The City of Tucson claimed it is legally immune to consequences of its public policy as part of its defense in a lawsuit claiming the city’s decision to allow a homeless camp is causing damages to local residents and businesses.
Bernardo Velasco, an attorney representing the city in the lawsuit, reportedly argued on Friday that Tucson “is immune from liability for its policy determinations, according to The Arizona Daily Star. That policy determination, the outlet explained, was to allow homeless individuals to camp in a “pocket park” known as the Navajo Wash.
The decision of whether or not homeless people can camp in a public park is “fundamental government policy,” Velasco argued, the Daily Independent reported.
“Plaintiffs ask the court to enjoin the city to implement their preferred policy: a zero-tolerance for camping in public spaces,” Vesasco reportedly declared, noting that elected city leaders chose to allow the camping to occur. Velasco continued, asserting that “placing the city under such an injunction” would give the residents behind the lawsuit “preferential treatment to compel the city to clear the wash on their whim, or face the contempt of this court.”
After reportedly referencing the “inhumanity of such an approach,” the lawyer argued that only Tucson has the right to determine when and where its homeless citizens can camp.
However, city leaders appear to have engaged in efforts to reduce the number of homeless living in the Navajo Wash. A video posted online by a Tucson activist claimed officials attempted to reduce the utility of the Navajo Wash by cutting down shade trees in September.
The lawsuit was brought by Tuscon residents of the area around the park who retained Ilhan Wurman, the attorney whose firm successfully obtained a judgment compelling Phoenix to clear “The Zone,” which was once considered the largest homeless camp in Arizona.
Citing disagreements over exactly how much of a public nuisance the Navajo Wash camp is to citizens, Daily Independent reported Wurman told the court in a filing, “the city has no argument for why it cannot permanently ban camping in Navajo Wash notwithstanding the history of nuisances there, except for a misguided ideology that unsheltered individuals have a right to camp in public, even if there are sufficient shelter beds available to them.”
Phoenix’s “The Zone” was fully cleared in early November, months after Phoenix lost a lawsuit brought by residents who said their businesses were hampered by the campsite. The city argued it was legally prohibited from disrupting homeless camps until it had sufficient alternative lodgings available, and to that end has leased hotels, expanded shelter beds, and created an open-air campsite where homeless people can congregate while receiving social support services from the city.
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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Georgia Star News, The Virginia Star, and The Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Homeless Encampment” by Goldwater Institute.
