By Amanda Waldroupe, Staff Writer
A bill that would require the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) to provide between five days and two weeks notice of a camp sweep on state-owned land passed the House Transportation and Economic Development Committee on Monday.
The Senate version of the bill, SB 447, also requires that the notice be printed in English and Spanish, say when the sweep will take place, and leave information, if belongings are removed, of where the belongings can be picked up, and when.
Marc Jolin, the executive director of the outreach agency JOIN, says that the bill will ensure that the belongings of homeless individuals who camp near the Eastbank Esplanade, under bridges, and underneath freeway overpasses won’t be lost.
“(Right now) there is no specific notice,” he says. “It’s a win-win. It creates less conflict for ODOT, and improves the situation for everyone.”
The Oregon Law Center, which provides legal services to low-income and homeless individuals, was a main pusher of the bill, as was Lane County Legal Aid and Advocacy Center.
“The underlying concept of the bill is that advance and effective notice of an impending camp clean-up will encourage homeless individuals to move their belongings themselves,” said Sybil Hebb, a lawyer at the Oregon Law Center, at a February 28 hearing.
A 2010 bill would have fast-tracked camp sweeps without notifying homeless individuals who camped in those areas. The Oregon Law Center opposed the bill, and it did not become law.
The current bill originated not from homeless advocates, but out of environmental concerns. John Brown, a Eugene environmental advocate, worried that accumulated garbage along the banks of the Willamette River would enter and contaminate the river during floods, and thus impact the river’s water quality.
“On many occasions, I have had a difficult time making sure the items found under overpasses (and) bridges do not get washed into the waterways during periods of peak high water,” he said at the same hearing. He says the bill gives a “workable solution.”
The bill passed the Senate on April 7, so the bill’s next stop is a vote on the House floor. If the House passes the bill, it moves to Governor John Kitzhaber’s desk to sign into law.