Residents and advocates urge Saint Paul City Council to halt encampment closures, citing health and capacity concerns

Council President Nager convened a special Saint Paul City Council public hearing on the proposed encampment-closure policy and heard about three hours of testimony from unhoused residents, outreach workers, health professionals and community organizers who overwhelmingly urged the council to halt or delay the planned closures.

Many speakers described how encampments function as communities and safety nets and warned that forced closures will scatter residents, sever relationships with outreach teams and undermine access to medications and identification. "Do not close Pig's Eye unless every resident has a safe, appropriate, and voluntary placement," said Nikolai Salmis Whitehead, a Metro Transit bus operator and organizer with lived experience of homelessness. Several witnesses said the city's bed counts and placement plans are insufficient for the number of people who live in encampments.

Public-health experts at the hearing presented research and frontline experience arguing that sweeps can increase short-term mortality and overdose risk. "Sweeps do not put out fires, sweeps do not reverse overdoses," said Kumie Smith, a professor of epidemiology, who described data showing overdose rates spike in the two weeks after sweeps and said sweeps disrupt medical access and outreach relationships. Adam Beers, who has worked in behavioral health and has lived experience, told the council that evictions "increase instability, make people harder to reach, and will increase the risk of overdose and death."

Organizers and residents disputed several of the administration's factual claims about encampment size and shelter availability. Multiple speakers said their counts at Pig's Eye and other sites were higher than figures presented by the mayor's office; one outreach organizer said the camp has grown from roughly 90 people to approximately 350. Several witnesses also urged repurposing existing vacant buildings and reallocating money rather than spending on removal costs. "Allocate the $300,000 to renovating abandoned buildings to provide housing," urged Mariah Anderson, a 17-year-old participant in a Saint Paul youth program.

Speakers with lived experience gave repeated examples of the harms they said follow sweeps: lost identification and medications, destroyed personal property, difficulty reestablishing trust with case managers, and higher risk of overdose and violence. An outreach worker and Ramsey County assessor said coordinated entry assessments typically take months, not weeks, and cautioned reliance on that system as the city's primary solution for rehousing large numbers of people quickly. "Coordinated Entry is a tool. It is not quick," said Sam Robertson, who manages the coordinated-entry priority list in Ramsey County.

Several speakers suggested alternatives or interim steps: six-month stabilization efforts with on-site wraparound services; small permanent housing models such as tiny-home villages; veteran and peer-staffed shelter roles; and targeted law-enforcement action against trafficking rather than blanket displacement. Outreach organizers brought survey results from encampment residents listing priorities: more time, hotel vouchers until transitional housing is available, on-site hygiene and heating improvements, and commitments to preserve community ties.

Council President Nager said the council would recess at 6:30 p.m. if quorum was lost and would schedule another opportunity to hear from speakers who were not heard. The hearing closed without a council vote; no formal motions or council actions were recorded during the meeting. The council said it will announce next steps and another public opportunity for testimony.

The hearing captured strong opposition from residents and service providers to the administration's timeline and methods; it also spotlighted competing views on enforcement, the adequacy of shelter capacity and how best to move people into stable housing. The council recessed after the public comment period and said it would consider the testimony in scheduling follow-up meetings and any further action.