By Bob Seidenberg

Evanston City Council members on Tuesday held off approving a plan that calls for a $500,000 allocation to address some issues around an encampment that has formed near the Howard Street viaduct, with some maintaining a more fully fledged plan is needed.

Council members did support a proposal by Council Member Devon Reid, in whose southeast Eighth Ward the encampment is located, to spend roughly $10,000 to monitor activities in the area, across the street from the Howard CTA station entrance.

Council members had directed staff at their March 25 meeting to come up with a strategy to address the Howard Street loitering area/encampment  as well as other smaller encampments that have surfaced around the city.

Officials had identified the Howard Street encampment as the largest loitering area, with its numbers ranging from zero to 20 individuals, depending on the time of day, Ike Ogbo, the city’s director of health and human services, said in a memo.

Most ‘not Evanston residents’ – Ogbo

“Most of the individuals who occupy this location are not Evanston residents nor unhoused, based on information gathered over time,” he reported.

From October 2023 to April 2024, Evanston police responded 25 times to the site on calls such as disorderly conduct, drug activity, disturbances and nuisance complaints, he reported.

One of the prevalent issues is substance abuse, he said.

Hotel costs, collaboration with Chicago part of plan

Staff called for $300,000 to be spent “to coordinate direct services to alleviate issues identified at the loitering areas/encampments,” Ogbo wrote. The other $200,000 would be designated for School District 65 to address homelessness in the school district, he said.

Reid recommended a four-stage approach to improve the Howard Street loitering  area/encampment issues, wrote Ogbo, including substance abuse/mental health, including housing; activating the spaces around the viaduct; camera installation; as well as collaborating with Chicago on the concerns.

If 20 individuals were housed, costs could run as high as $234,360 (one room per individual) over a six-month period.

Other strategies include:

• Addressing the spaces under the Howard viaduct: “The spaces have not been utilized in decades,” wrote Ogbo, “and it will take a significant investment to update the spaces and bring them to comply with current building codes.”

• Installing cameras: The city’s Information Technology Department has been working to install cameras in the area, Ogbo said in his memo. They are to aid in monitoring activity for safety reasons and in police investigations.

• Collaborating with Chicago 49th Ward Ald. Maria Hadden:  Ogbo’s memo noted that information gathered suggests that “most of the individuals who congregate at the Howard Street location are Chicago residents.” Evanston officials could work with Hadden to seek ways to increase collaboration and provide resources, including strategies to reduce activity in this area.

Reid told council members the goal “is to make this an environment, one that feels safe and welcoming and deters this kind of gathering.”

Long-term subsidy may be needed – Burns

In discussion, Fifth Ward Council Member Bobby Burns spoke of the need for a long-term subsidy, “not a year, not two years, but long term.” He expected that to be addressed in a strategic housing plan officials foresee receiving by the end of the year.

He said the bridge to get to that point “is where I am concerned,” including how to pay for short-term and long-term hotel stays envisioned in the plan.

“It looks like we need a little more time in figuring out what we can do on Howard,” he said.

Audrey Thompson, the city’s director of parks and recreation, also pointed to the Living Room program coming on board as a possible resource. The program is to function as a drop-in center for adults seeking mental health assistance.

She told council members the biggest issue the city faces is substance abuse.

“Even if we house them [those from the encampment] then we’ve got other issues,” she pointed out, including from landlords who would be upset with a city that houses individuals not ready to maintain the housing.

Harris says cameras may help

Council Member Krissie Harris (2nd Ward), whose mother lives in the Howard Street area, also pointed to the substance abuse issues as a major challenge.

She is in the area every day, she told council members, “because I’m worried about my mom being able to drive down Howard. And it is a hangout spot,” she said.

“They used to have a radio plugged in, a coffee pot, something for the cat to play with on the corner, until I called the CTA and said, ‘Take that plug out. If I have to take the plug out myself, I will pay an electrician.’

“I see people nodding, about to pass out in the street and almost get hit, which is a liability,” she continued.

She voiced misgivings whether housing was the answer. She said the cameras may help and that there are some things the CTA, RTA and community members can do.

But for now, “I’m actually worried about kids that have to take the train to school. They have to pass a gauntlet – it’s a gauntlet over there and we can’t condone that.”

“This is a health and safety issue,” she said. “And this money that we’re trying to put toward it, it’s not fleshed out yet,” she said.

A matter of human rights: Reid

Reid highlighted several things in response. “One, the need to provide funding for housing for those who happen to be unhoused” is a human rights issue regardless of the person’s status or whether they are ready to be housed or not.

He said the issue is also a legal one, pointing to a consent decree in a Chicago case that requires certain steps that “we must take before we can take legal action on folks who are unhoused.”

Council Member Clare Kelly (1st Ward) said she understood there is some urgency to the issue. She noted that while the loitering/encampment issue is most prevalent at Howard, “we do have some issues in other parts” of town. Her ward includes a portion of the downtown districts where small encampments have popped up.

“I’d like to see us really approach it [the issue] in a more organized, orchestrated way,” she said, suggesting one approach may be bringing in graduating college seniors with experience in navigating substance issues as help.

Council Member Jonathan Nieuwsma (4th Ward) also spoke in support of moving thoughtfully, strategically and holistically in pursuing a solution.

The city is already doing a lot, he said, noting the Living Room project and a Community Responder Program “up and running in a couple of months.”

“What we’re looking at on Howard Street is just a symptom of a much larger problem,” he said. “And I would like to take a holistic big-picture approach rather than just dumping money on Howard Street.”

With council support, city officials will pursue the camera installation, which was already in the works.

The larger issue is expected to come back to the council at the June 10 meeting.