{"id":1338,"date":"2013-09-30T00:57:16","date_gmt":"2013-09-30T00:57:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/huffsantacruz.org\/wordpress\/?p=1338"},"modified":"2013-10-01T00:58:45","modified_gmt":"2013-10-01T00:58:45","slug":"eugene-activists-force-city-to-act-on-homeless-sanctuary-camps","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/huffsantacruz.org\/wordpress\/eugene-activists-force-city-to-act-on-homeless-sanctuary-camps\/","title":{"rendered":"Eugene Activists Force City to Act on Homeless Sanctuary Camps"},"content":{"rendered":"
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NOTES BY NORSE:\u00a0 Eugene pioneered the Safe Parking\/Camping Zones, in part because of pressure from homeless activists there two decades ago and recently from SLEEPS (Safe Legally Entitled Emergency Places to Sleep) as well as an active leftist and anarchist community.
\nMeanwhile Santa Cruz drops deeper into paranoia and anti-homeless hysteria with the Take Back Santa Cruz-inspired Needle-Free Zone homeless-aphobiacs.\u00a0 The repression contagion has spread—now street performers, vendors, artists, and political activists are under attack downtown.
\nNew laws go into effect in Santa Cruz October 24th that will limit performance spaces to a 12′ square area and make traditional assembly and political activity illegal on 95% of the downtown sidewalks.\u00a0 These laws follow earlier ones that make it illegal to hold up peace signs on city medians (to outlaw panhandling there) and empower park officials to issue 1-day stay away orders prior to trial for “crimes in the park” like “trespass after dark” “smoking” and “sleeping after 11 PM”.\u00a0\u00a0 An expansion of the Smoking Ban downtown targets homeless people (in a recent New England Journal of Medicine study, 17% of the general population smoke as distinguished from 75% of the homeless population).
\nInstead of opening existing bathrooms for 24-hour use, authorities are setting up a fenced off segregated portapotty as well as funding a $100 “Security” gate and fence around the Homeless (Lack of) Services Center.\u00a0 Activist Brent Adams has put forward a Sanctuary Camp plan disdained by the City Council majority. \u00a0 Instead Mayor Hillary Bryant’s\u00a0 band of bumbusters is backing\u00a0 a “Citizens Public Safety Task Force” which defines homeless survival activity like sleeping outside, camping in parks, and urinating and defecating in the woods as “criminal behavior”.
\nThough the City has announced multi-million dollar surplus in their budget this year, none of it will be going to fund campgrounds or restrooms or showers for the most needy.\u00a0 Eugene soars on, while Santa Cruz descends into a darker period.<\/p>\n
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Eugene Government<\/h3>\n

City OKs homeless camps<\/h1>\n

If the first 15-person site works out, others could be added on lots approved by the City Council<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\"\"<\/a>Legal camping advocate Alley Valkyrie speaks to the Eugene City Council in support of a proposal to create legal camping sites in Eugene on Monday, September 23, 2013. (Chris Pietsch\/The Register-Guard)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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By Edward Russo<\/a><\/p>\n

The Register-Guard<\/p>\n

Published: 12:00 a.m., Sept. 24<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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A proposal that could allow Eugene to establish small homeless camps on yet-to-be-\u00adchosen sites was approved by the City Council on Monday night.<\/span><\/p>\n


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Councilors voted 6-2 to pass an ordinance recommended by City Manager Jon Ruiz that would allow the council to authorize more than one volunteer-\u00adrun homeless camp of up to 15 people apiece \u2014 if the first camp works well.<\/span><\/p>\n

Councilor Claire Syrett \u2014 who represents a ward that includes the Whiteaker, River Road and Santa Clara areas \u2014 said the proposal, which would allow camps to operate until next March, is not a cure for homelessness in Eugene.<\/span><\/p>\n

But the camps will be better for some of the \u201chundreds of people\u201d who have been sleeping for years in city parks and other public land, she said.<\/span><\/p>\n


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\u201cIt won\u2019t fix all of the problems,\u201d Syrett said. \u201cIt won\u2019t fill all of the need, but it\u2019s better than the status quo.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Joining Syrett in voting for the proposal were councilors Alan Zelenka, Betty Taylor, George Brown, Chris Pryor and Greg Evans. Voting against were Councilors George Poling and Mike Clark.<\/span><\/p>\n


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Under the proposal, volunteers or nonprofit groups would manage the camps, and they would provide garbage service and portable toilets at no cost to the city. The council would control the number and location of camps, with the expectation that there would be little or no other costs to the city.<\/span><\/p>\n


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Potential sites could be located on city-owned parcels in commercial or industrial areas, or those offered by religious institutions, nonprofit groups or a business located on commercial or industrial-zoned property.<\/span><\/p>\n


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Until Monday, the council had been considering a proposal introduced by Zelenka to let the council authorize a single \u201crest stop\u201d or overnight camp for up to 15 homeless people.<\/span><\/p>\n


