Bloomington Finally Clears Its Homeless Camp. Now Stop Pretending Tents Are Housing

Deadline Enforcement.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Has Bloomington and Monroe County created a cottage industry of homelessness like South Bend and St. Joseph County? Why is that near many college campus the poorest and sickest congregate to get what left over university food and to get fed like pigeons?

The have spent years discovering an obvious truth: allowing people to establish semi-permanent camps on public property isn't a solution to homelessness. It is government tolerating homelessness in a different location.

On Tuesday, Monroe County finally cleared the so-called Powerline Camp on the county-owned Thomson property off South Rogers Street. An estimated 40 to 50 people had been living there. The original Sept. 1 deadline was accelerated to Aug. 25 after complaints from nearby residents and mounting public-safety concerns. No arrests were reported during the operation. (bloomingtonian.com)

The sheriff's office offered a remarkably concise explanation: “A few bad apples shortened their stay.” (bloomingtonian.com)

That's worth remembering because much of the debate over homelessness has become an exercise in avoiding distinctions. A person who loses a job and can't pay rent isn't necessarily the same as someone debilitated by addiction or serious mental illness. And neither should be confused with someone committing theft, threatening neighbors or engaging in violence.

Yet government frequently puts everyone under the same politically convenient label — “unhoused” — and then wonders why its solutions don't work.

The Neighbors Count, Too

This wasn't an isolated campsite deep in the wilderness. Nearby is Osage Place, where Habitat for Humanity families have worked toward homeownership.

The area had generated complaints involving theft, confrontations, loose dogs and reported gunfire. The first gunfire report wasn't substantiated, but after another reported incident authorities found shell casings. Mayor Kerry Thomson eventually told Monroe County that even its Sept. 1 closure date wasn't soon enough. (bloomingtonian.com)

She was right.

Compassion isn't a municipal policy that requires everybody except the person causing the problem to make sacrifices. Working families shouldn't have to tolerate disorder around their homes because politicians are afraid that enforcing ordinary rules will appear insensitive.

Neither should taxpayers be expected to surrender parks and public land indefinitely to private occupation.

Bloomington Has Tried the Other Approach

Bloomington is hardly a city famous for being hostile toward the homeless. It has shelters, outreach organizations, food programs, housing initiatives and an extensive social-service network

.

It also has a recurring problem: government clears one camp and people migrate somewhere else.

The Bloomingtonian has documented that pattern through Seminary Park, the B-Line Trail, county property near Catalent and now the Thomson property. (bloomingtonian.com)

At some point, moving tents around town ceases to qualify as a policy.

Indiana's new prohibition on camping on public property at least establishes an important principle: public property belongs to the public.

But enforcement is only half the job. Someone with schizophrenia needs treatment. Someone addicted to fentanyl needs treatment. Someone temporarily broke needs help getting back on his feet. Someone stealing from homes needs the criminal-justice system.

Treating all four as interchangeable victims helps none of them.

The Tent Isn't the Solution

Some former camp residents complained Tuesday that they had nowhere to go and weren't given enough time to retrieve their possessions. Those complaints deserve examination, particularly because the deadline had been moved forward and the revised notice apparently didn't specify a particular hour for Tuesday's removal. (bsquarebulletin.com)

But that doesn't establish a right to remain indefinitely on county property.

Bloomington's political establishment has talked about homelessness for years. The camps keep reappearing. Businesses complain about damage and cleanup. Residents complain about safety. Homeless people themselves remain homeless.

Perhaps the most compassionate thing Indiana can do is finally stop confusing tolerance of dysfunction with assistance.

Monroe County removed the Powerline Camp Tuesday by their self-imposed deadline.

Now comes the harder test: insisting upon treatment for people who need treatment, enforcing the law against people who break it, helping people genuinely trying to regain stability — and refusing to pretend that leaving someone indefinitely in a tent in the woods was ever an acceptable solution in the first place.