Wheeler to make case for new Portland camping plan
The 10 a.m. press conference will include Wheeler, city attorney Robert Taylor and Skyler Brocker-Knapp, the mayor's senior policy advisor on homelessness.
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 will hold a press conference about the city's plan.
The 10 a.m. press conference will include Wheeler, city attorney Robert Taylor and Skyler Brocker-Knapp, the mayor's senior policy advisor on homelessness.
KOIN 6 News will be part of the press conference and will have more information later in the day.
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.
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.
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.