I am sadly disappointed by this city's discussions to sanitize the downtown corridor with another attempt to further restrict, legally, the movements of folks who sit or lie on our public sidewalks. This has been tried before and has failed to create public safety or increase business bottom lines in other places.
For example, New York Mayor Rudy Screwliani ordered the police to kick, beat and drive out street people co-habitating in the subways of New York City back in the early ’90s. This drove many into shelters or into murky dark alleys. Wouldn’t you know, person-to-person street crime went up exponentially, especially against persons experiencing homelessness. The shelters became gladiator schools, where if you weren't the biggest and the baddest on the block, you lost your shoes and other belongings to roaming gangs of hoods who now occupied the spaces where otherwise tired and needy, displaced poor travelers used to nest. Those who might otherwise feel safe and free to rest their weary bones suddenly found themselves in a war zone. This new sit-lie ordinance, mark my words, will backfire and only serve to make Portland a much more predatory and dangerous environment.
Take the bread out of the mouth of panhandlers, runaways and vagabonds, street minstrels — deprive us of sleep and security on the street — and you have a powder keg. The only folks whose business will pick up will be law enforcement, as the business alliance shall also find in time that a great number of shoppers choose to shop downtown for the action. I say if you don't like downtown, shop in Lake Oswego, Beaverton or Mall 205. Since the unusual and wonderous rarely occurs out there. Plus, do the police really have the time, money and manpower to waste on such a petty, small-minded agenda? One wonders what next, community court for publishing adversarial editorials?
