Photo courtesy of KSPS
Undersheriff John Nowels (right) is running against Wade Nelson (left) for the role of sheriff.
After the debate, Nowels walked back the comments and said he misspoke.
"It's been very clear from the beginning that Camp Hope's biggest issue has been a political football," Nowels said during the debate, responding to a question I asked about the large East Central homeless encampment. "The sheriff's office became involved with this issue at the request of the mayor, whose city Camp Hope is in."
Nowels has been endorsed by Spokane County Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich, who abruptly announced his plans to clear the large East Central homeless encampment last month. Nowels supports the sheriff's plan.
His opponent, Wade Nelson, does not.
During the debate, Nelson said he hadn't heard about the mayor supporting the sheriff's plan. Nelson doesn't think the sheriff will actually clear the camp by mid-November because he doesn't think the department has sufficient staffing or a cohesive plan. He said the sheriff's office should have been involved in the process from the beginning, and if elected, said he would let the city take the lead.
When I asked Nowels to clarify his comments immediately after the debate, he stood by his statement and said Woodward had approached Knezovich for help earlier in the summer. Nowels, who has a senior leadership position on the sheriff's command staff, recalled being present for some parts of the conversation.
It wasn't until about an hour after the debate that Nowels called me and said he had talked to Knezovich and realized he misremembered what happened. The mayor didn't ask Knezovich to clear the camp, Nowels said.
Photo courtesy of KSPS
Undersheriff John Nowels says he supports the sheriff's plan to clear Camp Hope.
That's more in line with what Woodward and Knezovich have said. In previous interviews, Knezovich described going to the mayor in July with an offer to clear Camp Hope. He recalled her saying she heard his frustrations, but that they should give it more time and keep working with the Washington State Department of Transportation. Then the city sent a letter on Sept. 8 ordering WSDOT to take down the camp by Oct. 14.
"That was basically a call for action," Knezovich said of the city's letter.
Knezovich called WSDOT and told them he was going to clear Camp Hope by mid-October. After that, he says he called the mayor and told her the same thing.
"She said, 'Good, thank you,'" Knezovich said.
City spokesperson Brian Coddington has confirmed that Knezovich called Woodward to give her a heads up about his plan for the camp. Asked in September if the mayor supported the sheriff's plan, Coddington said Woodward was, "in support of a solution that comes with expectations and a timeline."
During an interview in September, Knezovich said he would have gone ahead with the plan even if the mayor told him not to.
"I would have still engaged and I would have added her to part of the list of the problem," Knezovich said, adding that the mayor had been blocked from taking action because of political reasons.
"I would have still engaged and I would have added her to part of the list of the problem," Knezovich said, adding that the mayor had been blocked from taking action because of political reasons.
On Sept. 27, Knezovich pushed the deadline to clear Camp Hope back to mid-November at the request of the mayor. Coddington said Woodward asked for more time so they could continue to meet with the state to collaborate on a plan and expectations. On Friday afternoon, Oct. 14, Coddington reiterated that the mayor did not ask the sheriff to clear Camp Hope.
Nowels says the sheriff's office is in meetings with the city to discuss how to address Camp Hope. He says the crime he associates with the camp has gone on long enough, and the sheriff's office is trying to work with the Department of Commerce and WSDOT to speed up the process of clearing the camp while still getting people connected to help.
"I know what the sheriff said, but it's going to look a lot different than what is conjured up in people's minds," Nowels said after the debate. "We're not looking at just scattering everybody in the wind, we're going to try to get people the services they're supposed to get."
Nowels says the sheriff's office is in meetings with the city to discuss how to address Camp Hope. He says the crime he associates with the camp has gone on long enough, and the sheriff's office is trying to work with the Department of Commerce and WSDOT to speed up the process of clearing the camp while still getting people connected to help.
"I know what the sheriff said, but it's going to look a lot different than what is conjured up in people's minds," Nowels said after the debate. "We're not looking at just scattering everybody in the wind, we're going to try to get people the services they're supposed to get."
You can watch the full debate below. John Nowels' comments about Camp Hope start at 5:02.
