This Week in the Mercury
Saturday, June 13, 2009
News Activists, 1. Rent-a-cops & Anti Camping Law, 0.
Posted by Matt Davis on Sat, Jun 13, 2009 at 11:57 PM
While some of Portland's so-called homeless advocates are busy joining the Portland Business Alliance, Patrick Nolen's new Soapbox Under The Bridge project is camping out on the sidewalk tonight to draw attention to the arbitrary nature of the city's anti-camping laws.
It's illegal to camp out overnight in Portland, even though more than 1500 people do so every night because they either can't get into shelters, or they're scared of the conditions inside. Right now there's a class action lawsuit against the city of Portland over the law because our city commissioners are reluctant to get rid of it even with the waiting list for housing a mile long, but in the mean time, there's a loophole in the law relating to parades, and guess who's all over it?
Stull showed me the city code by torchlight in his folder. Here:
14A.55.010 Access to Public Property for Parade Event. - Printable VersionA.It is unlawful to paint, tape, or otherwise mark public property or place objects in the right-of-way for the purpose of reserving space for a parade event.
B.City of Portland may remove unauthorized materials left on public property or the right-of-way.
C.Camping overnight, to reserve a space in the public right-of-way along side the parade route, may be allowed as set forth in administrative rule. Overnight camping under this section is a limited exception to Portland City Code 14A.50.020 and 14A.50.030.
In other words, the city is only interested in criminalizing homelessness. Not camping, per se. To draw attention to the double standard last week, Nolen and his pals gave out fake citations to folks camping out on the route for the Rose Parade. This week, they decided they fancied camping out for tomorrow's Pride Parade, which happens to pass past the North side of Pioneer Square. Uh-oh...
When I arrived at 9:45, Nolen and his pals were being asked to move on and also to show their identification by three rent-a-cops from firm Pacific Patrol Services, inc, which does security for Pioneer Square.
"The park closes at midnight, and it's curb to curb," said rent-a-cop supervisor Jonathan J Kapiniak. "You can't camp here."
"I don't have to show you my identification," said Hardway.
"We're waiting for a parade," said Nolen.
Stull showed the rent-a-cops his Portland Bureau of Transportation documents which show an 18ft border around Pioneer Square as the public right of way. "We're allowed to camp here," he said. "Because we're waiting for a parade."
"We're celebrating the fact that the anti-camping ordinance has a loophole," said Stull. "If camping is so dangerous, why allow it on a few nights each year?"
"That's part of the problem," said Walden, discussing the situation with another rent-a-cop. "Part of the law refers to this as a public park while others say it's private property, but the bureau of transportation says we can pass here in the public right of way. Don't tell me it isn't private when you're asking me to leave. You are private police. I live downtown, I work downtown, and I shop downtown. My money pays your check."
Burrrrrn. Eventually the rent-a-cops left the activists be. "We're going to allow you to camp here for the night," they said. "But we're going to check with our supervisors about this law."
High-fives all round. "These folks were tiptoeing past saying we've got to get through, and I said 'my friends, we'll have these officers out of the way for you in just a minute'," said Stull, breaking into infectious laughter.
They all huddled round. "We're won," said Nolen, "but we need to be careful to be good winners. Let's be careful to be polite and respectful to the officers and try not to block the sidewalk."
They'll be out there at the Pride Parade when it swings past at 11 tomorrow morning. It's been a while since I felt good about homeless activism in Portland—I hear so many arguments about "priorities" and "fighting the real battle" from all sides that it's hard not to feel bitter, angry, let down and frustrated sometimes. But not tonight.
The city's homeless and parks commissioner is former civil rights attorney Nick Fish, so he's responsible for the reaction of the rent-a-cops ("park closes at midnight," "show us your identification...") and the city's ongoing enforcement of the anti-camping law. City Commissioner Amanda Fritz is also conducting outreach on the sit/lie and anti-camping laws along with Fish so I've sent them both an email requesting comment and will post their responses as soon as we get them.
