PORTLAND, Ore. — It’s been just over a month since the city of Portland enacted a daytime ban on homeless camping. It’s been a plan in the works for months, yet tents still dot many Portland sidewalks. There’s a simple reason for that: The city is not enforcing the ban until the fall.
Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler proposed changes to the city's rules around homelessness back in May to align with new state requirements under House Bill 3115, passed in 2021. Wheeler proposed a ban on daytime camping from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. each day. If homeless people refuse, they’re given two warnings. If they violate the ordinance again, they could face potential jail time or a $100 fine.
Multnomah County District Attorney Mike Schmidt told KGW that jail time is unlikely to be pursued in most cases.
“I don't see jail being used, realistically," he said. "Also, a fine seems a little bit pointless to somebody who is indigent and can't pay for anything as well.”
The camping ban passed city council in June and went into effect on July 7. Instead of enforcing it right away, the city said it is taking several months to teach homeless people about it and help get them into shelter.
Sarah camps in Old Town, and said she still knows little about the ban.
“We're supposed to be done from 8 to 8, that's the only thing that I heard about it … we’re all still out past 8 o'clock,” Sarah said.
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A block away from Sarah's tent is Blanchet House, a day center for homeless people. Scott Kerman, who runs Blanchet House, shares Sarah’s confusion over the ban.
“To be honest I’m not really sure what to think, because we're not really sure what it is,” Kerman said.
He meets with the mayor’s office on a regular basis and still has many unanswered questions.
“I'm getting a sense that a lot of these programs — whether they come from the city or the county or the joint office — sometimes the measure comes first, and the details come second,” Kerman said.
He believes the city needs more shelter, especially with a ban on camping in effect.
“There's that disconnect between a ban that forces people to move but nowhere right now for them to move to,” he said.
Last month the city opened its first large, sanctioned campsite for homeless people off Southeast Powell Boulevard. It will eventually shelter about 200 people, but Portland is working up to that number gradually. Meanwhile, there are more than 6,000 homeless people in Multnomah County. The city has enough money to open two more of those sanctioned sites, which will take time.
For now, Portland remains in this educational phase of the camping ban. KGW asked the mayor’s office what that entails, and they said an update is coming soon.
Here is their full statement:
“Our outreach teams with the Impact Reduction Program and (the Joint Office of Homeless Services), along with our community-based partners like day centers, will receive printed materials early next week that outline the Time/Place/Manner ordinance rules along with information on where people are able to camp once this ordinance is enforced (with a map). As this ordinance is not currently being enforced until the fall, our outreach teams have been making contact with folks living in unsanctioned camp sites across the city to provide them with information. We are absolutely advocating for additional resources to better support day centers and our partners.”
“If this summer of education is going on ... as far as we can tell in our section of Old Town, it hasn't reached our area and our community yet,” said Kerman.
Across the river and under the Morrison Bridge a homeless woman who goes by the name Mystical and her husband pack up their campsite and prepare to relocate for the seventh time this week.
“They're definitely enforcing it, like, hard,” she said. “It's like a three-strikes-you're-out policy, so if you get told three times you can't be camping and you're still camping they take you to jail.”
She said that's exactly what happened to her.
“It was just 'cause they had given me three warnings and it was just a book and release — they booked me and they let me go within the hour,” she said.
KGW asked Portland police about Mystical's claim. They said they are not enforcing the ban yet. Court documents show she was arrested in July for something to do with a stolen vehicle. It's unclear if her arrest was related to the camping ban.
“It's ridiculous. The whole reason that Portland was, like, glorified to me was that it was an awesome place to be homeless ... Portland is definitely not what I thought it was,” Mystical said.
She and her husband moved into the city’s large, sanctioned campsite on Friday and they are hoping to get an apartment soon.