Tonight, a marathon meeting
of Portland City Council.
This is a live picture from inside the
Council Chambers City Hall where the council
is listening to testimony on a daytime
camping ban proposed by Mayor Ted Wheeler.
If it passes, it would ban camping in public
areas from 8:00 AM until 8:00 PM in Portland.
The council has six hours
of testimony scheduled.
170 people have signed up to say
something and they are going
to be there all night long.
I'm Pat Doris.
Welcome to the story.
We're going to give you
some extra time tonight.
The City Council action today on
both that camping ban and an ear
lawsuit settlement that will get
more tense off the sidewalks.
Those two decisions raise the
potential for the most action on
homelessness in our area in a long time,
and that makes them our big story tonight.
Earlier today, the City Council voted
to accept a settlement agreemenn
a lawsuit that pitted people wih
disabilities against homeless campers.
The suit argued that the City of Portland
violated the Americans with Disabilities Act.
The suit claimed that by allowing people to
camp on the sidewalks and in right of ways,
the city was not allowing people
with disabilities to use those,
and that is against the law.
The settlement has wide raging
implications when it comes to how the
city will deal with the camps n.
It stipulates that the city will
have to prioritize cleaning up
camps that block sidewalks.
There's also a time limit.
The city has five days to do something about
camps reported to be blocking the sidewalk.
It also has to clear at least 50
campsites each year that are blocking and
that has to continue until they're gone.
The city will also not be allowd
to distribute tents or tarps ext
in severe weather,
and the whole thing has to be
enforced by a federal court.
The city will have to make quary
progress reports to the court.
The council voted unanimously
to accept the settlement.
Mayor Ted Wheeler said he's
actually glad he was sued.
It's very common for me to get d
in my role as the mayor of this city,
and I don't always welcome being sued.
This is a notable exception.
And I had the opportunity to met
with some of the plaintiffs in t
and I said then what I will say,
which is I agree with you.
I agree with the reasons
that the lawsuit was filed.
I agree that people should have rights to
access our sidewalks without impediment,
regardless of whether they
have disabilities or not.
I believe this is something thal
people in this community should enjoy.
But the ADA is very explicit about the
rights of people with disabilit,
and I believe those rights were
impinged by the large number of
obstructions on our sidewalks.
So there the mayor says he did t
work to remove more camps in the past
few years because he says he was
following COVID guidance and that the
city did not have enough shelter beds.
The other big part of this
still underway right now,
the City Council is deciding
whether to approve the mayor's n
on homeless camping from 8:00 AM
till 8:00 PM Monday through Sun,
I guess seven days a week.
It also creates a complete ban n
all camping in public property,
and that includes parks and sidewalks,
near schools and daycares and
then high crash corridors.
Members of the public are expecd
to give testimony on both sides
for and against the ban.
One of those who supports
it is Jonathan Maslin.
He's a board member of the Centl
East Side Industrial Council.
He also helps small businesses
on Portland's east side
in a district struggling to
recover following the pandemic.
Navigating around tents, trash,
human excrement and drug paraphernalia
is simply too intimidating and
traumatic for many workers and e
up customers to feel safe retur.
Something needs to change.
I believe our community's intens
have been in the right place by
prioritizing compassion for thoe
who find themselves on our stre.
However, I also believe that our
community's been taken advantage
of by significant number of
people that do not want shelter,
treatment or the like and merely want
to live consequence free on our streets.
It does appear likely the new bn
is going to pass, by the way.
During that hearing,
staff noted that Beaverton and Tigard are
considering considering similar bans,
and Lake Oswego already has a capping ban
that even goes farther than Portland's.
So if it's going to happen,
frontline service providers like
bland Che house expect to be overwhelmed.
Their executive director,
Scott Scott Kerman,
also testified at the City Council today.
I'm here to request financial assistance
for Blanche House and other agencies who
provide these essential daytime services.
If we are going to meet the
increased need for our help
that this ordinance will cause,
we are going to need your suppo.
Blanche Houses Founders Cafe,
which each of you have visited,
is a community space for people
not only receive hot,
freshly prepared meals,
but also clothing your support
resources and referrals.
Mayor Wheeler said he does suppt
Kerman and will do all he can to help.
All right, now let's bring in
our homeless expert, reporter,
Blair Best, who's covered this all day.
Blair, what's it like inside Ciy
Hall now with all this going on?
So, Pat, it has been an incredibly heated
day here at City Hall, to say the least.
I just learned that the city
actually has increased security.
Working tonight, given the number of people
testifying in the nature of their testimony,
there's been a lot of screaming,
heckling and cheering.
You know, a lot of people showed up to
protest this proposed daytime ban on camping.
They showed up around 2:00 today
and proceeded to chant their
way into the council chamber.
Mayor Wheeler also issued some warnings
saying if they don't remain civil then
these this meeting would go vir.
And I want to point out that the
main thing they're concerned wis
the enforcement of this ban, ri.
So if a homeless person violatee
ban three times and they could .
Fines or prison time.
And Pat,
that doesn't rub many of the Portlanders
that showed up today the right .
Well, I can see how it
would get their attention.
I was listening in on some of
the testimony and I think that
it's up to 100 days in jail.
But they also said that that
would really be just a device
to get somebody to get into drug
treatment or something like tha.
What what are some of your takeaways on this?
Yeah. So I I see it from both sides, right.
And I think that's because
of the nature of what we do.
I talk with business owners whoy
this homeless crisis is the rean
they've had to shut down or relocate.
I also talk with homeless peoplo
say they can't get access to services.
They're on a years long wait
list for housing.
They struggle with an addiction.
They can't access a detox bed
because of our lack of services.
And so the thought of them,
you know, having to pick up ther
things every day at 8:00 AM.
And relocate.
Many don't feel safe in a
shelter is baffling to them.
And I, you know,
some people see this ban as the
only way to move the city forwa,
and then some see it as inhuman.
All
right, Thank you, Blair.
It'll be interesting to
see how this is enforced.