Does Street Roots know something we don’t about the Sit/Lie ordinance? Director Israel Bayer made a post yesterday on the paper’s blog, saying “we’re not betting on…” the sit/lie law:

Should we call for a suspension of the ordinance? Should we respectfully decline to say anything at all? We had hoped we were wrong about the ordinance. Maybe we will still be proven wrong, but looking at the way things are now, we’re not betting on it.

Bayer quotes statistics on the ordinance’s enforcement: 79 of 88 warnings and tickets issued have gone to people experiencing homelessness. He describes the sit/lie law as a key component in moving homeless people along. Until now, homeless advocates have largely gone along with the ordinance because of the services being provided along with it, and in exchange for a seat at the bargaining table with the powers that be. Street Roots even got some money out of the deal. But it seems to me that they could be readying themselves for a gear-change in resistance on this issue, which is all rather exciting.