PORTLAND, Oregon — At first glance, a pocket of Portland in the Belmont neighborhood is clear of the homelessness and drug crisis plaguing other parts of the city. But neighbors said that this hasn’t always been the case. Elaine Johnson, who has lived there for the past seven years, used to be afraid to walk outside her door.
“All of a sudden it just dawned on me — I haven’t been seeing a lot of tents anywhere or people on the street doing drugs,” Johnson said.
She’s not sure what’s behind this welcome change but points to the threat of Portland’s daytime camping ban as a potential reason. Portland City Council passed the ban back in June, prohibiting camping on public property from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. It also banned camping any time near schools and high-crash corridors, among other areas.
Even though the city has yet to launch enforcement of the ordinance, word of the ban has reached the streets.
Clyde, who is homeless in Old Town, now moves his tent every day. Joshua, a Street Roots vendor, carries his bedding and hides.
“I try to find somewhere out of the way that I’m not going to get rained on or kicked or maced,” Joshua said.
Late last week, a group of homeless people filed a class action lawsuit against the city’s camping ban, alleging the restrictions violate the Oregon Constitution and the penalties — which can include jail time and a $100 fine after three warnings — are unreasonable, since homelessness is unavoidable for thousands of people while Portland lacks adequate shelter capacity.
“I am not even a second-class citizen ... I’m a third-class punching bag,” said Joshua.
“The ordinance is unreasonable,” agreed Kristle Delihanty. She runs PDX Saints Love, a nonprofit offering wellness fairs and housing referrals to homeless people in east Portland, an area of the city she calls a desert when it comes to homeless services.
“It’s harmful — you have people who are already feeling rejected and ostracized form community; they can’t access resources, they don’t know how, and now you’re telling them they can’t even sit down with their belongings on a park bench or a sidewalk,” said Delihanty. “The reason I jumped in as a declarant on the lawsuit is that everyone belongs somewhere, they have to belong somewhere.”
Lawyers at the Oregon Law Center, representing the plaintiffs in this case, are trying to get a temporary restraining order from a court to stop the city from enforcing the ban until the lawsuit is resolved. They've had success in the past, winning one of the landmark federal cases that now shape homelessness policy in the western U.S.
A spokesperson for Mayor Ted Wheeler's office said that they can’t comment on pending litigation, but they plan to start enforcing the ban in the coming weeks and they’ll give the community a two weeks’ heads-up before that happens.
“The ordinance is so convoluted and complex that I don’t understand it I don’t know where people are allowed to camp,” said Delihanty.
There is a map showing where camping is allowed, but homeless people must have internet to access it — something we found is nearly impossible for some.
“We’re seeing a lot of reactionary ordinances come into place and we want everyone to stop and pause and take time to figure out the complexities and the nuances behind this ordinance and how does it affect people rather than, 'We don’t want to see homelessness anymore, let’s make it go away,'” said Delihanty.
It seems to have gone away in the Belmont neighborhood. At least for now.
“I do think that setting some limits around that is the best thing. It’s going to probably be painful and uncomfortable at first but over time maybe this is the start of something new,” said Johnson.
Part of the lawsuit alleges that there isn’t enough shelter space for people to go during a daytime ban on camping, but the city is attempting to quickly adding more. Mayor Wheeler's office said that the second of the city's mass encampments is well underway, and he plans to announce that location soon.