Wheeler makes case for new Portland camping plan

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — One day after the US Supreme Court heard a Grants Pass case about homeless camping and weeks after Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler proposed new public camping regulations, the mayor is once again putting his camping ban at city council’s table.

This all kicked off Tuesday with a 10 a.m. press conference that included Wheeler, city attorney Robert Taylor and Skyler Brocker-Knapp, the mayor’s senior policy advisor on homelessness.

US Supreme Court weighs bans on sleeping outdoors in Grants Pass case

Wheeler’s proposals were subject to a number of recommended amendments from other Portland city commissioners at a time when Multnomah County’s Joint Office of Homeless Services is hoping to expand shelter beds to more than 3,000 by the end of the year.

The announced plan

On April 4, Wheeler proposed new public camping regulations that he said would clarify the definition of camping as well as the reasons for prohibiting camping when a person does not have or declines “reasonable alternative shelter.”

Wheeler’s proposal also clarifies how camping cannot take place on public property and reduces criminal sanctions while replacing warnings with diversion tactics.

Mayor Wheeler proposes new regulations for camping ban amid legal challenges

The current policy is that campers are forbidden in public parks or near schools and cannot camp on city streets or other public places during the daytime.

The ordinance to ban daytime camping was initially slated to go into effect in July 2023 but stalled after the Oregon Law Center sued the city in September on behalf of thousands of homeless residents – prompting a Multnomah County judge to issue an injunction in November that paused any enforcement until the end of the lawsuit.

City Attorney Robert Taylor said in early April he expects the new plan will hold up.

Commissioners submit amendments

Portland city commissioners are not entirely in agreement about how to implement the proposed camping ban, with several of them submitting amendments. Commissioner Mingus Mapps wants the Public Environment Management Office to report to the mayor. Commissioner Carmen Rubio wants Portland Police Bureau to track data of their enforcement of the measure and report it to city council. And Commissioner Rene Gonzalez is proposing only the mayor and a mayor designee set all the policies on when, where and how people can camp.

“The challenges, we’ve doubled down and even tripled down on just the compassionate side in the City of Portland, Multnomah County, the State of Oregon, that has failed miserably. And so we have to have the balance,” Gonzalez said.

Wheeler’s response signaled wanting to be transparent with the public on how camping ban policies are formed.

“Do we decide in the light of day as a city council, what the rules are in our community and notified the community of those rules? Or do we delegate that responsibility to a mayor or to a city administrator or to an unnamed designee and have those rules designed behind closed doors with no notification?” he said.

Supreme Court ruling looms

On Monday, the US Supreme Court heard the arguments in Grants Pass v Johnson, the most significant to come before the high court in decades on the issue and comes as record numbers of people are without a permanent place to live in the United States.

The justices appeared to be leaning toward a narrow ruling in the case after hearing arguments that showed the stark terms of the debate over homelessness in Western states like California, which is home to one-third of the country’s homeless population.

The League of Oregon Cities, with Portland’s support, advocated for the nation’s highest court to take this case. They claim there is no current clarity on how US cities — especially those on the West Coast — can create regulations around homeless camping.

An Oregon law states cities must create restrictions that are reasonable around when and where someone can camp.

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