Spokane City Council seeks public input on homelessness laws [Video]

SPOKANE, Wash. – Spokane City Council held a roundtable discussion at the downtown library Tuesday night to gather public input on how to improve laws surrounding homelessness.

The meeting was attended by activists and local business leaders, as the city council aimed to find common ground on how to address homelessness in Spokane.

Small business owner Nick Womack expressed a common concern, saying, “Where do they go? The whole thing is we should be helping them, not shuffling them around.”

The sentiment was shared by those who serve the homeless every day.

“If not here where?” asked Julie Garcia, the leader of the homelessness organization Jewels Helping Hands. “There has to be somewhere for people to go.”

Activists and business leaders voiced that the city’s approach should focus on solving the issue rather than applying temporary fixes.

“We have spent so much time sweeping this under the rug,” Justice Forral, …