{"id":779546,"date":"2026-05-07T11:43:22","date_gmt":"2026-05-07T11:43:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/779546\/"},"modified":"2026-05-07T11:43:22","modified_gmt":"2026-05-07T11:43:22","slug":"phoenix-oks-punitive-limits-on-feeding-treating-homeless-in-parks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/779546\/","title":{"rendered":"Phoenix OKs ‘punitive’ limits on feeding, treating homeless in parks"},"content":{"rendered":"

After seven tense hours, the Phoenix City Council passed a controversial parks ordinance<\/a> on Wednesday that many advocates worry will further criminalize homelessness<\/a> and make it harder for groups to help the unhoused.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The ordinance, which passed 6-3, will prohibit providing medical care and distributing food<\/a> in city parks without a permit, except in the case of a sudden medical emergency. It goes into effect on June 5.<\/p>\n

The council has been considering such a move for at least six months. In December, it passed an earlier version of the ordinance, which focused only on banning unpermitted medical services in parks. The move was met with vociferous pushback, and the council delayed its implementation to consider changes. But, instead of heeding groups that provide services to unhoused people in city parks, the ultimate version of the ordinance was more punitive, adding food distribution to its ban.<\/p>\n

Specifically, the ordinance prohibits the exchange and distribution of needles and intramuscular naloxone entirely, and requires a permit for medical treatment and food distribution activities in city parks. After receiving a permit, individuals or groups must provide these services in an enclosed tent or mobile medical vehicle in the parking lot or other hardscape area, except for sports courts.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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The work must be minimally disruptive to \u201cother park uses, ensure the safety of park guests,\u201d and \u201cmaintain parks in a clean and sanitary condition,\u201d according to the ordinance. Organizations must also provide \u201cadequate indemnification and insurance.\u201d<\/p>\n

That would seem to allow mutual aid groups to continue their work. However, only two total permits can be issued per month, per park, and the permits are separate for food distribution and medical treatment services. The permits also will be available only for certain parks \u2014 specifically, the 105 of them that are neighborhood parks with parking lots and community and regional parks. Phoenix has more than 180 city parks.<\/p>\n

A violation of the ordinance is a class 1 misdemeanor, which could result in a $2,000 fine and up to six months in jail. At the council meeting, Phoenix Police Chief Matthew Giordano said he would treat violations of the ordinance like a \u201ctraffic citation,\u201d leading with education before turning to enforcement if violations continue.<\/p>\n

Nonetheless, community members who spoke at the meeting and Councilmember Anna Hernandez, who has railed against the ordinance, pointed out how harsh a punishment that is for groups that are essentially acting as good Samaritans.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will not punish our way to a safer, healthier city,\u201d Hernandez said. \u201cThis ordinance, again, gets it all wrong.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"bettyPhoenix City Councilmember Betty Guardado.<\/p>\n

\u2018Jail for helping\u2019<\/p>\n

The ordinance inspired both passionate support and opposition at the meeting.<\/p>\n

Proponents of the ordinance expressed concern about drug use, trespassing and leftover needles in local parks, which they view as being brought to the park by medical care and food distribution groups.<\/p>\n

During public comment, a mother who identified herself as Danielle said medical care in parks has made the parks feel unsafe and unusable. A student baseball player said it made playing in the park feel dangerous. A child and his mother shared that he\u2019d been stuck by a needle in a city park.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis ordinance gives us tools. It sets limits. It creates oversight,\u201d said Councilmember Betty Guardado, who was very vocally supportive of the ordinance throughout the meeting. \u201cOur parks are for families. They are for children. They are for our communities to gather safely.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Councilmember Debra Stark said the ordinance \u201cprovides a compromise\u201d so that services can still be rendered in the park, but suggested medical care and food distribution could be done elsewhere. She showed a printed-out photo of homeless encampments around one of the city\u2019s washes as a potential alternative. Mayor Kate Gallego emphasized the amount of money Phoenix spends on homeless services, compared to the rest of the state.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Councilmembers Kevin Robinson, Ann O\u2019Brien and Kesha Hodge Washington also voted for the ordinance.\u00a0<\/p>\n

