A resignation letter said the recently passed plan to ban unsanctioned encampments and construct mass camps will lead to 'irreparable trauma and unnecessary deaths'
In another chapter of the city of Portland’s protracted struggle to address homelessness, a senior policy advisor for Commissioner Dan Ryan resigned the night before Ryan and Mayor Ted Wheeler announced a controversial plan to construct compulsory mass encampments for homeless Portlanders Oct. 21.
Portland City Council approved the plan Nov. 3, which also included banning unsanctioned homeless encampments.
In an email obtained by Street Roots via public record request, Margaux Weeke, Ryan’s then-communication director and senior policy advisor, announced her intent to resign in response to the proposed ban “due to a moral conflict.”
“It is my strong belief that forcing hundreds of unhoused people into large, sanctioned camping sites with minimal services will cause irreparable trauma and unnecessary deaths,” Weeke wrote. “I am deeply concerned that the involvement of law enforcement in relocating unhoused people to sanctioned camps will result in violence and the further criminalization of houselessness. I hope that I am wrong, but I cannot in good conscience work to advance this initiative in partnership with the Mayor’s office. I appreciate your understanding of my position.”
Read the full letter here.
Weeke, who joined Ryan’s office as a communications strategist in May 2021 and became a senior policy advisor and communication director for Ryan in July, submitted her resignation Oct. 20 at 5:30 p.m., according to the email timestamp recorded by the city. Weeke previously worked in former-Commissioner Chloe Eudaly’s office from April 2018 until January 2021, when Commissioner Mingus Mapps unseated Eudaly.
Ryan downplayed Weeke’s resignation in a Dec. 2 statement provided by T.J. McHugh, director of special projects and policy advisor.
“Commissioner’s staff are there to champion and support the offices’ mission, and when there is a divergence in opinion it’s not uncommon for staff to leave,” Ryan said. “I would refer you to the hand-written note she left on my desk that read ‘Thank you for this opportunity and for your heart — I know that your service to the city will result in positive change, and I have so much faith in you … you are a leader, you are defending our era, and you do it with style and compassion.’
“My team gives 110% every day in service to Portland. When a staff person exits, we adjust and move forward.”
Weeke’s last day with Ryan’s office was Oct. 27. Weeke declined to be interviewed for this story.
Brooke Gardner, who served as Ryan’s executive operations and budget manager since last November, also left Ryan’s office effective Nov. 29, according to an auto-reply from Gardner’s city email. Street Roots was unable to confirm the circumstances surrounding Gardner’s departure, but McHugh said Gardner “left for another opportunity within the city and those plans have been in place for months.”
The plan, passed 4-1 by City Council Nov. 3, consists of five resolutions and includes a proposed camping ban, the creation of six city-sanctioned mass campsites and investments in affordable housing construction. Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty was the only commissioner who voted against the proposal.
The effort alarmed both homeless Portlanders and advocates, who criticize the plan for being tailored to business interests and ultimately criminalizing homelessness by giving the city an avenue around Martin v. Boise, a landmark court case that ruled municipalities can’t inflict criminal punishment on homeless people for unsanctioned camping when a municipality can’t offer each homeless person a shelter bed. Critics also argue mass congregate campsites are historically unsuccessful and raise safety concerns.
Street Roots advocacy partnered with more than 15 other homeless service and advocacy organizations to host a town hall with Wheeler and Ryan for homeless Portlanders to share their insights Nov. 1. The town hall was organized in part as a response to an earlier City Council session, which was criticized for allowing business interests to speak first and dominate the content of the meeting with comments in favor of the ban and mass camps.
Criticism and opposition has not been limited to advocates and homeless Portlanders. Metro President Lynn Peterson and Multnomah County Chair Deborah Kafoury released separate statements criticizing the plan since the announcement.
“Mayor Wheeler is right that mental health, drug addiction and affordable housing services are under-funded in the Portland region,” Peterson said in an Oct. 21 statement from the Metro government. “The pie is too small. If we truly want to act with urgency, rather than pitting different parts of the region against each other by threatening to move funds, we should be focused on doubling down on the work that just started and is quickly showing results.”
Kafoury sent a letter to Portland City Council ahead of a Nov. 30 vote that approved a funding package for Wheeler and Ryan’s plan, which included a multi-million dollar cut to the city’s contribution to the city-county Joint Office of Homeless Services.
“As you can see, any on-going (sic.) budget reductions to shelter, street outreach and housing programs could be devastating and counterproductive for our shared goal of urgently ending homelessness,” Kafoury said in the letter, adding the budget cut could result in the loss of 249 shelter beds, 76 full-time staff positions and services for 1,449 households and individuals.
The county’s strained shelter system already operates between 90% and 95% capacity in any given month, according to county figures released in March. Reducing the limited stock by 249 beds amounts to a 12% reduction in the county’s approximately 2,000 shelter beds.
Despite the plan receiving approval and funding from City Council, it faces a tumultuous path to implementation, including siting the camps, finding contractors to run the camps, limited buy-in from homeless Portlanders, potential legal challenges and apparently resignations.
Wheeler's office did not return a request for comment at the time of publication.
Editor’s note: The Street Roots newspaper maintains editorial independence from the organization’s advocacy efforts and was not involved in organizing the Nov. 1 town hall or partnering with the ACLU of Oregon.
Street Roots is an award-winning weekly investigative publication covering economic, environmental and social inequity. The newspaper is sold in Portland, Oregon, by people experiencing homelessness and/or extreme poverty as means of earning an income with dignity. Street Roots newspaper operates independently of Street Roots advocacy and is a part of the Street Roots organization. Learn more about Street Roots. Support your community newspaper by making a one-time or recurring gift today.
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