To say Portland is one of the most progressive cities in the nation, in many arenas, is a fair assessment — walking, biking, environment, music, literature, and the arts. It’s also fair to say Portland is one of the least progressive cities in the country when dealing with diversity and the poor.
Portland’s Obstruction as Nuisance ordinance, also known as the sit/lie ordinance, is scheduled for yet another round of passage later this month. The ordinance was born in Seattle and New York in the early ’90s and soon spread like wildfire throughout the country as a way to deal with people experiencing homelessness or any other group of people a city claims as unfit to gather in public spaces. In different cities, the ordinance has taken on different forms, including outright banning people from sitting or lying on a sidewalk 24-hours a day, or during certain time periods of the day, usually in business districts or high walking traffic areas.
Earlier this year, the ACLU challenged the City of Los Angeles on its practice of arresting persons for violating a municipal ordinance, which states, "No person shall sit, lie or sleep in or upon any street, sidewalk or public way." The U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals called such activities "an unavoidable consequence of being human and homeless without shelter" and ruled the ordinance violates constitutional prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment. The city continues to enforce the law.
In 2003, Portland’s ordinance was found unconstitutional. A new ordinance was drafted — an 18-month pilot project that was seen as having a crippling effect on the way police dealt with people on the streets, and other groups of people (street kids, hip-hop culture, freaks, and rift-raft.). The pilot project was extended until homeless advocates, the police, attorneys, the business community and the city could reach an agreement on a newly drafted ordinance.
In the meantime, a curfew was put in place in the Park Blocks from deterring street kids from gathering and sleeping at parks; hip-hop culture (black people) were dragged through the mud after a series of shootings downtown; and the police continue to unfairly target the poor and minorities through the Drug Free Zone ordinances that have been declared unconstitutional time and again much like the Obstruction as Nuisance ordinance.
Where does that leave us? Well, the city and the business community are now offering a day center (not built yet) for homeless people; more public restrooms (none have been built); and more park benches (not put in yet) in exchange for having fareless square and Lloyd Center free of anyone sitting, or lying on a public sidewalk from 7 a.m. until 9 p.m.
It’s ironic that in a city that has been called one of the best walking cities in America a person can’t sit down on a sidewalk. It’s even more troubling to know that the Portland Business Alliance’s — one of the major advocates for the ordinance — only dog and pony show for the businesses it represents is that homeless people are the cause of an economic decline in downtown. That reasoning is an insult to the intellect of our city.
This ordinance is not about people sitting, or lying on a sidewalk. It’s about NIMBYism, ignorance, greed and lack of innovation. It’s about going backward instead of forward. It’s rewarding a society built on fear instead of a community built of healthy relationships. It’s about opening up the entire city to judge who is worthy to occupy a public space. It’s about making Portland a sterile environment and brushing aside our responsibility to be a truly progressive city.