Welcome to the story.
We're starting off in downtown
Portland because it's a historic day.
It's the day the city's new
camping band takes effect.
It was passed on June 7th,
so that was 30 days ago.
And Yep, it would take effect t.
So we thought it'd be interesting to come
down and just kind of take a look around,
show you the dramatic change ane
lack of homeless camping going .
Well, I thought that was going to change.
Not so much, though.
You know when this past city
leaders said it was about time.
I think it's long overdue at
Portlanders have been demanding
some real changes on our street.
So I think it's a step
in the right direction.
So that long overdue change,
it's still going to be a long ways off.
I guess part of the new law says
that people cannot camp between.
8:00 AM and 8:00 PM on public property,
but that can only be enforced if
there is a shelter bed available
for them right then and there.
Many times nothing is available,
but not every time. In fact,
there are beds available in the city.
How do we know?
Because Portland has something called the
Street Services Coordination Center and
they work with the homeless folks all day.
They put out a report this past Tuesday
showing that for the week befor.
Of all the homeless folks they talked with,
42 were interested in shelter referrals,
25 accepted the referrals,
and 15 used to bed for at least one night.
So we may not have millions
of available beds,
but there are some on pretty
much every night.
So then the question is,
why are people still allowed top
on public spaces when the new city law
that takes effect today says they can't?
It's because the mayor decided the city
needed a slow roll out of the program.
Like, really slow.
He issued a statement yesterday
that reads in part.
Over the next few months,
we will be focused on education and outreach,
ensuring all outreach teams,
city employees,
PPP staff and others have cleard
thorough information on this new ordinance.
Some campers may still not be ae
of the new law, but Claude Litt,
who has camped downtown for roughly 10 years,
did expect it would be enforced today. Yeah,
I thought the cops
were going to come over here earlier.
But they didn't. Something else
must have happened.
I don't know what happened.
Ty White Elk said he sleeps
outside without a tent.
He thinks it's a good idea to me
people take down their tents each day.
We have some of these people who stay
in these tents for days sometim.
And sometimes they OD and
we don't know about it.
And so we don't find them till e
the day after or whatever it is.
And and and they're gone by the.
Like, we can't do anything abou.
So. So like, I think it's a good
thing that they're having peoplt
down their tents because then ls
people are going to die in their tent.
On the city streets today, you d
never know there's a camping ba,
but there is a camping ban
in the city of Portland.
It's just not being enforced.
So don't expect to see a changen
your neighborhood anytime soon.
There are a couple of the
other interesting things that I
pulled from the mayor's release.
One is that if somebody is campg
and they're told to move because
there is shelter available and
they refuse to go to that shelt,
they can then be banned from
camping anywhere in the city.
Not just in the public places
that have been specified.
It can be from anywhere.
They also,
if they are camping legally and it's allowed,
they can't be using any gas
heaters or gas stoves.
That's been a constant problem with fires.
Also, they're not supposed to le
any human waste or any garbage behind.
We'll see how that goes.
The mayor's release also says tt
folks needing shelter can dial
211 to get help in real time.
Well,
I called that number today
and that is not what happens.
They simply offer you another phone number,
places near you that may have shelter.
They have no idea if there's
open beds or not.
And so bottom line,
while it seems like this day could be the
beginning of big changes when it comes to St.
camping in Portland,
it most certainly is not.
Instead,
it's another day of promises and so far
no follow up behind those promi.
So what do you think of the cits
delay in enforcing this camping?
Does it make sense to go slow ad
make sure that everyone is on bd
and understands what's happenin?
Or has it already been too slow and too long?
Send us your thoughts, will you?
You can e-mail me at thestory@kgw.com
or call and leave a voicemail.
The number is
503-226-5090. I look
forward to hearing from you.