Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler has announced plans to ban unsanctioned homeless encampments in the crime-riddled city, calling the crisis “a vortex of misery for all involved.”
“The magnitude and the depth of the homeless crisis in our city is nothing short of a humanitarian catastrophe,” Wheeler said Friday. “We need to move our scattered, vulnerable homeless population closer to the services that they need.”
“Collectively, this is a vortex of misery for all involved,” he continued.
Wheeler’s solution calls for moving the homeless to at least three designated campsites. The first site will open within 18 months of securing the funding.
Wheeler did not give specifics about when funding would be confirmed or how much the actual solution would cost.
Under the plan, the camping sites would initially be able to serve up to 125 people and provide access to services such as food, hygiene, litter collection and treatment for mental health and substance abuse.
“The designated sites could eventually serve 500 people,” Wheeler said. “More than 3,000 people have no shelter in Portland, a 50% spike from 2019, and there are more than 700 encampments in the city.”
Under Wheeler’s proposed measures, social workers would direct the homeless to the city’s designated camping sites. Police could arrest or cite them if they refuse to go.
However, the citations could be waived as part of a “services diversion program” that would allow those who receive summonses for low-level offenses, such as violating the camping ban, to get mental health or substance abuse treatment.
Wheeler also called for the next governor to implement an “immediate enactment of a statewide emergency order” on the homeless problem, which has been a critical issue in the close race between Republican Christine Drazan, Democrat Tina Kotek and unaffiliated candidate Betsy Johnson, the news outlet reported.
Drazan, who is trying to end four decades of Democratic leadership in Oregon, has said that, if elected, she would declare a state of emergency.
“We have among the highest numbers for homelessness and addiction with the lowest level of access to recovery services,” Drazan said.
Local officials note that homelessness is a major problem in Portland dating back years and only got worse since 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic, a housing shortage and high drug addiction rates have contributed to the crisis.
Last month, disabled residents claimed in a federal class-action lawsuit that the city is violating the Americans with Disabilities Act because they can’t traverse the city amid the widespread homeless encampments obstructing the sidewalks.
The plaintiffs want the city to clear sidewalks of tents and garbage and “construct, purchase, or otherwise provide for emergency shelters in which to house the unsheltered persons” who may be affected.
Wow… that’s really big of him… good job Mayor
Our government has known since 1931 that baking soda cures cancer. Put a quarter teaspoon of baking soda in water and drink it once a day for 3 weeks. Your doctor knows this but you dont.
So, he hasn’t identified a source of funding and it will take 18 months to prepare the space, so basically he continues to do nothing about it. All platitudes.
All the homeless have to do is camp out at the mayors home. That could speed up the process.
Exactly! The federal government put up these tent cities in the rich suburbs where all the illegals got dropped off in a matter of days. What can’t this Mayor do that?
What an ass hole, this progressive punk is an idiot!
Wheeler has destroyed Portland with his liberal policies / many Portlanders will NOT go downtown. He even went so far as to set up a safe space for ANTIFA – no wonder police have left this CRAZY city – keep Portland weird Wheeler – just keep it up!
why are there no encampments in states like Indiana?
I know Houston has very few and when they pop up, they are gone in a week
Create a camping spot about 5 miles out of town