Just a few weeks into the school year, Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler said an emergency declaration issued in late August is working well to curb camping along popular school commute routes.
From families to school employees, there was a lot of criticism about how effective the declaration would be.
“I think it’s very effective," Wheeler told KATU in an interview Tuesday. "There’s no question in my mind and I’m hearing from people all across the city. They’re already seeing an improvement with the remediation and the removal of problematic campsites either in high crash corridors or on the Safe Route to school sites."
The mayor said he's also aware of concerns around sweeping camps and not providing resources for those living on the street.
“Yeah, you’re damned if you do and damned if you don’t. Look, being on the streets is traumatic for the people who are living on the streets. We all are looking for quick and humane ways to get people off the streets as quickly as possible. But we also have to acknowledge that these unsanctioned camps across the city are traumatic," Wheeler said.
Wheeler is asking for the community's help in identifying problem zones for these camps, and said the city is returning to certain neighborhoods to enforce the ban when needed.