Caroline Cummings is an Emmy-winning reporter with a passion for covering politics, public policy and government. She is thrilled to join the WCCO team.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey called a special meeting of the city council for Wednesday afternoon to discuss potential legal action against a property owner who is authorizing a homeless encampment on his property.
Hamoudi Sabri, who owns a commercial parking lot off of E. Lake Street as well as others in the Twin Cities, told reporters Tuesday that while homelessness is a problem, he believes the city's solutions aren't working so he's taking a stand.
"What is the city doing? They just keep moving them around. So I'm not gonna throw them around for Frey to shift them around because that's all he's been doing is shifting these guys around from one place to another," Sabri said.
The city cannot clear the encampment like it does when similar ones pop-up on city property because they do not own this land. Frey plans to discuss legal action against Sabri during the council meeting on Wednesday.
A spokeswoman for his office said homeless response teams have been on site offering shelter, services and support but many people have rejected those offers, and now it's a public health and safety risk.
The lot is right next to a school. The city says it has sent public health notices due to drug paraphernalia, hazardous debris and unsanitary conditions because of trash and feces. It so far imposed $9,000 worth of citations against Sabri.
"Because the property owner has refused to take responsibility despite clear public health concerns, Mayor Frey is convening the City Council to consider legal options to ensure the safety of residents, students and people at the encampment," Ally Peters, the spokeswoman, said in a statement.
A similar battle brewed at another one of Sabri's properties in the North Loop a few years ago and Sabri told WCCO he may allow another encampment in St. Louis Park so officials "wake up" to the issue.
"It's easy for people to find them, to feed them, to help them, to medical them [sic]. So that's a place for them to be," he said. "So for [the city] to keep kicking them around trying to kick it here -- they have not been successful."
Officials from the city health department conducted more inspections Tuesday and cleaned up the area around the encampment. The city's new mobile medical unit was also on site to provide health screenings, wound care and blood pressure evaluations, which Sabri said he welcomed.
Homelessness has dropped by 33% since 2020 in Hennepin County, according to county data.
"This is not the way we want our residents to live in the city of Minneapolis," said Damōn Chaplin, commissioner for the health department.
"This is a humanitarian issue. This is something we all have to come together to solve," he added later. "There is no single bullet - no silver bullet for this issue and we're doing the best we can."