Encampment ordinance

Submitted a written comment urging the council to vote no on the proposed ordinance.

Spoke for Jewish Family Service of San Diego, which already provides housing services in 29 Palms; said the agency is ready to help regardless of how the council votes.

Urged a no vote but acknowledged the city has thought through the process; stressed that more housing resources are needed when displacing encampments.

Respectfully asked the council not to adopt the ordinance, saying its language criminalizes car camping and doesn't match the state model; noted ERF grant rules require services and housing plans before clearing encampments.

Active-duty Marine and vice president of His Hands nonprofit; asked to partner with the city to help homeless people and veterans, saying everyone deserves a second chance.

Urged a no vote until the ordinance is refined to conform to the state model; noted a typo ('inconspicuous' location for notice) showing the document wasn't adequately reviewed.

Said promised fixes to the ordinance never happened; detailed differences from the state model including bans on all camping, private-property camping permits, and misdemeanor fines and arrests.

Works with Resist 29 feeding unhoused neighbors; said she strongly opposes sweeps without a detailed humane plan and called the ordinance inhumane.

Said removing encampments in cold, rainy weather is unsafe and inhumane when people have nowhere else to go; asked the city to emphasize connecting people to resources.

Urged a no vote, saying the state model ordinance is not a mandate and services should be organized first; warned encampment clearances can make unhoused people less safe.

Asked the council to add a future item revisiting the ordinance's ban on camping on private property without a city permit, saying he lost the right to let friends camp on his own RV pad.

Opposed the ordinance, drawing on San Francisco experience to warn that sweeps without housing and support infrastructure destroy belongings and can be deadly in the desert climate.

Opposed, arguing the root cause of homelessness is housing shortage and cost of living; urged the city to designate legal camping areas now, not later, and to follow the state model ordinance's service-referral requirement.

High desert resident calling the ordinance a moral failure and policy violence; argued housing-first is cheaper than incarceration and that affected people should be at the decision-making table.

Asked whether staff verifies encampments are actually occupied before clearing, and requested a survey team; noted hotel placements for unhoused residents are underway.