However, Hernandez railed against the ordinance, making her points with a huge drawing pad that read \u201cTHIS IS A WASTE OF MONEY!\u201d and \u201cJAIL FOR HELPING, HARSH!\u201d She argued that the ordinance will only criminalize providers while not eliminating the need for the services they provide. She also questioned the effectiveness of the ordinance and added that she\u2019d spoken with city officials at other major cities who were \u201cpretty shocked\u201d that Phoenix was \u201cmoving in such a punitive way.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Hernandez made a substitute motion to repeal the December ordinance and go back to the drawing board and identify root causes to find solutions, which didn\u2019t receive a second. Similarly, Councilmember Laura Pastor asked her colleagues if food distribution could be separated from medical care in the ordinance, only to be met with silence. She voted against the measure.<\/p>\n

Councilmember Jim Waring, the council\u2019s lone conservative, also voted against the ordinance, but only because he wanted to limit these services entirely.<\/p>\n

\"jonathanJonathan Bowerstock, a volunteer with Food Not Bombs PHX, spoke against a controversial new Phoenix ordinance at a city council meeting on May 6, 2026.<\/p>\n

Permits for sandwiches<\/p>\n

Whatever Phoenix hopes to accomplish by limiting services for the unhoused in city parks, advocates say it won\u2019t work. Organizers and activists <\/a>from groups like Circle the City and Food Not Bombs PHX argued that the ordinance will cause homelessness in parks to get only worse, predicting skyrocketing rates of 911 calls, emergency room visits and heat deaths. Organizers added that they aren\u2019t the ones leaving needles in parks and suggested providing sharps containers in parks instead.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo many of you do not consider the homeless your constituents, part of your community,\u201d said Jonathan Bowerstock, a volunteer for Foods Not Bombs PHX<\/a>, which serves dinner in Civic Space Park every Sunday night. Another resident questioned why \u201ca sandwich needs a permit,\u201d while a third insisted that mutual aid groups are \u201cpart of the solution\u201d and not the problem.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s possible that the ordinance is challenged in court. During the meeting, Deputy City Manager Cynthia Aguilar noted that the city cannot outright ban these activities in public parks but can place \u201ctime, place and manner\u201d restrictions on the activities the ordinance regulates. Julie Kriegh, the city attorney, added that \u201cwe have reviewed this ordinance and have done legal research in crafting this.\u201d<\/p>\n

Others who spoke at the meeting disputed that legal analysis. Harrison Redmond, a lobbyist with ACLU of Arizona, argued that the ordinance goes beyond that \u201ctime, place and manner\u201d restriction and instead targets humanitarian organizations specifically, which could violate the First Amendment rights of those groups\u2019 volunteers.<\/p>\n

Will Knight, an attorney with the National Homelessness Law Center, predicted the ordinance \u201cwill be stricken\u201d if challenged in court, saying it violates several federal laws, including the First Amendment, the Constitution\u2019s guarantee of due process and the Americans with Disabilities Act.<\/p>\n

\u201c(Unhoused people) can\u2019t schedule their heat stroke for when one of these permits is granted,\u201d Knight said, going on to add that \u201ccriminalization does not solve the underlying problem.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After seven tense hours, the Phoenix City Council passed a controversial parks ordinance on Wednesday that many advocates…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":779547,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5131],"tags":[5229,5643,1587,7265,1589,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-779546","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-phoenix","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-arizona","10":"tag-az","11":"tag-homelessness","12":"tag-phoenix","13":"tag-united-states","14":"tag-united-states-of-america","15":"tag-unitedstates","16":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","17":"tag-us","18":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/779546","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=779546"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/779546\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/779547"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=779546"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=779546"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=779546"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}