Proposed "Action Plan" Includes Tents & Tarps AGAIN
The Multnomah County Commission has GONE IN THE WRONG DIRECTION by voting to spend $250,000 to give out tents & tarps. Commissioner Sharon Meieran gave our members the inside scoop on this mess on Monday...you can see that here.
Encampments are unhealthy, dangerous, and unsafe for those experiencing homelessness. Now, the City of Portland, who has to clean up encampment messes, now has a chance to say NO to this policy when they vote soon on the so-called "Homelessness Response Action Plan".
Tell the Council to vote no or to send the plan back to the County!
That we need to bring people INDOORS, not help them stay outside.
Tell them unmitigated tent camping is a HUGE factor in Portland's struggles & providing tents & tarps defeats our recent gains around liveability and economic development.
But wait...there's more!
Remember when state lawmakers overhauled Measure 110 with the intent of reducing open drug usage & encouraging treatment and recovery? Yeah, we do too. Multnomah County must not have gotten the memo.
Turns out, with their new "deflection program" they appear to be taking steps to WEAKEN the bill. Their plan will NOT require treatment or recovery participation and will allow those caught with hard drugs to opt to go to a "drop-off center" instead of arrest. And unlike our neighboring counties, they can come back again and again...as many times as they are arrested. Adding up to be a "deflection disaster".
Tell the County Commission to intervene and make this program MORE effective by including more structure and requirements for treatment.
Tell them to consider alternatives to arrest like our civil compromise proposal.
Tell them to make engagement in such a program mandatory and to limit the number of times a person can opt for deflection.
Come on Portland, why don't you get it? Or, do you want Portland to go all the way to the bottom of the barrel - how bad can you allow us to get? I report tents, drug use, garage, etc everyday at SW 1st & Morrison. Too slow, and one tent breeds quickly.
I went to a lunch meeting on 7/31 at SE 8th & Belmont, I was unable to find a safe place to park since the area had so many homeless in cars, doing drugs on the sidewalk; I was scared to park around that. It was really bad. The City has created a huge problem - WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO ABOUT THIS PORTLAND?