Yes, I am "exhausted and discouraged by the trash, graffiti, excessive encampments, public use of illegal substances, and all sorts of biohazards in our streets."
Do you want to know what else 99 percent of Portland's law-abiding voter-taxpayers are sick and tired of, Commissioner? We've had it with activist journalists in our local media who constantly parrot the Homeless Industrial Complex line in passages like this one:
"Homelessness experts, service providers and advocates say it is inhumane to criminalize homelessness when there are not enough shelter beds to serve all who need one."
"Criminalize homelessness"? "Not enough shelter beds to serve all who need one"? Give me a break.
Let's be clear. It is not a crime to BE homeless, but the truth doesn't matter to these folks. It's what some homeless people choose to DO that's a crime.
As for there not being enough shelter beds, it is well established that when the city removes a homeless encampment (with advance notice and personnel to assist the campers), the campers almost never accept the shelter beds they are offered. What elected officials and the "homeless experts, service providers and advocates" who make up the Homeless Industrial Complex refuse to admit because it ruins their narrative of the homeless as pitiful victims of capitalism is that most homeless people want to live on the streets and do not want to rejoin society.
Do you know what's really inhumane? It's been inhumane as hell for our bleeding-heart progressive elected officials and the usual "homeless experts, service providers and advocates" to subject the good people of this city to unchecked homelessness year after year because their ideology treats us as the bad actors who want to "criminalize homelessness" and the homeless as the pitiful victims of capitalism who must never be made to do anything they don't want to do.
Well, at least the Commissioner gets that the people she represents now (and hopes to represent in the future) are pissed. Now Rubio just needs to cut her ties to the parasitic Homeless Industrial Complex, admit that the homeless crisis is the fault of addicts and the mentally ill and see to it that they're removed from our streets and neighborhoods as soon as possible.
If this had happened a month or two into the camping crisis, you might have expected congratulations. But it's taken four years! And what is this wonderful new policy? Is it written down? It's clearly expecting too much to be given an opportunity to read it ...
"Enforcement can begin immediately"? Says who? Have Tevis Wheeler and the media forgotten that the Homeless Industrial Complex is highly litigious and successfully sued the city to block the enforcement of the prior ordinance?
We can dream, of course. We can dream that Tevis reached out to the activists who want homelessness and encampments to go on forever and got them to agree not to sue the city to block this ordinance. But that's just a dream. Tevis's ready-fire-aim style of political bumbling doesn't lend itself to that level of statesmanship. Anyway, if that had happened, The Oregonian would have been the first to report it, right?
With the Supreme Court poised to rule in June on how far cities can go in protecting themselves from the scourge of homeless campers, it's likely a court would be willing to put Tevis's marvelous new camping ban on hold if the usual antisocial activists asked it to. We'll soon find out.
“Very few cases?” What universe are you in where people are accepting social services resources the majority of the time? The only resource people on the street will consistently accept is free housing paid for by taxpayers. We cannot encourage this expectancy that Portlanders will simply foot the bill to pay for housing for all these people.
Here here! Ms Rubio certainly seems out of touch with the opinion of most Portlanders. It’s time to end the enabling and for Portland to stop being a destination and sanctuary for drug addicted and mentally disturbed homeless individuals from all over the country. Portland street camps have become places of squalor, stabbings, shootings and sexual violence. Is this what we want for our city? It’s not kind or compassionate to propagate this cruelty through leniency. Ms Rubio, it’s past time for you to disabuse yourself of the notion that Portland taxpayers can rehabilitate and house all these troubled individuals. We have some of the highest taxes and worst municipal services in the country. To think we can rehabilitate and house homeless who come here from all over the USA is absolutely absurd.
Actually it may sound good but it’s not. The prior camping ban that was put on hold by an activist judge was one of the most lenient in Oregon. These new restrictions are even more lenient. Allowing and enabling unsanctioned street and RV camping is anything but compassionate. It’s cruel. We need to offer shelter and enforce a strict no camping ban. European countries don’t allow this cruelty on their streets, why should we?
Oh please Carmen. We're done with the "false compassion". It's called enabling. Encouraging people to live in squalid dangerous streets camps in unkind. It's time to end the cruelty.
Any policy that involves fining or arresting people for sleeping outside when there is nowhere for them to go is unconscionable. Fining people that already don't have the resources to meet their own basic needs just results in their situation becoming even more insurmountable. We need to be putting our resources into ACTUALLY HOUSING PEOPLE instead of creating systems to further penalize them for being unhoused.
Commissioner Rubio, I realize you have a lot of pressure coming from constituents who seem to have no compassion for, or understanding of, what it's like to actually live in poverty or deal with being homeless. But I expected more from you. I expected you to fight for the right of all humans to safe housing. We, as a community, have more than enough for everyone. We just need the will to treat other human beings as relatives. Because they are.
ALLOWING people to live in cruel conditions is what is unconscionable. Unhoused individuals will have the CHOICE to accept shelter (free!) or face consequences (move on or get fined). There needs to be carrots and sticks! At least Rubio sort of agreed that allowing people to live in dangerous squalor is not okay. There MUST be consequence for the service resistant.
I think I agree. You told me more in this comment than all the links that I received.
I also agree with your comment regarding European counties... . However, European countries have higher taxes and better results In health care and gun violence. They simply have different values. Some would call them all communist.
Yes, I am "exhausted and discouraged by the trash, graffiti, excessive encampments, public use of illegal substances, and all sorts of biohazards in our streets."
