The Bartlesville City Council unanimously approved an ordinance on Monday night recommended after five months of discussions and research by the Unsheltered Homeless Task Force. The Council also voted to approve extending the Task Force itself through January 2026.
Before considering the proposals, the Council heard an update from the Unsheltered Homeless Task Force, which was established in October 2024 and has been meeting approximately twice a month since members were appointed in January.
The task force has thus far collected data about non-profit operations in Bartlesville, the number of unsheltered homeless from our Mental Health Co-Response Team, services available to assist the homeless, gaps that exist in these services, needs of local agencies, and other relevant topics.
“Our approach was based on what is known as the golden circle … a leadership concept developed by Simon Sinek, but we found that it was very applicable to what we were doing,” Task Force member Rachel Showler reported. “He also has a book called “Start With Why,” but we were starting with who.”
The task force has focused on key questions inspired by that concept over the past months, according to Showler, including:
- Who are we trying to help?
- Why are they homeless?
- How can we help them move towards becoming housed and stable?
- What available resources are they connected to, and what do they still need?
“We’re not going to be able to help everyone, and that’s kind of been a hard thing for us to talk through and overcome, but we’re trying to find solutions that will help most of the population that we’re discussing,” Showler said.
The task force established two goals: one, to help homeless neighbors move from homeless to housed and stable as effectively as possible, and two, to protect the broader community against the negative effect of an unaddressed and growing homelessness problem.
The task force will continue to discuss and address several other topics, Showler said, including park signage and digital guides to direct the homeless to area resources; an implementation strategy and oversight for the ordinance rollout, as well as a public education campaign; issues of transportation and securing identification for homeless; volunteer training to help the homeless navigate various benefit processes; software options to aide communication between area agencies; and establishing a community court program to connect persons to various helping agencies all in one place at the same time.
“This task force is so far along … it’s incredible what they’ve accomplished in the past five months,” said City Councilor Aaron Kirkpatrick, who chairs the task force. “I’m excited to see them follow a lot of these things through to completion. Every single one of those checkpoints for us is a meaningful improvement in the quality of life for our homeless neighbors, and a meaningful improvement in the quality of life for all of Bartlesville as a community, of which those neighbors are a part.”
“They have worked so hard and so effectively, and there’s more to come,” Kirkpatrick said. “We are leading with compassion to help, and I think that just speaks volumes for who Bartlesville is as a community and who our task force members are.”
Ordinance approved
The Council unanimously approved the task force’s recommendation of an ordinance that regulates acts prohibited in public spaces. However, the ordinance will not go into effect until Jan. 1, 2026, to allow the task force to address a roll-out strategy to educate the community, train law enforcement and communicate to the homeless.
A draft of the proposed ordinance was first introduced to the Council on April 7, and it was re-introduced with minimal changes to the language during Monday night’s meeting. According to the task force, the most substantive change came from the proposed delay and roll-out of the ordinance as well as efforts to encourage voluntary compliance.
The ordinance itself clarifies camping prohibition in public spaces, better defines the process for removal of illegal camps, and offers greater latitude for voluntary compliance. The ordinance also clarifies certain conduct prohibited in public spaces, including vandalism, destruction of public property and public indecency, and requires community service participation from anyone found guilty of vandalizing or destroying park property. The ordinance also addresses pollution or damaging of public water supplies, such as via washing of clothes in public water supplies, and prohibits and defines aggressive solicitation. (The full ordinance may be viewed HERE.)
The laws addressed in the ordinance include a maximum fine of $500. However, City Manager Mike Bailey emphasized that this is not to suggest that $500 fines will ever be levied, but is instead intended to ensure that the matters stay as misdemeanors that are adjudicated in municipal court.
“I don’t think there is an intent in anyone’s mind that there would ever be a $500 fine levied,” he said.
Bailey pointed out that Municipal Court Judge Alan Gentges sits on the task force as well, and has agreed to the creation and utilization of diversion programs to help individuals affected by homelessness before using the punitive measures provided by the ordinance.
“Each section of the ordinance prioritizes voluntary compliance and providing assistance to individuals affected by homelessness,” Bailey said. “However, it is necessary to ensure accountability as well as assistance, and we believe that this ordinance accomplishes both.”
City Councilor Tim Sherrick commended the task force on navigating – like “tightrope walkers” – a very complex issue.
“You’ve effectively handled the legitimate interest of government and public health and safety, and still respectively acknowledged that you can’t legislate an individual’s pathway to recovery,” Sherrick said. “This handles what we need to handle as a community, and reserves latitude to respond compassionately to the other needs.”
Task Force extended
The Unsheltered Homeless Task Force was established as a time limited committee with a window of six months to make recommendations to the Council. However, during Monday night’s meeting, the task force officially requested an extension in order to finalize recommendations and monitor the rollout of initiatives.
The council unanimously voted to approve a resolution extending the task force to January 2026.