Lawsuits seldom provide the most compelling reads. But the stories told in the recent filing by the Oregon Law Center are personal and disturbing.
It tells the story of several Portland men and women experiencing homelessness, who after losing everything lost it again under government authority. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of the men and women who lost their belongings in what they claim was an illegally conducted sweep by the Oregon Department of Transportation, which owns the property. They are suing ODOT and Multnomah County for failing to comply with the terms for notifying people when a camp is being cleared out, and for storing non-garbage property for the requisite time after the sweep.
It’s unfortunate this suit had to come about, both for the impact on the plaintiffs and the fact that this was supposedly settled years ago. In 2011, a lawsuit on similar grounds was settled with an agreement to post notices of camp sweeps at least 10 days before the action, and that property would be stored for at least 30 days.
The camp in question was posted for the sweep on Sept. 30 and was cleared three days later.
But the story is much more personal than its logistics.
On the morning of Oct. 3, Tammi Carr woke up to find trucks and a work crew outside of her tent. Police officers told her she had 15 minutes to leave. She left, not knowing that her belongings were being removed, only to return two days later to find nothing but debris left behind, according to the complaint. She had lost everything she owned, she says — everything she had to clear out of a storage unit she used to hold her belongings since becoming homeless last year.
That night she slept near a bridge in a borrowed sleeping bag.
Brian Shipley woke up to the same situation, not knowing about the sweep and told he had 15 minutes to pack up and leave. After that time, work crews began bagging up and tossing camping items into the dump trucks. Shipley says he lost his tent, his sleeping bag, clothing, a duffel bag, shoes, books, a bike and bike trailer, a Coleman lantern and more. He slept that night in a field with a sleeping bag someone had given him.
One man had left the camp on Sept. 30 for work building a deck at the coast. He returned Oct. 4, the day after the sweep, to find all of his belongings, including a large chest he used to store his tools for his trade, gone. He was only able to recover a few of his tools, and never saw the chest, among other belongings, again.
Another women — who had just gotten into housing the night before the sweep occurred — says she lost her birth certificate, her marriage certificate, prescription medication, a medical brace for her leg and foot, cookware, and much more.
Regardless of the legal rights or justification for this camp to be cleared, this suit should give everyone pause on how we treat people pushed to the edge – literally and figuratively. In the end, they’re suing to be treated like humans, rather than an invasive species. Without a universal standard that everyone understands, with support from social services and resources from all government agencies involved, we’re needlessly perpetuating this tragedy.
More so, the City of Portland and the Portland Police Bureau should work with advocates and broaden their strategic approach with local social service agencies when it comes to clearing camps. Sweeping people experiencing homelessness with no clear strategy or long-term goal in mind does nothing but create havoc on the streets. It will not
solve our moral obligation to give individuals and families an opportunity to be successful and live with dignity.