UPDATE: With "victory photo":
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High Five everybody. We're all going to sleep around burnside and make you step over our drug addicted lifeless bodies.
these tards need some "enforcement" in the form of nightsticks to the face.
Oddly enough, the assault of homeless people by strangers is very common.
Yes, the People have reclaimed their right to sleep all over the sidewalks again! Hooray!
Now, let's carry on the fight to their right to take dumps in public fountains and shoot up in downtown restaurants!
Look mom, I've moved to Portland! We're progressive!
Unsurprisingly, I feel far more ashamed and degraded to live in a city with these commenters than I do to live in a city with these protesters.
Yeah, I don't think anyone is super excited about sleeping outside. Its just that if the city isn't going to provide enough homeless services (including drug treatment and job training) it needs to deal with the consequences maturely, and not like a snotty 7 year old ("this is MY street, and you can only be here for MY parade").
Agreed, b!X.
It's interesting that there's an exception to the statute for parade watchers. As I understand it, there's also an exception for businesses.
So a statute that's ostensibly about keeping the sidewalks clear for pedestrians explicitly allows (1) parade revelers to block pedestrian access, and (2) businesses like Macy's to pile pallets full of overpriced crap everywhere, blocking pedestrian access.
Gee, why would anyone think that this is directed at persecuting homeless people?
If we're going to take the civil rights of poor people (a horrible idea to begin with), the very least we can do is pony up with the goddamn help we promised in return.
"Its just that if the city isn't going to provide enough homeless services (including drug treatment and job training)"
"the very least we can do is pony up"
Does anyone on this site pay property taxes? YOU pony up for it. I'm already ponying up for all kinds of naive liberal wet dreams all over this city.
Matt,
just got home for a wonderful parade. We had a great time last night and this morning and thank you for your wonderful reporting on this. We are quite proud of the action we did and are happy with the results. four of five city council members and many of Portland's citizens saw us and we made many new friends.
One thing I would like to add though. I am not sure if I completely understand the PBA angle with Street Roots, I do respect Israel Bayer and love Street Roots for the work they have done here in Portland. If Iz feels that joining the PBA is part of the right answer around the end goal we share, I am sure he has good reason for it and I will trust his judgment.
thanks
Patrick
"Does anyone on this site pay property taxes? YOU pony up for it. I'm already ponying up for all kinds of naive liberal wet dreams all over this city."
Sadly, while they don't pay property taxes, homeless folks are citizens of this fine country, and are, strangely enough, entitled to exist.
So you can pay for outreach programs to hopefully make them non-homeless folks (a job and a home) or less-homeless folks (work and/or a place to stay at night), or you can pay their room and board at one of our lovely overcrowded prisons. And of course you can also pay for all the tax funded cop time and court costs required to put them there. But I don't imagine the latter option is going to be any cheaper than the former.
Or I guess you can pretend current arrangement isn't costing any tax money and just keep on complaining about people taking dumps in your favorite fountain. And may I say good luck with that.
He didn't ask if homeless people paid property taxes, he asked if anybody on this site does. But everyone who pays rent pays property taxes.
@Blabby
"Does anyone on this site pay property taxes?"
NO but they are really good at the following: trivia/getting drunk/hanging out at food carts till all hours/riding bikes sans clothes/eating at overpriced vegan restaurants they cannot afford/did I mention getting drunk?...all the while bitching about the plight of the homeless.
You just gotta love Portland!
@15 ,
"taxes" - yes, I do
"trivia" - yes, I am fairly decent.. don't know how that makes me a bad person?
"getting drunk" - I rarely drink.
"hanging out at food carts till all hours" - not usually, and I would bring rolaids.
"riding bikes sans clothes" - I don't own a bike, but I do own clothes.
"eating at overpriced vegan restaurants they cannot afford" - I like butter to much for that... and cooking...
"did I mention getting drunk?" - yes, you did, I still don't drink much...
