for accessible affordable housing was also brought up during the hearing.

One commenter acknowledged that meeting the need is likely a long ways off and so communities need to address homelessness in the meantime and they have to take a regional approach, not city by city.

She noted that those living in encampments are not residents of a single city such as Redmond but residents of the greater Eastside and urged the city to not rush into any final decisions. She asked the city to suspend any decisions and encouraged collaborative efforts among cities for a regional approach to services as well as encampments.

An Education Hill resident echoed her sentiments in wanting the city to take its time before making any decisions and to work with other cities in the area on a regional solution.

And with this look toward more regional solutions, one speaker at the hearing — a Bellevue resident who has had encampments in her neighborhood — said the city must include regional voices throughout the process. She also said there needs to be a due diligence by the city in looking into how encampments are run and managed.

Many commenters also noted that the City of Redmond is in a position to be a leader that other communities can look to in shaping their policies regarding encampments.