in Portland's Old Town.
It's been just over a month since the city
enacted A daytime ban on homeless camping,
but has anything actually been ?
There are still tents dotting
many of the sidewalks,
with limited options for shelte.
Now the city says they're takine
summer to teach homeless people about
this ban before they enforce it.
But what we found was
something far from that,
and that is our big story tonig.
It's a plan that's been
in the works for months.
Our offices received overwhelmig
positive support for this propo.
Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler stard
tightening the rules around
homelessness back in May to alin
with new state requirements.
He proposed a ban on daytime
camping on city property from 80
in the morning to 8:00 at night.
If homeless people refuse,
they're given 2 warnings.
If they disobey again,
they could face potential
jail time or $100 fine,
though the Multnomah County
DA told us those consequences
are not likely to be pursued.
These cases, I don't see jail
being used realistically.
Also, a fine seems a little bit
pointless to somebody who's indt
and can't pay for anything as w.
The camping ban passed City Council in June.
I vote aye. The ordinance is adopted and
went into effect in July.
So why are there still tents all
over Portland during the day?
Well, the city says they're not
enforcing the ban just yet.
Instead, they're taking several
months to teach homeless people about
it and help them get into shelt.
That's homeless people like Sar,
who camps in Old Town.
Yet she still knows little about the ban.
We're only supposed to be
down from 8:00 to 8:00.
That was the only thing that
I heard about it. And have you seen a
change since it went into effect? Nope,
because we're all still up past 8:00.
A block away is Blanche House,
a day Center for homeless peopl.
Scott Kerman, who runs it, shars
Sarah's confusion over the ban.u
know, to be honest, I'm not
really sure what to think becaue
we're not really sure what it i.
He meets with the mayor's office
on a regular basis and still
has many unanswered questions.
I'm getting a sense that
a lot of these programs,
whether they come from the city
or the county or the joint offi,
sometimes the the measure comes
first and the details come seco.
He believes the city needs more shelter,
especially when there's a ban on camping.
So there's that disconnect
between a ban that forces
people to move but nowhere
right now for them to move to.
We have the funding for
the first three sites.
Last month, the city opened its
first large sanctioned campsiter
homeless people off SE Powell B.
but it only holds about 200 peo.
There are more than 6000 homeles
people in Multnomah County.
The city has enough money to
open two more of those sites,
which will take time.
Meanwhile, they remain in this
educational phase of the camping ban now.
We asked them what that entailsd
they said an update is coming s.
We haven't seen any of that happening.
And so if this summer of education is
going on, as far as we can telln
our section of Old Town, it hast
reached our area in our community yet.
Across the river under the Morrison Bridge,
getting the rest of our stuff ad
finishing moving and is a different story.
Yeah, they're definitely enforcing it like
hard. This woman has moved her t
every day for the past week and has a
lot to say about the camping ban. It's
like a three strikes you're out policy,
so if you get told three times t
you can't be camping and you're still
camping, they take you to jail.
She says that's exactly what happened to her.
Yeah, it was just because they
had given ME3 warnings and it
was just a book and release.
They booked me and then they let
me go within like the hour. We
asked Portland police about this and they
said they're not enforcing the ban yet.
And court documents show she was
arrested in July but for somethg
to do with a stolen vehicle.
So it's unclear if she was ever
arrested solely over the camping
ban. Yeah, it's ridiculous.
Like the whole reason that,
like Portland was like, glorified to me,
I guess was because they,
it was like an awesome
place to be homeless at.
Like, yeah, Portland is definity
not what I thought it was.
So that woman we just heard fro,
things are looking up for her.
She is moving into the city's le
sanctioned campsite off Powell today.
But that's after she waited
two months to get in.
Now, we heard back from the city
on all of this this morning.
They said outreach teams,
including the Joint Office of Homeless
Services and day centers like Blanche House,
will get printed materials early next
week outlining the camping ban rules.
This will come with a map of where people
are able to camp once the ban is enforced,
they said it will be.
It'll start being enforced this fall.
Now, it's shocking to some people that
it's taken more than a month foe
city to get this information out when
the ban has certainly not been a secret.
And Speaking of places like Blanche House,
they get no money from the city or county.
So once the ban is enforced,
homeless people will likely turn
to the groups that they trust,
like Blanche House,
for help.
Those day centers are bracing fr
this increase in demand,
yet they're getting no financial
support from the city along the.
The mayor's office says,
quote they're advocating for
additional resources to better
support day centers and our partners.
So what are your thoughts on the
city's daytime camping ban?
Do you think enforcement should
have started already,
or do you think the education
period is good for everyone?
E-mail the story at kgw.com
or call and leave a voicemail
5 O3 226-5090.