"all the while bitching about the plight of the homeless" - ... you know, honestly, I would much rather be working on living wage jobs and workers rights... but our society has dictated that homelessness is the front line, so that is where I am.
"You just gotta love Portland!" - yes, I do.
I pay property taxes. I pay TriMet taxes (directly). I pay income taxes. I pay City of Portland business taxes. It is my (not so humble) opinion we don't offer adequate services for the homeless (especially in the form of long-term mental health care... many of those experiencing chronic homelessness are in need of such services). Do I win some kind of prize, Blabby? Can we stop harassing people for the crime of sleeping on the streets, now?
Of course, as we all know, the laws against sleeping on park benches affect rich and poor alike, right?
(Of course, the mental health services to which I refer, above, might best be offered at a state or federal levell, rather than a city level -- but nonetheless ought to be offered in a stable, resembling permanence, form.)
Bob,
nice quote there, thanks for reminding me of it again.
Anatole France - "The law, in its majestic equality, forbids the rich as well as the poor to sleep under bridges, to beg in the streets, and to steal bread."
thanks
Patrick
@Blabby Nope. I don't pay property taxes, but, guess what, I still get one vote, just like you. Maybe you'd prefer a pay-per-vote plan? That way the rich could steamroll over everybody without having to waste time putting flimsy pretenses out there before they do it.
I'm not sure what's provoking such a strong reaction here. Its not like anyone particularly likes folks living on the streets.
The question is do we want our relatively well paid police officers (who of course we are all paying for) acting as hall monitors instead of, I don't know, fighting crime and whatnot? And are the homeless in this city made somehow invisible by this law, or are they just more sleep deprived and cranky? Its not like they are going anywhere anytime soon, so we might as well deal with the problem in a constructive manner.
I pay property taxes. Not very much mind you, 12 year ago my house was in danger of falling down, and Bill Sizemore said my taxes shouldn't rise by more than 3% a year, so while my house may be worth real coin now that it has a new foundation, I still only pay ~$1000/year. So next year, I'll have to pay $1030. in taxes. And yes, two years ago there was a homeless guy sleeping in my alley, and I convinced him to move to a different alley for 2 bottles of Black Butte, (cash value: ~$2,) but seriously, we need a long term solution to the problem of homelessness. I'd be in favor of them moving into the foreclosed houses, (which there are a fair number of,) because at least they might mow the lawns or paint or something...
And woo who naked people on bikes. And thank you to the cops that corked for us. (Did we have a parade permit or something? My friends told me that the cops showed up and started corking about 5 minutes before we got there. Which implies advanced knowledge of the route. Which implies that the "bannercycle" knew something that we didn't...)
I think If the people who make comments like get a job or nightstick to the face don't like homeless people then they should hire them let them sleep in there living rooms or build them a shelter cause no one wants to be homeless! you dum dum it's just something that happens unfortunately. and while you yell get a job your also not doing anything to solve the problem. so put up or shut up or move out of Portland I prefer the later for you people personally!
@Patrick
Its beyond noble to look out for the homeless and my comments above (15) were in no way directed at you or your work. I have no problem with the people who are actually DOING something to either change the situation or bring attention to it. My problem is with some of the "Mercury Crowd" if you will, that don't want to pay taxes (hi Will) and still want stellar programs for the homeless. See it doesn't work that way. People need to either volunteer there time and energy (hi Patrick) or WORK to pay the taxes that will provide much needed services. When you work say ten hours a week and read poetry under a tree the rest of the time, in my opiion, you don't get to bitch about the plight of the homeless.
Thank you for your work and thank you for wearing clothes while riding your bike. I believe that you actually do love Portland.
Will: "Nope. I don't pay property taxes, but, guess what, I still get one vote"
I know. The problem is the economic incentives it sets up. If I were a renter, I'd have incentive to vote for all kinds of expensive stuff, because what the hey would I care?
I don't have an answer for it unfortunately. Yes, I believe you should have the right to vote.
