Dallas City Council was briefed on a new city beautification initiative Wednesday, which faced questions from one council member on its approach to cleaning homeless encampments prior to the discussion's abrupt end.
The Clean Sweep program includes a measure to remove debris from homeless encampments. Since Oct. 24, the city says its cleaned about 45 homeless encampments.
When an encampment is cleared completely and people experiencing homelessness are moved into housing, fencing is placed around the vacant camp. Part of the money for the encampment cleanup will go toward fencing.
Council member Adam Bazaldua said although good work was proposed, it seemed inhumane to include fencing as a line item as part of the clean-up program. He added that the program did nothing to help people experiencing homelessness.
"If there is data to support why they're concentrating in one area, pushing them out to others doesn't help us eradicate it," he said. "It just has us playing 'Whac-A-Mole' to where we've moved them to so that we can continue to figure it out."
The program is a response to concerns over the cleanliness of the city, Interim City Manager Kimberly Bizor Tolbert said at the meeting. It's separate from Keep Dallas Beautiful, which is focuses on neighborhood beautification. Clean Sweep will focus on roadway and encampment cleanup.
"This initiative represents a major step forward in achieving our goals of a more cleaner, vibrant Dallas," Tolbert said.
Since Oct. 1, the city has included a $3 environmental fee on resident utility and services bills. This new fee is projected to make $10.5 million for the next fiscal year.
Out of the projected $10.5 million, Assistant Director Tina Richardson said it will set aside more than $1 million dollars for the Office of Homeless Solutions' Homeless Encampment Cleanup as part of the Clean Sweep budget.
Dallas' approach to homelessness uses a process called "encampment decommissioning," which coordinates with nonprofits and local agencies and move people out of homelessness permanently.
The city's encampment decommissioning is managed by Housing Forward and the city of Dallas. According to Housing Forward, a nonprofit working to end homelessness in Dallas and Collin counties, more than 10,100 people experiencing homelessness in both counties have been housed since 2021.
Council Member Omar Narvaez said he was thankful for a roadway clean up program, although he felt it should not fall to the city.
"I don't agree that we should have to do it because it's mainly TxDOT's property, but they ain't doing it so we've got to do it," Narvaez said. "And that's what unfortunately happens to this major city all the time, right?"
Narvaez added that cleaning the roadways would help encourage residents to maintain the appearance of the city.
During council member discussion, the quorum was broken and the briefing moved to open microphone for the few public speakers present. The meeting was adjourned without further discussion on the Clean Sweep program.
A city-wide clean up day is tentatively planned for April next year with more, finalized details to come.
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