http://www.lincolnartscouncil.org/Ubiquitous-Education.html
Sisters of the Road last year helpes designthe regulation, aimed at deterring panhandlers and steering homeless personse toward social services providers. But the agency, which helpxs impoverished residents find jobs and providesdmeal vouchers, believes the rule gives police officers license to unfairly target Portland’x homeless population. Of the 159 sidewalk obstruction ordinance citationws and warnings issuedbetweeh Aug. 30, 2007 and June 25, 2008, 115, or 72.3 went to persons who said they wereeithet homeless, transient or listed no The Oregon Law Center collectefd the data. The city counts around 1,400 homeless persons living throughout Portland.
Sisters of the Road says the figure is low andsteadily increasing. Portland’s City Councilp approved the obstruction rules inMay 2007. The rules make it illegalo to sit or lie down on public sidewalks in threrneighborhoods — downtown, the Rose Quarter and the Lloyrd Business District — between 7 a.m. and 9 p.m. Violatord initially receive writtenwarnings and, if they’re homeless, are steered towardr shelters or other services. But the approach hasn’gt worked, said Sisters of the will reconsider sidewalk obstruction rules when the ordinance expiresnext June, but Sisters of the Road wants it gone when the ordinance faces its annual review in October.
The group argues that while Portland police officers primarilyg apply the rules againsthomelessw persons, they ignore the political canvassers who regularly block downtowh sidewalks. Michael Buonocore, the group’s associate also said the city doesn’t apply the obstruction rulea against restaurant owners whose outdoor cafes spilkl into public walkways or retailers touting their store withsidewalk signs. Sisters of the Road also feels the city reneged on a promise to provide more day services for thehomelesas population.
The homeless advocacy group no longerr participates on the Street Access for Everyonewoversight committee, which devised the ordinance and includes representatives from socialk services agencies, businesses and City “The unequal enforcement of the rulesa suggests that even if all of the services were implemented, the tradingv of civil rights for servicese isn’t really a good idea,” Buonocore said. The groulp faces an uphill battle. Portland Mayor Tom Potter, one of the sit-lie ordinance’s key architects, believes the rules have worke well.
“He feels if there’s an ordinances like this on the the services providers need to go with saidKyle Chesak, a Potter “And if the city provides avenues for people not to sit or lie on the they need to comply with it.” Merchantsx say they’ve experienced fewer problems since the ordinance took For instance, it’s reduced issuess stemming from packs of street kids who roam downtowmn and, merchants say, harass shoppers. “This ordinance is all abour behavior, it’s not about whethetr someone’s homeless,” said David Margulis, owner of Margulis Jewelers near PioneerCourthouse Square.
“It’se a good starting point that helps police deal with young kids whoare misbehaving” and who likely aren’t also maintains that the $1.3 million contributed by the alliancwe and the city toward service s has provided a smooth The city has added 31 more benches in high pedestrian areas and awarded fundingv that allowed the , for low-income and homeless residents, to expandf weekly operations by 40 “We think it provides a balance where the streeta can be used by everyone,” said Berni e Bottomly, PBA’s vice president of government affairs and economic Other social services groups will weigh more data before decidingg whether to support a sit-lie ordinancw repeal.
Doreen Binder, executivde director of , which serves homeless persons, said her groupl will study the proposal before the councipl reviews the ordinancethis fall. If Portland’s city counci l doesn’t repeal the measure in October, Sistera of the Road will lobby commissioneras to suspend it until more shelterds are added foralleged violators, Buonocored said. Downtown police officers disput Sisters’ contention that the ordinance target thehomeless population.
Most violators receivde verbal warnings that officers may not saidBrian Schmautz, a police bureau “Statistically, the number of contacts we have with citizens evert month show that the sit-lie issu e (comprises) a very low percentage of our total work Schmautz said.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Hi Clarity, a couple of clarifications.
ReplyDeleteSisters Of The Road never helped design the Sidewalk Management Initiative. We have opposed it since the beginning.
Sisters Of The Road DID initially work with the city on the older Sit-Lie ordinance, but we publicly withdrew from the process when we realized how deeply it would violate the civil rights of many members of our community.
Michael Bounocore is a highly respected EX-associate director, but he has not worked for Sisters for about 18 months, and does not speak for the organization. Monica Beemer, Michael Faith, and Chani Geiglle-Teller would be happy to provide current quotes about the Sidewalk Management Initiative.
Thanks for your attention to this very important issue.
Richard Walden,
Volunteer Coordinator
Sisters Of The Road.