Do you want to know what else 99 percent of Portland's law-abiding voter-taxpayers are sick and tired of, Commissioner? We've had it with activist journalists in our local media who constantly parrot the Homeless Industrial Complex line in passages like this one:
"Homelessness experts, service providers and advocates say it is inhumane to criminalize homelessness when there are not enough shelter beds to serve all who need one."
https://www.oregonlive.com/portland/2024/05/portland-mayors-scaled-back-homeless-camping-ban-approved-enforcement-begins-immediately.html
"Criminalize homelessness"? "Not enough shelter beds to serve all who need one"? Give me a break.
Let's be clear. It is not a crime to BE homeless, but the truth doesn't matter to these folks. It's what some homeless people choose to DO that's a crime.
As for there not being enough shelter beds, it is well established that when the city removes a homeless encampment (with advance notice and personnel to assist the campers), the campers almost never accept the shelter beds they are offered. What elected officials and the "homeless experts, service providers and advocates" who make up the Homeless Industrial Complex refuse to admit because it ruins their narrative of the homeless as pitiful victims of capitalism is that most homeless people want to live on the streets and do not want to rejoin society.
Do you know what's really inhumane? It's been inhumane as hell for our bleeding-heart progressive elected officials and the usual "homeless experts, service providers and advocates" to subject the good people of this city to unchecked homelessness year after year because their ideology treats us as the bad actors who want to "criminalize homelessness" and the homeless as the pitiful victims of capitalism who must never be made to do anything they don't want to do.
Well, at least the Commissioner gets that the people she represents now (and hopes to represent in the future) are pissed. Now Rubio just needs to cut her ties to the parasitic Homeless Industrial Complex, admit that the homeless crisis is the fault of addicts and the mentally ill and see to it that they're removed from our streets and neighborhoods as soon as possible.
If this had happened a month or two into the camping crisis, you might have expected congratulations. But it's taken four years! And what is this wonderful new policy? Is it written down? It's clearly expecting too much to be given an opportunity to read it ...
Here's the headline in The Oregonian's story about the camping ordinance: "Portland mayor’s scaled-back homeless camping ban approved, enforcement can begin immediately." https://www.oregonlive.com/portland/2024/05/portland-mayors-scaled-back-homeless-camping-ban-approved-enforcement-begins-immediately.html
"Enforcement can begin immediately"? Says who? Have Tevis Wheeler and the media forgotten that the Homeless Industrial Complex is highly litigious and successfully sued the city to block the enforcement of the prior ordinance?
We can dream, of course. We can dream that Tevis reached out to the activists who want homelessness and encampments to go on forever and got them to agree not to sue the city to block this ordinance. But that's just a dream. Tevis's ready-fire-aim style of political bumbling doesn't lend itself to that level of statesmanship. Anyway, if that had happened, The Oregonian would have been the first to report it, right?
With the Supreme Court poised to rule in June on how far cities can go in protecting themselves from the scourge of homeless campers, it's likely a court would be willing to put Tevis's marvelous new camping ban on hold if the usual antisocial activists asked it to. We'll soon find out.
“Very few cases?” What universe are you in where people are accepting social services resources the majority of the time? The only resource people on the street will consistently accept is free housing paid for by taxpayers. We cannot encourage this expectancy that Portlanders will simply foot the bill to pay for housing for all these people.
Here here! Ms Rubio certainly seems out of touch with the opinion of most Portlanders. It’s time to end the enabling and for Portland to stop being a destination and sanctuary for drug addicted and mentally disturbed homeless individuals from all over the country. Portland street camps have become places of squalor, stabbings, shootings and sexual violence. Is this what we want for our city? It’s not kind or compassionate to propagate this cruelty through leniency. Ms Rubio, it’s past time for you to disabuse yourself of the notion that Portland taxpayers can rehabilitate and house all these troubled individuals. We have some of the highest taxes and worst municipal services in the country. To think we can rehabilitate and house homeless who come here from all over the USA is absolutely absurd.
All sounds good, but could you share a link to how this new ordinance differs from the previous one.
Yeah this is so vague that it doesn't communicate much at all.
Actually it may sound good but it’s not. The prior camping ban that was put on hold by an activist judge was one of the most lenient in Oregon. These new restrictions are even more lenient. Allowing and enabling unsanctioned street and RV camping is anything but compassionate. It’s cruel. We need to offer shelter and enforce a strict no camping ban. European countries don’t allow this cruelty on their streets, why should we?
Oh please Carmen. We're done with the "false compassion". It's called enabling. Encouraging people to live in squalid dangerous streets camps in unkind. It's time to end the cruelty.
Any policy that involves fining or arresting people for sleeping outside when there is nowhere for them to go is unconscionable. Fining people that already don't have the resources to meet their own basic needs just results in their situation becoming even more insurmountable. We need to be putting our resources into ACTUALLY HOUSING PEOPLE instead of creating systems to further penalize them for being unhoused.
Commissioner Rubio, I realize you have a lot of pressure coming from constituents who seem to have no compassion for, or understanding of, what it's like to actually live in poverty or deal with being homeless. But I expected more from you. I expected you to fight for the right of all humans to safe housing. We, as a community, have more than enough for everyone. We just need the will to treat other human beings as relatives. Because they are.
ALLOWING people to live in cruel conditions is what is unconscionable. Unhoused individuals will have the CHOICE to accept shelter (free!) or face consequences (move on or get fined). There needs to be carrots and sticks! At least Rubio sort of agreed that allowing people to live in dangerous squalor is not okay. There MUST be consequence for the service resistant.
I think I agree. You told me more in this comment than all the links that I received.
I also agree with your comment regarding European counties... . However, European countries have higher taxes and better results In health care and gun violence. They simply have different values. Some would call them all communist.