Phoenix OKs ‘punitive’ limits on feeding, treating homeless in parks

After seven tense hours, the Phoenix City Council passed a controversial parks ordinance on Wednesday that many advocates worry will further criminalize homelessness and make it harder for groups to help the unhoused. 

The ordinance, which passed 6-3, will prohibit providing medical care and distributing food in city parks without a permit, except in the case of a sudden medical emergency. It goes into effect on June 5.

The council has been considering such a move for at least six months. In December, it passed an earlier version of the ordinance, which focused only on banning unpermitted medical services in parks. The move was met with vociferous pushback, and the council delayed its implementation to consider changes. But, instead of heeding groups that provide services to unhoused people in city parks, the ultimate version of the ordinance was more punitive, adding food distribution to its ban.

Specifically, the ordinance prohibits the exchange and distribution of needles and intramuscular naloxone entirely, and requires a permit for medical treatment and food distribution activities in city parks. After receiving a permit, individuals or groups must provide these services in an enclosed tent or mobile medical vehicle in the parking lot or other hardscape area, except for sports courts. 

The work must be minimally disruptive to “other park uses, ensure the safety of park guests,” and “maintain parks in a clean and sanitary condition,” according to the ordinance. Organizations must also provide “adequate indemnification and insurance.”

That would seem to allow mutual aid groups to continue their work. However, only two total permits can be issued per month, per park, and the permits are separate for food distribution and medical treatment services. The permits also will be available only for certain parks — specifically, the 105 of them that are neighborhood parks with parking lots and community and regional parks. Phoenix has more than 180 city parks.

A violation of the ordinance is a class 1 misdemeanor, which could result in a $2,000 fine and up to six months in jail. At the council meeting, Phoenix Police Chief Matthew Giordano said he would treat violations of the ordinance like a “traffic citation,” leading with education before turning to enforcement if violations continue.

Nonetheless, community members who spoke at the meeting and Councilmember Anna Hernandez, who has railed against the ordinance, pointed out how harsh a punishment that is for groups that are essentially acting as good Samaritans.

“We will not punish our way to a safer, healthier city,” Hernandez said. “This ordinance, again, gets it all wrong.” 

‘Jail for helping’

The ordinance inspired both passionate support and opposition at the meeting.

Proponents of the ordinance expressed concern about drug use, trespassing and leftover needles in local parks, which they view as being brought to the park by medical care and food distribution groups.

During public comment, a mother who identified herself as Danielle said medical care in parks has made the parks feel unsafe and unusable. A student baseball player said it made playing in the park feel dangerous. A child and his mother shared that he’d been stuck by a needle in a city park.

“This ordinance gives us tools. It sets limits. It creates oversight,” said Councilmember Betty Guardado, who was very vocally supportive of the ordinance throughout the meeting. “Our parks are for families. They are for children. They are for our communities to gather safely.” 

Councilmember Debra Stark said the ordinance “provides a compromise” so that services can still be rendered in the park, but suggested medical care and food distribution could be done elsewhere. She showed a printed-out photo of homeless encampments around one of the city’s washes as a potential alternative. Mayor Kate Gallego emphasized the amount of money Phoenix spends on homeless services, compared to the rest of the state. 

Councilmembers Kevin Robinson, Ann O’Brien and Kesha Hodge Washington also voted for the ordinance. 

However, Hernandez railed against the ordinance, making her points with a huge drawing pad that read “THIS IS A WASTE OF MONEY!” and “JAIL FOR HELPING, HARSH!” She argued that the ordinance will only criminalize providers while not eliminating the need for the services they provide. She also questioned the effectiveness of the ordinance and added that she’d spoken with city officials at other major cities who were “pretty shocked” that Phoenix was “moving in such a punitive way.” 

Hernandez made a substitute motion to repeal the December ordinance and go back to the drawing board and identify root causes to find solutions, which didn’t receive a second. Similarly, Councilmember Laura Pastor asked her colleagues if food distribution could be separated from medical care in the ordinance, only to be met with silence. She voted against the measure.

Councilmember Jim Waring, the council’s lone conservative, also voted against the ordinance, but only because he wanted to limit these services entirely.

Permits for sandwiches

Whatever Phoenix hopes to accomplish by limiting services for the unhoused in city parks, advocates say it won’t work. Organizers and activists from groups like Circle the City and Food Not Bombs PHX argued that the ordinance will cause homelessness in parks to get only worse, predicting skyrocketing rates of 911 calls, emergency room visits and heat deaths. Organizers added that they aren’t the ones leaving needles in parks and suggested providing sharps containers in parks instead.

“So many of you do not consider the homeless your constituents, part of your community,” said Jonathan Bowerstock, a volunteer for Foods Not Bombs PHX, which serves dinner in Civic Space Park every Sunday night. Another resident questioned why “a sandwich needs a permit,” while a third insisted that mutual aid groups are “part of the solution” and not the problem.

It’s possible that the ordinance is challenged in court. During the meeting, Deputy City Manager Cynthia Aguilar noted that the city cannot outright ban these activities in public parks but can place “time, place and manner” restrictions on the activities the ordinance regulates. Julie Kriegh, the city attorney, added that “we have reviewed this ordinance and have done legal research in crafting this.”

Others who spoke at the meeting disputed that legal analysis. Harrison Redmond, a lobbyist with ACLU of Arizona, argued that the ordinance goes beyond that “time, place and manner” restriction and instead targets humanitarian organizations specifically, which could violate the First Amendment rights of those groups’ volunteers.

Will Knight, an attorney with the National Homelessness Law Center, predicted the ordinance “will be stricken” if challenged in court, saying it violates several federal laws, including the First Amendment, the Constitution’s guarantee of due process and the Americans with Disabilities Act.

“(Unhoused people) can’t schedule their heat stroke for when one of these permits is granted,” Knight said, going on to add that “criminalization does not solve the underlying problem.”