Most of the stuff on the ballot (bigger zoo, big bonds for Metro to buy more open space, etc.) are all paid for through increased property taxes. (I even vote for some of those.) But the well isn't bottomless.
Bob, I don't think we pay any income taxes to the city or county. There was a surcharge for the schools a few years ago, but it expired.
I should say that I feel for the homeless. I know that many of them have real problems, mental or physical. I just don't see how allowing them to sleep/sit/lie all over downtown sidewalks is going to help the problem of homelessness in this town. If anything, it makes it worse by creating visible examples that homelessness is viable.
Blabby seems to be under the impression that landlords don't pass property taxes onto renters in the form of higher rent... We ALL pay property taxes, directly or indirectly. That doesn't mean we all want them lowered at the expense of poorer services.
Personally, I own a home, so I pay them directly; and I have no problem at all with them being high enough to cover rehabilitation and other services to give the homeless a leg up. I do have a problem with them being even higher so that the city can afford to put all the homeless in jail, which is the only other option. It's not value for money to ban homelessness.
Much as Blabby would like to, you can't just stick your fingers in your ears and close your eyes and pretend the homeless don't exist, so they've got to go somewhere. And demanding that they go somewhere that you can't see them is arrogant and selfish.
"either can't get into shelters, or they're scared of the conditions inside"
Or want to shoot up and drink Night Train.
Some well-fed looking homeless there.
Stu,
thanks for the truths there.
I wanted to say a few things about what we did, that I neglected to in my first post (been really tired after the event)
first, I would recommend a book, easily downloaded and only 80 pages (with lots of pictures). "Without Housing" . you can download it off of the Western Regional Advocacy Project's web page www.wraphome.org
second, I forgot to mention right away, there were a lot of other people out there with me, and Soapbox is more than just me, Olivia, Barry Joe, Dale, Richard, Stoop, many others, that can take as much credit as I for this event. we really did a great job, all of us.
thanks
Patrick
"I do have a problem with them being even higher so that the city can afford to put all the homeless in jail"
I have no doubt that some homeless people spend some evenings in jail, which is sad. And I'm no defender of the thug police in this town.
But to imply that in the absence of sidewalk camping, that all homeless people are being arrested and warehoused in jail is ridiculous.
Property taxes are passed to renters in theory, but the market plays the biggest part in setting rent levels. Landlords can't just charge whatever they want.
I'd much rather see people actively trying to set up these homeless services you advocate for, than simply trying to end sit/lie or the camping ban. "The city or county should do it" is a cop out. Most social service organizations are privately created, THEN they apply for county money.
"Property taxes are passed to renters in theory, but the market plays the biggest part in setting rent levels. Landlords can't just charge whatever they want."
How do you think "the market" works? If the landlord isn't making enough money to pay expenses, (which includes property taxes,) then the landlord will go bankrupt. And if landlords are going bankrupt all over the place, then nobody will build new apartment buildings/houses/etc, (which is indeed what is happening right now,) but within a few years there will be a shortage of housing, (stupid breeders,) and rents will rise enough for the people that lost money this year to make it back. And so in the long term, a person that is renting will pay their share of property taxes.
Blabby,
It's relevant in that sit/lie laws criminalize one of the more fundamental aspects of being homeless. And while it may not be sending people directly to jail, it is making homelessness a police issue, as opposed to involving people who actually want to be working with them. More to the point, a social worker is not going to arrest the surly Vietnam vet for talking back, whereas a cop certainly might.
I think that's one of the reasons people are focusing on this issue first.
"I'd much rather see people actively trying to set up these homeless services you advocate for, than simply trying to end sit/lie or the camping ban."
Blabby,
I can go in to "low income housing wonk" mode if you don't like the "homelessness wonk" angle... but, I will say, that most low income housing wonks A) get that people need a place to sleep till they find them a house/apartment and B) that it is a lot easier to get the person housing if they don't have a huge record and a lot of unpaid fines.
thanks
Patrick
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