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Under that proposal, the first camp would have been tried for 90 days to see how well it worked before other sites could be started. The proposal also would have required campers to pack up their belongings and leave the site each day.<\/span><\/p>\n


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But the concept was criticized at previous council meetings by homeless people and activists. Critics said a single site isn\u2019t enough for the many homeless people in Eugene, and that requiring homeless people to pack up their belongings each day is impractical.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Ruiz, the city manager, on Friday made changes to a draft ordinance that could allow the establishment of more than one camp in the near future. He also added flexibility to the ordinance so that, depending on the site, campers wouldn\u2019t necessarily have to pack up their belongings and leave each day.<\/span><\/p>\n


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Poling said he objected to the rest stop proposal being changed so that homeless people could stay on a site all day and night.<\/span><\/p>\n


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\u201cThat is no longer a rest stop,\u201d he said. \u201cThat is a campground.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n


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Poling also faulted the proposal because the city would not be helping people to get out of homelessness.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAll we are doing is warehousing them and not working with them to end their homelessness,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Instead of establishing camps, Clark favored having the city act as a referral service to connect homeless people with property owners who would be willing to let homeless people camp on their property.<\/span><\/p>\n


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The camps proposed by Ruiz would be managed by \u201chosts\u201d and the areas would be run according to site agreements between the site operators and the city. The camps could be terminated if the agreements are violated.<\/span><\/p>\n


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Previously, when city officials had begun working on the homeless camp idea at the direction of the council, they compiled a list of 19 possible sites that included undeveloped parkland in residential areas. That raised so much concern by nearby residents that the council eliminated potential sites in residential areas or those located close to a school.<\/span><\/p>\n


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On Monday night, several homeless advocates thanked Ruiz for developing his proposal.<\/span><\/p>\n


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Michael Carrigan, of the Community Alliance of Lane County, said people who want to help the homeless \u201care excited about this proposal and are ready to roll up their sleeves to make this work.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n


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Alley Valkyrie, a south Eugene resident who has been helping the homeless advocacy group known as SLEEPS, said she was \u201creally stunned\u201d by the city manager\u2019s proposal.<\/span><\/p>\n


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\u201cIt\u2019s a huge step in the right direction,\u201d she said.<\/span><\/p>\n


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Valkyrie suggested that a camp be allowed on city land under the Ferry Street Bridge, where several campers have pitched tents. Another camp has been set up on city land at Broadway and Hilyard Street, which Valkyrie said is an excellent site.<\/span><\/p>\n


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The Rev. Dan Bryant, president of Opportunity Village Eugene, a newly formed housing area for homeless on Garfield Street, urged the council to approve the ordinance to get as many of the camps \u201cup and running as quickly as possible, and we will work with you to help make that happen.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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You are here: Home<\/a> \/ 2013<\/a> \/ May<\/a> \/ 08<\/a> \/ CITY COUNCIL UNANIMOUSLY INSTRUCTS STAFF TO MOVE FORWARD WITH SLEEPING ORDINANCE<\/div>\n

