Tomorrow there's a good chance the Salem City Council will approve a citywide sit-lie ordinance that prohibits sitting and lying on public sidewalks between the hours of 7 am to 9 pm, subject to certain exceptions.
Aimed at homeless people, obviously, this is the most recent attempt to pass a sit-lie ordinance, which so far has failed to get a majority vote from the City Council.
Mayor Bennett really wants to have it passed this time, as a recent Salem Reporter story made clear. Here's an excerpt from "Salem Mayor pushes for 'sit-lie' in the face of increasing uproar over homeless problem downtown."
Each day Mayor Chuck Bennett opens his electronic inbox to a half dozen emails from downtown shoppers and business owners upset about the homeless people residing on sidewalks.
Feeling compelled to act, Bennett is pushing for a ban on sitting or lying on sidewalks during the day to deal with the 50 or so people camping in front of Rite Aid on Northeast Liberty Street.
He said the campers have no incentive to move on, and a new city law, recommended by both Salem Police Chief Jerry Moore and City Manager Steve Powers, would provide that.
“There are places that people can go during the day,” Bennett said, citing city parks, the library and day rooms at The ARCHES Project and Union Gospel Mission.
I believe Councilor Tom Andersen is out of the country, so Bennett needs five of the eight other members of the City Council to vote "aye" on the sit-lie ordinance. A plausible scenario is that Bennett, Jim Lewis, Brad Nanke, Cara Kaser, and Chris Hoy provide those votes.
It's a difficult decision. I looked through the public comments received so far on this agenda item. Opinions seemed split fairly evenly between those who favor the sit-lie ordinance and those who oppose it.
The way I see it, the proposed ordinance is the result of a bunch of "can'ts" -- all of which have merit, but many of them are contradictory.
Homeless people can't be allowed to drive visitors away from downtown Salem businesses.
Homeless people can't be treated like second-class citizens.
Homeless people can't be allowed to camp on public property.
Homeless people can't be the scapegoats of societal income inequality.
Homeless people can't litter downtown with their belongings, trash, and excrement.
Homeless people can't be shunted from place to place at the whim of city officials.
Homeless people can't be refused a safe place to sleep.
Probably there are more can'ts that i haven't thought of, and I readily admit that these brief one-liners don't capture the breadth and complexity of Salem's homeless problem.
I share them simply because I've got a lot of sympathy for everybody involved: the homeless; social service agencies; police; downtown businesses; visitors to downtown; city staff; the City Council; those who live and work downtown.
Seemingly there is no way to please everybody. If the City Council passes the sit-lie ordinance tomorrow, lots of people will be upset. If the City Council rejects the sit-lie ordinance, lots of other people will be upset.
I don't know what the City Council should do. If it decides to approve the sit-lie ordinance, seemingly the current ban on homeless camps should be lifted to some extent -- such as by allowing camping in Marion Square Park, as was suggested by several people who submitted testimony on the proposed ordinance.
Obviously the homeless need some place to go between 7 am and 9 pm. If the City of Salem doesn't offer that place, the sit-lie ordinance is going to lead to more unintended consequences, and nobody wants that to happen.
allowing some temporary camping in Marion Square Park would probably be one of the best short-term solutions for now until we can come up with some better ideas...
Posted by: Penny | February 24, 2020 at 04:50 AM
Our Mayor (and probably some city councilors) are going to push for a “sit/lie” ordinance—I couldn’t stay silent. So I sent them an email: "Has it really to come to this where we punish people for being poor and homeless? This is a disgrace and reflects so poorly on our community. When did we become so mean and judgmental? WHERE ARE THESE PEOPLE GOING TO GO? I know some of the downtown businesses are not happy—well, it you’re not part of the solution, you are part of the problem—why don’t they offer some assistance or solutions other than “we want them rendered invisible.” I’ve said it dozens of times, these people need to be accommodated in Marion Park—in some way—near Arches, UGM, Hope and various social services and places where they can get food. Also many homeless have pets and the Arches Day Room only accommodates 40 persons--so where are others to go? There are 1800 homeless-------and only a few hundred shelter beds. Many of the homeless have told me that they have been attacked in shelters, a lot of their meager belongings have been taken and those that have mental illness and are disruptive prevent them from getting sleep. It’s VERY obvious that Salem does not seem to have a clue on how to help the homeless or lessen their numbers, so why not see best practices that other cities--like Eugene and Olympia have used and start implementing them here.
Posted by: Lora Meisner | February 24, 2020 at 12:50 PM
"Homeless people can't be treated like second-class citizens. "
Oh YES THEY CAN!
People that sleep on sidewalks under tarps, strew trash, needles, urine and feces in our downtown ARE second or third class bums.
If you cant recognize the problem, you'll never solve it.
"Has it really to come to this where we punish people for being poor and homeless?"
No.
We USED to treat them that way and had 1% of the problem we have today.
Failing, bleeding ultra- liberal policy is now in full display on the sidewalks of our fine city.
Sad.....
Posted by: Skyline | February 24, 2020 at 01:29 PM
Salem best be careful to heed the federal court rulings of the 9th Circuit Court before going outlaw with this new unconstiruional ordinance.
Posted by: Richard, Eugene | February 24, 2020 at 04:45 PM