Chicago has found a convenient time to finally do something about a homeless encampment—one that city leadership has already allowed to exist for years.

For several years, a narrow strip of land nestled next to the Dan Ryan Expressway and Roosevelt road has been home to a veritable “tent city,” one which has boasted up to 20–30 residents at times. However, a couple months before the Democratic National Convention is set to commence in Chicago, the city decided to permanently shut down this settlement.

Notification went out in June, and the camp was closed on July 17th. In turn, Chicago offered to connect the homeless residents to other shelter accommodations, and many of them moved to a city-run shelter in a former hotel until the convention is over. After that, as CBS, NBC, and the Chicago Sun-Times all report, Chicago is planning to help connect these people with further housing arrangements.

My first reaction to this development is similar to what many conservatives would probably think—”I’m sure glad that they’re getting rid of a tent city, but why now?”

Isn’t the timing awfully convenient, as they’re doing this right before the DNC arrives? Is Chicago really caring for those homeless people, or is Chicago just trying to get them out of sight so that it doesn’t have to be embarrassed when the rest of the country arrives? (In all honesty, I must plead somewhat guilty to this as well. I do give my house an extra cleaning before company arrives. Yet I think I can plead guilty to dirty dishes in the sink and still criticize a tent city beside a major highway.)

So, at least on the surface, it sure looks like Chicago is finally trying to brush something under the rug that it really ought to have dealt with long ago.

To be fair, though, our first reactions may not always be the most accurate. Let’s look at what the city’s spokesman had to say. Brandie Knazze, commissioner of Chicago’s Department of Family and Support Services, explained that this was intended to get a head start on something that federal authorities might ask the city to do soon anyway.

Apparently, because the “tent city” is next to a road which many convention-goers might use to get to the convention center, Knazze anticipated that federal security officials would label it a safety hazard. So, instead of waiting till the last minute and abruptly closing it down, Knazze wanted to give the homeless people as much notice as possible.

Okay, that sounds reasonable—well, kind of. I suppose it’s more considerate of Chicago to ask the homeless dwellers to leave with one month’s notice than a few days’ notice. However, Knazze’s explanation—while it smells less like “sweeping dust under the rug”—now smells more like a different problem.

Does Chicago seriously have to wait to be told to move a camp before officials will actually do anything? As Knazze describes it, Chicago officials are shutting down the camp because they anticipate that federal officials may tell them to do it later. Yet if this really is a safety hazard, why does the city have to wait to be told?

(To return to my house-cleaning, this is like me cleaning my house extra thoroughly before my landlord arrives for a cleanliness check. Guilty as charged, I admit. But there’s still a colossal difference between socks next to the bed and tents next to the sidewalk.)

Ultimately, I’m not sure Knazze’s explanation makes the situation look much better. Whether or not Chicago decided to shut down the camp because “company is coming,” the city has practically admitted to doing it because “we’re going to be told to do it anyway.”

Even if it’s for a different reason, the timing is still awfully convenient.

As the Sun-Times reports, Chicago has experienced a massive spike in homelessness just within the last year. In 2023, there were 6,139 homeless people living in the city, but this year there are over three times as many—18,836.

I’m glad Chicago finally decided to do something, even if the timing was awfully convenient. Nevertheless, if this is what it takes to get rid of a “tent city” that has been in place for years already, perhaps Chicago should host a political convention every weekend.