City Council charges Community Meals with Public Nuisance; Case could end up in court
By Tom Peterson
The Dalles City Council voted to authorize the city attorney to file a public nuisance action against St. Vincent de Paul of The Dalles in Wasco County Circuit Court following a one-hour executive session at it’s meeting on Monday, Sept. 11.
The decision was made after the council heard multiple complaints during the public comments section of the meeting from residents and business operators surrounding the nonprofit meal center for the houseless at 315 W. Third Street.
“Three years ago, I testified in front of this body and I shared my family’s experience in this neighborhood,” Rian Beach told Council. “I shared daily occurrences of theft, trespassing, fires, littering, fights, yelling, disorderly conduct, harassment, public urination and defecation, illegal parking, destruction of public and private property, and blocking of the sidewalks,” he said.
“Today, three years later, the same exact issues remain - except they have grown worse… The lack of action by the City and St. Vincent’s has turned our sidewalks, Mill Creek, and parts of Thompson Park into a literal garbage dump, public health crisis, and fire hazard from 2nd Street to the 6th Street Bridge.”
The council was put in the precarious position of having to crack down on the nonprofit run by volunteers after years of complaints about the people using its services.
The individuals visiting the Community Meals site, some of whom grew up in The Dalles or the Mid-Columbia, are generally experiencing dysfunction due to behavioral problems that make them quite different from average citizens. Mental health, drug addiction, past trauma or abuse, and alcohol use are just several of the influences driving their behavior.
This morning, Sept. 12, President of the St. Vincent de Paul Society in The Dalles Ed Elliott said that Community Meals had received a notice of public violation from the City earlier this summer.
“We did and we had an attorney send a letter as to our position,” he said.
He also noted that the city ordinance regarding public nuisance makes Community Meals responsible for what happens within 300 feet of the property. He said that made offenses occurring at The Dalles Area Chamber of Commerce, for example, the fault of the Community Meals.
“That makes no sense,” he said.
“It’s not that we don’t care. We understand, but we alone cannot solve the problem. If there was somewhere else they (houseless) could go and still get to our building and get food, that would be good. But nothing has been offered - perhaps there could be some cooperation with the city, and we could have something set up.”
At the meeting on Monday night, Mayor Rich Mays pointed out that many houseless are unable to live by the rules that are enforced at local shelters run by the Mid-Columbia Community Action Council within The Dalles. So, they are living on the street, sleeping outside, and carrying all of their personal belongings with them.
At the same time, some are committing low-level offenses, drawing little to no jail time.
In recent years, the city has worked with St. Vincent de Paul at the site, bringing in pickups and removing unwanted trash from the sidewalks. St. Vincent also instituted rules that those who remained on site after closing hours were denied access to food later. The building was painted and fences were installed around the building to dissuade people from camping on site. But enforcement of the rules has ebbed and flowed, according to some.
Neighbors told councilors they can no longer endure the drug use and public defecation.
The cumulative effect of behavior has some neighbors and people visiting businesses in the area up in arms as they fear for their safety.
It remains to be seen how St. Vincent’s will respond to the threat and or receipt of a civil court action taken by the city. However, if the city goes to court and prevails, a judge could find that the city is correct in enforcing the public nuisance violation, giving it the ability to shutter the meal site for 3 months to a year, according to the city ordinance.
Councilor Darcy Long responded to public comments, stating “It’s not that we were not doing anything. We have to do what is legal… we are trying to come up with the right solutions.”
She also pointed out that their hands were tied in the instances of sidewalks where people are legally allowed to be.
Long said the council is also pursuing a public bathroom in the downtown corridor, yet there is opposition to where it should be located. In addition, the council passed several ordinances in July to empower residents experiencing public nuisances and eliminate unpermitted vehicles in public parking lots.
She said it was not fair to attack the council for not coming up with solutions to the issue “when you can’t either.”
After the meeting, Police Chief Tom Worthy said the Community Meal site had the highest number of calls for police in the entire city - 1,297 in the last year.
Councilor Dan Richardson said the civil suit was “in order to remedy the ongoing quality of life impacts and public disorder” after the motion was made to seek the lawsuit in civil court.
Councilors Richardson, Rod Runyon, Tim McGlothlin and Scott Randall voted in favor of the motion. Darcy Long left the meeting prior to the executive session and vote.
