Official Refuses to Draft Law to Oust Homeless

Santa Monica City Atty. Robert M. Myers has refused to write an “oppressive” law aimed at preventing people from living in the city’s parks, leaving the City Council to hire outside counsel to craft the ordinance it wants.

Myers washed his hands of the anti-encampment law at a council meeting Tuesday night, saying that to do what his council bosses want would violate his constitutional values. Myers charged that “encamping has become a code word for driving homeless people out of our community.”

In an opinion issued last week, Myers defined encampment as pitching a tent or having a cot and camp stove, but exempted anyone with a bedroll or sleeping bag and personal belongings--just the kind of paraphernalia used by the city’s large homeless population.

City Manager John Jalili, Police Chief James T. Butts, council members, a residents’ group and members of the city’s homeless task force complained that Myers’ definition did not address the problems in the parks. A revised ordinance will be brought back to the council for review within 30 days.