The Monroe County Board of Commissioners has adopted a 30-day notice policy for clearing homeless encampments. The county code previously required only 72-hour notice for clearing personal items from county property.
The new policy follows pushback to a county plan to clear an encampment on the county-owned Thomson property near RCA Community Park in Bloomington.
Commissioner Julie Thomas said the resolution is a first step toward solving a complex issue.
“I would like us to begin that process of determining next steps,” she said. “But I’m afraid that we’ve been stuck in paralysis by analysis for far too long, and so I think we need some action.”
However, a resident of the Thomson encampment said that the new resolution isn’t sufficient to address community needs.
“Honestly it has so many caveats as to make it almost meaningless as protection against winter evictions,” she said.
The resolution also calls for county and city officials to create a working group to address local homelessness.
