Dominic Anthony Walsh/Houston Public Media
A purple suitcase and pink tote bag containing all of Lasonya Harris’ possessions rested on a sidewalk Wednesday morning in front of Houston City Hall.
After losing a sales job, she said, Harris has been sleeping outside, mostly in the public spaces of downtown Houston. Under an ordinance approved by the city council later Wednesday — after she spoke with Houston Public Media — she will face a potential fine of up to $500 and arrest if she continues living as she’s lived for the past two years.
“There are people like myself that’s hopeless,” Harris said. “I’ve exhausted all of my limitation as to where I can go and where I can stay. I’m out of options. If I get off the sidewalk, I’m going to get in the grass or in the water — that’s all I know. It’s like, it’s out of options, and if they put another rule that you can’t be on the sidewalk at all sleeping, in day or night, that makes the homeless more vulnerable.”
The city council updated the so-called “civility ordinance,” which prohibits sleeping, lying down or placing personal possessions on sidewalks in 12 parts of the city from 7 a.m.-11 p.m. In downtown Houston and East Downtown, the rules will now apply 24/7, effectively banning the presence of homeless people in those areas.
“No one is criminalizing the civility ordinance allowing people to be taken off the streets like a crime,” Mayor John Whitmire said before the vote. “They’re being handled compassionately. It’s a plan that’s been well thought out.”
Violations of the civility ordinance are a Class C criminal misdemeanor.
Whitmire’s administration framed the change as a “pilot program” with the end goal being a citywide, 24/7 expansion of the civility ordinance.
For Harris, there’s a glimmer of hope in Whitmire’s stated approach to addressing street homelessness. The city’s housing department, in partnership with the nonprofit Coalition for the Homeless of Houston/Harris County and other groups, is focusing on providing transitional beds, services and a path to permanent housing before enforcing the ordinance.
“If I was offered housing in any form, any program … yes, I will accept it,” Harris said.
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The city is hoping to raise $70 million for the initiative, though it remains significantly short of that goal as it continues to seek $20 million from private philanthropy. Whitmire’s administration plans to supplement its efforts with about $40 million in federal disaster recovery funds.
Harris and about a dozen other homeless people in front of City Hall are among an estimated population of 200 to 250 individuals who sleep on the streets in downtown Houston. The city’s housing department director, Mike Nichols, said the city has the resources to serve them.
“It’s disappointing to some folks who would like to do it citywide. We can’t do that. The resources aren’t there for that,” Nichols said. “This is a moving system. I’m a systems guy. I’m a monies guy. And this is part of the system to move people from downtown to housing.”
Nichols declined to answer a question from city council last week about whether the city could immediately house the entire population, instead saying “as we move from street to street and district to district, the answer is yes.”
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Council member Letitia Plummer successfully pushed for an amendment to encourage the presence of mental health professionals and officers with special training in crisis response prior to the enforcement of the ordinance. She said the idea of enforcement by regular uniformed officers, who receive less training than specialized officers, “worries the heck out of me.” The amendment, which encourages but does not require the presence of specialized teams, was approved unanimously.
Dominic Anthony Walsh/Houston Public Media
At around 8:30 a.m. before the vote, an officer with the Houston Police Department (HPD) instructed a homeless man to move a stroller with personal possessions off the sidewalk in front of City Hall. The man declined to share his name or speak with Houston Public Media, and the officer was unable to say if he was specifically enforcing the civility ordinance. No social service provider was present, and there was no mention of transitional housing.
Spokespersons for HPD and Whitmire’s office did not immediately return requests for comment on the encounter.
When it comes to clearing homeless encampments, the city has highlighted four targeted efforts in the downtown area since November. Out of more than 130 people who were “engaged” by the city and its partners, 85 individuals were connected to “a housing solution.”
Even for homeless people who face fines or arrests under the updated ordinance, the administration said it hopes to divert them to services and housing through the city’s special “homeless court.”
“No one likes to issue the citation and bring them to court. No one likes to make an arrest,” said Larry Satterwhite, Whitmire’s director of public safety and homeland security. “But I say again, it does give us another opportunity to try to get them help, and some of them take it.”
Council member Mario Castillo said his conversations with the court “did ease my concerns” about homeless people receiving citations.
The ordinance passed in a 14-2 vote, with council members Tarsha Jackson and Abbie Kamin voting against the change.
“I don’t believe people should be penalized, especially our most vulnerable community, because they’re homeless,” Jackson told Houston Public Media after the vote. “Ticketing — it can grow into something bigger. Once you get caught in the criminal justice system, it’s hard to come out. So I just didn’t like that approach.”
Under a coordinated effort led by the Coalition for the Homeless, the city has made significant progress in reducing the homeless population over the past 15 years. Kamin called for the city to lean into the so-called “housing-first” approach.
“That’s the Houston way — to bring in a coalition of wraparound services that goes to a location and addresses that one individual at a time, compassionately and holistically,” Kamin said. “But the civility ordinance itself doesn’t talk about that or address that.”
According to the Coalition for the Homeless, about 8,400 people in the Houston area were homeless in 2011. Last year, the coalition counted about 3,300 homeless people in the area, including about 1,100 who slept outside of shelters in public spaces. Whitmire’s administration hopes to reduce that number to zero by eventually offering everyone who becomes homeless a path to permanent housing within 90 days.
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