God, I love this paper! But sometimes when a Street Roots writer does a question-and-answer interview you have to pause and question whether a statement made by the guest being interviewed, that implicates other people or organizations by name or association, is correct.
For instance, in the Feb. 1, issue of Street Roots, Mike Kuykendall with the Portland Business Alliance answered a variety of questions about the Sidewalk Obstruction ordinance and the Street Access for Everyone (SAFE) Work Group. In two different quotes, one specifically naming Sisters Of The Road, he indicated our agreement where it doesn't exist.
The first quote: “There were many homeless advocates and organizations on the SAFE Work Group and every one of them supported all five of the recommendations provided to the City Council, including the new sidewalk ordinance.”
Here is an excerpt from my testimony to the Mayor and City Commissioners on December 13, 2006: “There wasn't always agreement on what the problem is with regard to street access for everyone. Sisters Of The Road stood with our community of men, women, youth and children dealing with the calamities of homelessness and poverty and challenged the need for this kind of ordinance. Especially when throughout its history the Obstructions as Nuisances ordinance has had no intention of addressing why anyone in our city needs to beg for money, rest or sleep on the streets, urinate or defecate behind shrubs or in a doorway.”
What I had planned to say in addition was: “until now,” but I never did. I also never said that Sisters Of The Road is cautiously hopeful about the proposed new ordinance. These two omissions from my original testimony happened because the day City Council met to hear testimony about the SAFE recommendations the 'new' ordinance was not even completed. The city attorney was writing it as he presented it. Sisters would never sign off on an ordinance it never got a chance to see and study, much less ask the Mayor and City Commissioners to vote yes on it.
The second quote: “In the SAFE initiative, the Alliance did not lobby for quality of life laws; we worked closely with a variety of partners, including City Hall and numerous representatives from the homeless community, to find solutions to livability issues affecting the City. One of these was a new sidewalk obstruction ordinance. If the Alliance “lobbied” for this ordinance as you suggest, then so did the ACLU, Oregon Law Center, Sisters Of The Road, and everyone else who participated on the Work Group.”
Sisters Of The Road most certainly did not lobby for a sidewalk obstruction ordinance. We worked diligently with the other SAFE Work Group members to do what Mayor Potter asked us, to come up with a resolution whose results are fair, humane and balanced for everyone, so Portland could be known for how we treat homeless individuals and how we provide safe streets. For the first time in this history-laden City Council agenda item, we reached agreement on more than the fact that there are divergent opinions about this issue. We agreed about some of the barriers that people dealing with homelessness face 24/7, and then worked out recommendations in good faith and trust that begin to address them.
While Sisters will challenge Portland's ordinances that punish behaviors that are unavoidable consequences of being human and homeless in our city, we will never stop listening to another's truth about it, nor will we demonize anyone for an opinion different than ours. Efforts like the SAFE Work Group, especially with the lessons learned there, can give all the involved parties an opportunity to listen, educate, work in partnership, trust, evaluate and progress forward from both intended and unintended outcomes, and nurture an inclusive vision.
