Preventing churches from helping the homeless in Washington

Message clear: Lacey doesn't want homeless
The Olympian, WA
April 29, 3008

The Lacey City Council ignored all public testimony and the city planning commission when the council enacted an ordinance that will — in practical terms — prevent churches from hosting homeless encampments.

Unlike Olympia and Tumwater where homeless encampments or tent cities can be accommodated in church parking lots, the new Lacey ordinance, adopted on a 4-3 vote, requires churches to host the homeless inside their buildings.

Instead of adopting 16 pages of obstacles to homeless encampments, the council majority might just as well have passed a single-sentence ordinance that said, "The Lacey City Council hereby outlaws homelessness within the city limits.

Read it all here...