Portland Mercury


 
 

« Tapegate '07: Leonard's Taking It Off | Main | Sten Weighs In »

Wednesday, June 13, 2007

News Leonard: “Sit/Lie Will Force Homeless Over the Bridge”

Posted by Matt Davis on Wed, Jun 13 at 1:21 PM

“What concerns me is, in this period, where do you expect these people to go? That’s a rhetorical question. The answer is: Across the Burnside Bridge,” says Randy Leonard.sitliejustificationcommittee.jpgSIT/LIE OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE: Faces council…

Leonard says he doesn’t want the ordinance in place until the day that the “last nail is hammered into the day access center, the last locker is in place for people to store their belongings, the last restroom is there, the last bench is in place.”

He’s hammered the homeless advocates on the oversight committee for not bargaining hard enough with the Portland Business Alliance—widely viewed as the driving force behind the sit/lie ordinance.

“What’s happened is, we’ve agreed with one side of the community on the enforcement of the ordinance, but on the other side, we haven’t delivered the services,” says Leonard. “I come from a bargaining background. And with respect to my friends in the advocacy community, they seem to have lost their hammer.”

BREAKING NEWS: Erik Sten just showed up. Hooray!

Comments

Who is Randy Richard? An advocate or/and someone experienced with homelessness? Why isn't he getting more support?

He is saying just what homeless advocates are saying here in Springfield MA-- build the safety net first before you bring in the wrecking ball or otherwise make life even harder for homeless people.

Comments Closed

In order to combat spam, we are no longer accepting comments on this post (or any post more than 45 days old).

Blogtown End Hits: The Merc's Music Blog MOD: Merc on Design 2008: Merc Election Coverage Mercury Eat and Drink Guide  

Our Friends

Our Enemies