Phoenix eyes limits to food and medical aid to homeless in parks
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The Phoenix City Council voted to restrict medical care for homeless people in parks last December, and could expand that to include food distribution. Photo: Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
The Phoenix City Council is poised to crack down on organizations that provide food and medical aid to unhoused people in parks.
Why it matters: Homeless people often suffer from lack of medical care and food, and the proposed ordinance would make it more difficult to provide them.
- Supporters of the proposal argue that services result in unsanitary and sometimes unsafe conditions from waste like needles.
Zoom in: The Medical Treatment and Food Distribution in Parks Ordinance would require providers to get permits from the Park Department.
- Each of the city's 105 eligible parks would be limited to two permits monthly.
- Needle exchange programs would be prohibited.
- Violations would be a class 1 misdemeanor, which is punishable by up to six months in jail and a $2,500 fine.
Catch up quick: An original version of the ordinance, which the council approved 8-1 in December, only restricted medical care in parks.
- Council members delayed the effective date to March 30 to get community input.
- The council later delayed the effective date until June, then proposed a revised version in late March that restricted both medical care and food distribution.
State of play: The City Council directed staff to develop and revise the ordinance in response to concerns from residents, parks department spokesperson Teleia Galaviz told Axios.
Anna Hernandez, the only council member to vote against the ordinance in December, called on her colleagues to repeal and reject it at a press conference Monday, saying they should work with providers to craft a policy that addresses community concerns while allowing services to continue.
- She said it's valid for people to want safe parks, but warned that the ordinance will "push people further into despair" without making parks safer.
- Circle the City CEO Kim Despres told Axios that her organization won't apply for permits to provide medical care if the revised ordinance passes because it doesn't want to take them from groups that provide food.
- Jonathan Bowersock of the activist group Food Not Bombs refuted the idea that his organization's food distribution events every Sunday night at Civic Space Park draw homeless people to the park, telling Axios, "we're meeting people where they are."
The other side: The city can support people in need "without placing that burden on our families and neighborhoods," Council Member Betty Guardado said in a statement to Axios.
- "Our residents have worked too hard to reclaim and improve our parks to see that progress undone," she said.
- Council Member Ann O'Brien, who represents northwest Phoenix, said residents should be able to enjoy parks without worrying about hazards like needles, and said the ordinance creates a "reasonable system, so our parks remain clean, safe, and accessible for everyone."
What's next: The City Council will vote on the revised ordinance on Wednesday.
What we're watching: Will Knight, a Phoenix attorney with the National Homelessness Law Center, told Axios that he expects a lawsuit if the council passes the revised ordinance or refuses to repeal the original one.