Portland’s camping policy, takes shape, Com. Gonzalez takes aim at Oregon law

PORTLAND, Ore. ( KOIN ) — The next camping ban in Portland is becoming clear after hours of debate, with the ordinance intending to keep sidewalks and public places clear of encampments.

Mayor Ted Wheeler said during council that he wants the city to create some kind of regulations as soon as politically possible. Additionally, he expects the city to still get sued, but hopes what they pass will stand up to a challenge.

Federal court rulings and Oregon House Bill 3115 say if cities want to regulate camping, they must have reasonable access to shelter and reasonable rules around when, where and how someone can camp. The city’s last attempt is held up in courts right now.

“Adding more debt and more convictions to our clients’ records will only work to further delay and prevent them from getting housed,” said Sonja Good Stefani with the Community Law Division. “Portland is still unsafe for the disabled and this needs to change.”

In the mayor’s proposal that the city council took the first step in passing last night, there are no time regulations. However, it does regulate that sidewalks and public spaces must be clear from camps. Furthermore, camps must not have trash, permanent structures, fires or drug use.

“What I’m trying to do is get a baseline ordinance in place that we believe is meeting the current legal standards,” said Mayor Wheeler.

Several organizations who work with people who are homeless either think this is a waste of city energy or say this latest proposal is an improvement, such as Matt Stein, Executive Director of Union Gospel Mission.

“When you look at people living on the street and experiencing homelessness in Portland, it’s not ideal for anyone, whether the people themselves, those with business owners, neighbors in the neighborhood, of course,” he said. “And so we understand the need to put parameters of that.”

Amendments from Commissioners Mingus Mapps and Carmen Rubio create a policy team for the mayor and require PPB to track enforcement data.

Commissioner Rene Gonzalez tried three different amendments, with the final one submitted as the city council sat down for the afternoon meeting. He hoped to bring rule-making authority under the mayor and a designee with a public input process.

Gonzalez says the two-person authority was for flexibility should the legal landscape change, as he made several references during the meeting to his problems with the state law’s effects on a camping ban.

“House Bill and Martin [v. Boise court ruling] interfere with the City’s ability to fully enforce that,” he said.

Governor Tina Kotek was the sponsor of House Bill 3115 when she was House speaker three years ago.

Her office says she stands by the legislation and that it was to affirm “those laws must be reasonable, and must take into account the resources available to houseless individuals and the impact of the regulations on people experiencing homelessness.”

City council will vote on this in two weeks, according to Wheeler’s office.

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