Adams Co. Commission workshop addresses Othello homeless camp

OTHELLO — Adams County officials didn’t come to any conclusions about ways to address the challenges presented by a homeless encampment west of Othello in a discussion Wednesday afternoon. But Adams County Commissioner Jay Weise said the meeting was a start toward finding answers, not the end. 

Weise said the objective was twofold, to determine the scope of the problem and figure out how county officials could provide necessary services to the people using the property. 

“We’re not going to walk out of here today with a plan of action,” Weise said. “In fact, I don’t think we’re going to walk out of here today with (anything) other than a whole bunch of questions.” 

The property is located near Cunningham Road and has been an encampment for homeless people for a while. Adams County Building and Planning Director Andie Lorenz said county officials have been working on the property since about 2019. 

The encampment is on private property, with an owner who lives out of state. Linda Toscano, who said she lived in the encampment, estimated there are about 20 people there. Adams County Sheriff Dale Wagner said his estimation was about 40 people.  

“The first step is to try to work with the landowner for voluntary cleanup,” Lorenz said. “The last correspondence I received is that she’s been working with the sheriff’s department to gather information on the individuals living there so that she can work through the process for eviction, in order for her to start the cleanup process.” 

The last communication with the landowner was Nov. 25, Lorenz said. Wagner said communication between the sheriff’s office and the landowner has been an ongoing and not always fruitful process. 

“There’s just not a whole lot of compliance there,” Wagner said. “And people just continue to invite people to come and be on the property.” 

Weise said that for him, removing the encampment is not the biggest issue.  

“Now you have a whole bunch of folks with nowhere to go, no services, and that causes a whole another problem that we’re not dealing with,” Weise said. 

“Let’s get them all off that piece of property. Now what have we got? We’ve got a whole different issue that we have to deal with,” Weise added. “So if you’re going to go down there and you’re going to evict those people with a plethora of different needs, are we ready to have that in our community, to be able to deal with the problems that (eviction created)? That’s what this thing is about – if this problem is fixed, do we have the bandwidth, the capabilities and the programs that we’ll be able to deal with the different issues (of) the population that’s down there?”  

Vicki Guse, director of Adams County Integrated Health Services, said mental health and substance abuse treatment options are available through the county. There’s also some temporary housing. 

Guse said some of the difficulties with providing treatment and assistance lie elsewhere. 

“It’s all based on if they’re willing. They have to be willing to accept the services,” she said. “We can’t force them.” 

All treatment options come with rules that participants must follow, she said, and some people don’t want to do that. 

“They’ll come in wanting the help, but when we give them the rules, they don’t want to abide by them,” she said. 

Her staff has gone to the encampment to talk to people about available services, she said, and the last time some of the inhabitants tried to prevent them from leaving. Her staff has not been back since, she said.  

Weise said he’s also concerned about sustaining programs once they’re started. 

Adams County has a contract with HopeSource, Ellensburg, to provide services for homeless people. The organization has been coming to Adams County once each week since midsummer. But part of the problem, Guse said, is that affordable housing in Adams County is very limited. HopeSource has some limited housing options, but they aren’t in Adams County. 

Weise said he’s also concerned about sustaining programs once they start. 

“They throw money at us all the time so we can start a program, but in two or three years how do we keep it going?” he said. 

People in Washington do not need to accept assistance when it’s offered, Wagner said, and from his perspective that was the biggest issue and the biggest frustration.  

“The real issues are, we have a bunch of people that have a lot of different needs, and we have a bunch of issues that we want to address, but how do we get (people) to want them to be addressed?” Wagner said. 

Weise said Wednesday’s meeting was only the first in a series. 

“I expect this group to grow as more stakeholders within the community become involved and we get some input,” he said. 

Correction: Andie Lorenz, the city’s building and planning director spoke regarding a conversation with the landowner. His name was misstated in the initial story and has been updated.

    A homeless encampment near Othello, pictured in 2022, was the subject of a wide-ranging discussion Wednesday.