Homeless pushed into Whitman County

COLFAX - Clarkston's removal of a homeless camp is pushing some indigent residents into Whitman County.

During the Tuesday, Feb. 20, Colfax City Council meeting, Councilwoman Crystn Guenthner asked officer Perry Tate, during the Police Department report, about a man she had seen sleeping along Main Street.

Guenthner raised concerns about whether the city would see more homeless people due to the recent removal 306 Fifth St. camp in Clarkston.

She isn't the only one raising questions.

Whitman County Commissioner Art Swannack brought homeless campers along the Snake River topic during the commission meeting Tuesday, as well.

According to Swannack, the Whitman County Sheriff's Office was aware of the Asotin County encampment moving along the side of the Snake River.

Clarkston City Administrator Steven Austin said the homeless encampment in city limits was on private property; the owner requested it be removed.

"They were given advance notice," Austin said, noting that they had more than a week to get off the property. "No one was arrested at that time, and no one was forcibly removed. They all voluntarily left."

Robert Ladd, 41, was one of the 70-75 people living in the encampment.

In an interview at the camp with the Gazette on Wednesday, Feb. 21, Ladd said the city had given them five days' notice.

Ladd and several others were right on the border of Whitman and Asotin Counties, staying in tents and cleaning up the camp at the time.

Ladd said he had been released from the Whitman County Jail the day before on charges of a no-contact order violation.

"I walked out the door, I had to ask them which direction was Clarkston," Ladd said, adding he had to hitchhike toward Pullman before a Washington State Trooper picked him up and took him the rest of the way.

"We literally have no resources, and our best bet is to get them as close to resources as we can," Tate said during the Feb. 20 council meeting.

Discussion on how local law enforcement handles vagrancy came down to the fact the deputies and police will either get a bus ticket for those trying to go somewhere else or drive them where they need to go.

The land the campers staying along the Snake River is publicly owned and managed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Corps spokesman Dylan Peters said some recreational areas have a 14-day stay limit for campers; they cannot return for 30 days.

Ladd said homeless campers know how long they can stay.

According to Peters, campers are okay if they follow the rules and work with the rangers.

Homeless campers are less of an issue than vandalism in restrooms and day-use areas, he said.

"What we're experiencing can come from a wide variety of people," Peters said, noting the Corps' goal is to ensure recreational areas are safe.

During the Gazette's interview with Ladd, two rangers visited the camp alongside the river, supplying Ladd with a map of usable areas to stay.

Ladd spoke candidly about the lifestyle that those from the encampment live, referring to it as a transient lifestyle.

"We just get stuck in this vortex," he said, adding that Quality Behavioral Health in Clarkston helped him a lot.

Colfax City Council members spoke to trying to consider resources to help homeless people, noting that there is very little available locally.

Austin mentioned Martin V. Boise, a 2018 Supreme Court ruling that prohibits a city from enforcing anti-camping ordinances on homeless individuals if there isn't adequate housing, a shelter or an alternative.

Ladd said that for the people who get stuck in that lifestyle, it can often be hard to get out of due to various factors, including a lack of transportation and wanting to find a job but not having identification.

As hard of a lifestyle as it can be, the people of the camp had developed a family among one another, helping each other to survive and figure out how to move forward, he said.