The Safe Access for Everyone (SAFE) committee — a group of 24 diverse stakeholders brought together by the Mayor's office over a six-month period — recently produced a report with recommendations on how Portland deals with street disorder and sidewalk nuisances. The report helped develop a "High Pedestrian Traffic Area" ordinance that was passed on Dec. 13 by the Portland City Council.
While respecting all of the stakeholders involved, Street Roots has a responsibility to present its readers with a difference of opinion. Like other organizations and businesses in downtown, Street Roots has spent years building relationships with its customers and constituents.
From as far back as the Civil War, cities have enacted laws that have affected poor and/or homeless individuals, and for decades those individuals and organizations have been staging protests, filing lawsuits, and practicing civil disobedience for the rights they deserve. In the past seven years, Portland has seen camps in front of City Hall, picket lines, sleeping bag giveaways, sit-ins, and tent cities boil up from the streets. But it's a long way from the days under the Burnside Bridge in January 2000 when a group of homeless individuals camped out in a political protest that later became Dignity Village.
"There will be a temptation by some to see this as a way to target our homeless, or remove unwelcome groups from high-visibility areas," says Mayor Tom Potter in his Dec. 11 press release. "Instead, what these reforms will do is ensure that our city remains a diverse, urban environment by not forcing anyone to leave its sidewalks or streets."
But that's not really the case. The High Pedestrian Traffic Area ordinance prohibits anyone from sitting or lying on a public sidewalk from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. in defined high pedestrian areas. Violators will be warned, and would receive a non-criminal citation in community court with the possibility of fines up to $250.
The ordinance also impressively recommends adequate public seating and benches to provide alternatives to sitting or lying, implementing a public restroom plan for more restroom facilities, and creating a Day Access/Resource Center for homeless adults that is open during the day that will have space for up to 150 individuals.
The temptation for Street Roots and Portland to be outfoxed by the spin surrounding this ordinance is hard to resist. But in reality we should be talking about this in the context of two different proposals, the first being sidewalks and the second being direct services. By passing this ordinance we have leveraged 4,000 individuals' civil rights for the purpose of providing something a smart city would have already had in place: park benches, restrooms and a day center for poor people.
Street Roots is not arguing against a vibrant downtown. We believe a healthy city needs a bustling nightlife, density, and thriving small businesses. But it's troubling that the current city government has allowed curfews in parks that clearly target a certain group of individuals, and banned sitting and lying on a sidewalk — all in exchange for direct services.
Asking us to cheerlead for philosophies that are neither new nor innovative is asking us to continue to spin our wheels. In short, banning people from sitting or lying on a sidewalk is wrong and unconstitutional. It's that simple.
