Uncertainty Looms as Portland Homeless Service Providers Wait on Court’s Decisions on Portland Camping Ban.
Starting November 1 Portland police have been enforced by Mayor Wilson to issue citations to people living unsheltered. These citations are part of former Mayor Ted Wheeler’s public camping ban, adopted last year, and include either a $100 fine or jail time if the individual chooses to not move into shelter.
Wilson has paused the camping ban policy to open hundreds of new shelter beds, yet citations are still underway. He says this policy is to push people to seek shelter and supportive services, and to not punish people for not living in a house.
According to Cody Bowman, spokesperson for Mayor Wilson, Wilson has met with Chief Criminal Court Judge Michael Greenlick to discuss the policy proposal. Greenlick shares that the shortage of public defenders in Multnomah county has caused a back-up in misdemeanor cases where offenders must wait due to lack of representation. The Multnomah county jail cannot hold low-level offenders who face non-violent misdemeanor charges such as violating the camping ban. Greenlick told OPB that he’s unsure of Wilson’s plan.
Wilson has also met with Multnomah County Sheriff Nicole Morrisey O’Donnell and Multnomah County District Attorney Nathan Vasquez to discuss the new citation. Morrisey O’Donnel’s spokesperson says she is not in support of criminalizing the homeless and that county jails will not penalize those who violate the camping ban. Vasquez declined to comment, but his office’s spokesperson, Pat Dooris, states that “[t]he office is still working through how to best handle [citations] when they come in.”
Rose Haven’s executive director, Katie O’Brien, along with the many PDX non-profits that support unhoused people, is uncertain on how to explain the camping ban policies,
“We’ve gotten no information on what this means…People are worried, and we don’t have a lot of answers. If there’s a plan, we would love to know what that looks like.”
Katie also highlights that this enforcement starts the same day as food stamp benefits are halted, stating that this is additional stress that guests of Rose Haven will face.
Scott Kerman, Director of the day shelter Blanchet House, is also not prepared on the camping ban policies. The pamphlets the city provided to the shelter lacked sufficient details on what happens to those who violate the policy.
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