CITY COUNCIL UNANIMOUSLY INSTRUCTS STAFF TO MOVE FORWARD WITH SLEEPING ORDINANCE<\/a><\/h1>\n
Published by jeanstac<\/a> on May 8, 2013
\nhttps:\/\/snt148.mail.live.com\/default.aspx?id=64855#n=737059874&view=1<\/wbr><\/wbr><\/a>
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4.25.2013 Eugene, OR The Eugene City Council, which had dawdled unmercifully in coming to the table to discuss Safe Legally Entitled Emergency Places to SLEEP for those who are unhoused, arrived at the April 22 Council Work Session table with unprecedented determination to take immediate and purposeful action. \u00a0The Councilors were brought to the table by Councilor Greg Evan\u2019s leadership in calling for an official Council Work Session. Councilor Evans called the session following ongoing testimony from both housed and unhoused people affiliated with SLEEPS, CALC, Occupy, Interfaith Occupy, CLDC, Nightengale, ACT and other groups, stating that the testimony led him to believe that Eugene\u2019s current policies were, at best, \u201ccounterintuitive\u201d.
\nIn a surprisingly bold move, in the early minutes of the session, Councilor Alan Zelenka made a motion to authorize city staff to draft an ordinance to designate temporary safe and legal place to sleep from 9PM to 7AM on non-park, city owned land.\u00a0 The motion passed unanimously, with Councilor George Poling absent.\u00a0 The Council also directed staff to call a special Work Session on the first date at which all Councilors can be present to review and approve an ordinance.\u00a0 Once approved, a Public Hearing will be held and the newly authorized \u201cRest Areas\u201d can become a proud part of Eugene\u2019s dramatically changing policies addressing issues surrounding those who are unhoused.\u00a0 The Council backed up their voiced support of finding creative, financially feasible and effective new solutions with a clear sense of enthusiasm and commitment\u2026.and action.\u00a0 At the next Session the Council will also seek to approve some of the four options proposed by city staff, most involving relationships between the city, religious, not for profit and private land owners.\u00a0 The Council indicated agreement that a whole continuum of small, partial and temporary solutions are needed to meet the emergency needs and buy time to find longer term answers.
\nThe Rest Areas, as proposed by Councilor Zelenka, will be on several selected, specially designated, city owned non-park land parcels.\u00a0 They will offer a safe place to sleep from 9PM to 7AM, toilet access, garbage collection and lockers so that individuals can secure their items during the day, facilitating their ability to find work, housing, keep health appointments and conduct other personal business.
\nA major benefit of the Rest Areas is that they will draw people who now sleep downtown or in public parks away from those areas and into areas that are especially designed to meet the basic safety and sanitation needs of those who sleep in the areas.\u00a0 Insufficient bathrooms, especially at night, has been a major health hazard to all citizens in Eugene\u2019s downtown and public parks and the new Rest Stops will improve the public health of all citizens.\u00a0 It establishes a new, more realistic and businesslike approach that will better meet the needs of the downtown and parks as well as the needs of those who need a place to sleep.\u00a0 The City\u2019s long term failure to address the problem has put those needs unnecessarily in conflict.
\nAnother major business benefit is that the Rest Areas should save a great deal of the current $300,000 per year the Eugene city government is spending to clean up deserted camps, often vacated as individuals flee under police orders.\u00a0 It will be far cheaper to take this preventive approach:\u00a0 placing toilets and garbage\/recycling resources in the Rest Areas so that people can clean up after themselves.\u00a0 Not only has the City\u2019s previous approach been a poor choice from a business perspectivie, it has posed health hazards for all and failed to meet the goal of chasing the unhoused out of Eugene.
\nActivists who have long been trying to persuade the Council to provide better solutions than in the past were impressed with the Mayor and Council\u2019s obvious determination to do something substantive and to do it now.\u00a0 \u201cIt took a long time to encourage them to actually TALK about this really gnarly problem\u2026.but once they decided to take it on, they took it on with gusto.\u00a0 It us up to the rest of us, both housed and unhoused, to be certain that we give the Council the support they deserve for having the courage to admit that what we\u2019re doing isn\u2019t working and to start proving out better solutions\u201d, said one activist.<\/div>\n

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Eugene council OKs small homeless camps operated by nonprofit groups outside neighborhoods<\/h1>\n
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THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
\nSeptember 24, 2013 – 4:36 pm EDT<\/div>\n
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EUGENE, Oregon \u2014 The Eugene City Council has given the go-ahead for homeless camps for no more than 15 people each on land owned by the city, churches or nonprofit groups in commercial or industrial areas.<\/span>
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\nThe sites haven’t been designated. Activists have been demonstrating for months in favor of allowing homeless people to camp on city property.<\/span>
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\nThe Council’s action Monday expands the proposal it had been considering, which would have been limited to one camp. Campers would have had to pack up their belongings and leave every day.<\/span>
\nInstead, more than one camp will be allowed if the first one works, and some camps could allow residents to remain during the day.<\/span>
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\nCity Manager Jon Ruiz said they would be managed by “hosts” and run according to site agreements between the site operators and the city.<\/span>
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\nVolunteers or nonprofit groups would provide garbage service and portable toilets at no cost to the city.<\/span>
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\nThe Council would control the number and location of camps, with the expectation that there would be little or no other costs to the city.<\/span>
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\nThe camps could be terminated if the agreements are violated, Ruiz said.<\/span>
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\nAlley Valkyrie, a south Eugene resident who has been speaking for the homeless advocacy group known as SLEEPS, said she was stunned.<\/span>
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\n“It’s a huge step in the right direction,” she said.<\/span>
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\nDemonstrations for homeless camps have been marked by arrests in recent months and a legal dispute over a free speech area outside the county courthouse.<\/span><\/p>\n

Eugene Homeless Camp Broken Up In Free Speech Plaza<\/h1>\n

AP | Sept. 05, 2013 7:56 a.m. | Eugene, Oregon<\/p>\n

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A three-week-old camp-in protest at the Wayne Morse Free Speech Plaza in downtown Eugene was broken up Wednesday after Lane County commissioners enacted an emergency closure of the\u00a0plaza.<\/span>
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\nThe Eugene Register-Guard reports the Board of Commissioners voted 4-1 on the emergency closure. Protesters were given until Wednesday afternoon to clear out the camp. Four individuals later refused to leave and were cited for trespassing by Eugene\u00a0police.<\/span>
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\nOfficials say the closure will be used to clean all of the areas and work on further\u00a0restrictions.<\/span>
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\nThe group behind the makeshift campsite, Safe Legally Entitled Emergency Places to Sleep, or SLEEPS, is protesting the lack of legal camping areas for homeless people in\u00a0Eugene.<\/span>
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\nInformation from: The Register-Guard, http:\/\/www.registerguard.com<\/a><\/p>\n

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