Council Kills Sit-Lie after Public Hearing

By Sarah Owens and Michael Livingston

Updated.  Originally posted under the title, "Salem's Deceased "Sit-Lie" Ordinance."

Following a public hearing where comment opposed the ordinance bill 21:1, the City Council rejected the bill and authorized the Mayor to create a task force to "study homelessness."  AP/Seattle Times picked up the story of the bill's defeat from the Statesman Journal.  Find the podcast of Willamette Wake Up's report on the September 25 City Council meeting here.

Nick Williams

Nick Williams, Ward 8, CEO of the Salem Area Chamber of Commerce, was the only member of the public to speak in favor of Ordinance Bill 22-17.

Sam Klausen

Sam Klausen, Ward 5, who co-owns a downtown business with her husband,  daughter of a former city councilor, and someone who's lived her whole life in Salem-Keizer, was the first to comment, and first to comment on the ordinance bill.  She was against it. 

Clausen said, "to hear that my city is considering a proposal that targets and dehumanizes the most vulnerable part of our population is gut-wrenching.  I want to be proud of where I live, but for the first time in my life, I'm embarrassed by the reputation my city is building."

Dale Hendrick (sp)

A first-year law student, Clausen spoke of a case out of California involving prohibitions on car-camping that her classmates talked about "for weeks."  She said, "the case felt like an historic discriminatory event from the past, and only a few weeks after reading this case, the past became the present -- and in my community.  Please don't let this be my future."  

Clausen was followed by Dale Hendrick (sp), Ward 3, who said the ordinance did not make "moral or fiscal sense."  He wanted to know if the City had considered "other solutions", and characterized the ordinance bill as based on "discriminatory, anti-homeless, anti-veteran" policy, adding that the ordinance was, in general, "anti-human."

Caleb Hayes (sp)

"I want people to be welcome here, and this [ordinance bill] does not do that", Hendrick said, adding, "It's couched in the language of public safety, but in reality it's an attempt to sweep the serious issue of homelessness under the rug."  "This is a heartless waste of resources", he said.

The next to comment was Caleb Hayes (sp), Ward 2, who advised the Council that the proposal will waste resources and be challenged.  "This is the wrong approach", he said, offering arguments against the bill from the right, left, and civil libertarian viewpoints.  He argued also for the City to adopt a Housing First approach, and for efforts to create "real solutions to the problems of homelessness."

Britta Franz

Britta Franz also spoke against the ordinance bill.  "Stop it tonight.  Don't have a hearing.  You've heard enough."  She also advised the Council to involve the wider community in finding solutions:  "I invite you to truly take care of our people, [to be] our conscience.  We need your leadership.  Homelessness cannot be solved at City Hall.  The people are ready, ask us to get to work."

Linda Beir (sp)

Linda Bier (sp), Ward 7, spoke in opposition as well, characterizing the ordinance bill as inhumane and "a waste of our funds."

Micky Varney, Ward 8, expressed concern about the ordinance, saying she had recently heard MWVCAA's Jimmy Jones speak about the extent of the problem with homelessness in the local area.  She told the Council that the ordinance bill discriminates against homeless individuals, and attempts to "sweep the problem under the rug", which she said was "unacceptable.  We can do better."  She urged the Council not to support the bill.

Trevor Phillips

Trevor Phillips, Ward 3, ER physician, present to speak in favor of the "child-friendly city" motion, said he felt compelled also to speak against the ordinance bill.  "I feel like the Tale of Two Cities.  We're about to be the state leader in an amazing initiative to empower kids...but let's end this discussion [about the ordinance bill].  It's not the fault of the homeless that they're homeless.  I can't be more eloquent than the words of Councilor Chris Hoy.  Criminalizing the human condition won't make it better", he said.

Michael Slater

Michael Slater, Ward 7, asked the Council to vote against the ordinance bill, and said he wanted to echo what Dr. Phillips had said about Councilor Hoy's remarks, which he characterized as "a great act of leadership." 

Nancy Baker-Kroft

Nancy Baker-Kroft, Ward 1, spoke emotionally against the ordinance bill, and about her personal experiences with homelessness and the barriers people experiencing homelessness face.

Nick Williams (photo at top) said earlier that afternoon, he "took a little trip downtown, and talked to some folks in business" and asked them "about their experiences with our downtown homeless population...In every circumstance, there was compassion, and the overwhelming feeling that Salem can do a lot better...but to not do anything is not acceptable."  He said they all asked what they could do, and he told them, "Come to City Council tonight."  They wouldn't do that.  "Anything else?", they wanted to know.  The closest Mr. Williams came to endorsing the ordinance bill was to say, "Thank you for trying to do something.  To do nothing is not acceptable."

Julie Eaton

Julie Eaton, Ward 3, said she "strongly opposed" the ordinance, which she thought was unconstitutional and, "more importantly, cruel."  She said Councilor Hoy's Facebook post about "criminalizing the human condition" had motivated her to come down and speak out.  She said she was really  curious to know who "the staff is who brought this up...how do you get that job?", and that she "really hope[d] this ends tonight."   

Joyce Judy

Joyce Judy, Ward 5, speaking about the ordinance bill, said she was "really angry about it."  She did not understand how, given the strong support for the homeless reflected in the City's strategic planning process, that staff would take it upon themselves to develop a sit-lie ordinance without first "taking the pulse of the Council on this issue.  Clearly, this is a flawed ordinance, and one that the people of Salem are against.  Please drop this ordinance, and find a better solution that doesn't criminalize homelessness."

Pamela Lyons-Nelson

Pamela Lyons Nelson, Ward 1, said she'd lived in Salem over 40 years, and in the same house on 21st Street NE most of that time.  She spoke against the ordinance, which she considered both inhumane and ineffective.  She said there were many in the community who agreed with her view, and that she'd not heard anything about the ordinance, except a "hushed horror that this is even happening in our community."  She challenged the notion that residents feared those living on the streets, as opposed to being merely uncomfortable in their presence as a consequence of "their own preconceptions about who these people are."  She said Salem needed "a comprehensive, community-wide plan to deal with homelessness in every aspect."

Lorrie Walker

Lorrie Walker, Ward 2, said she thought the ordinance bill was "just plain wrong ...I just can't even believe it's something that would be considered."  She said Salem needed to do something that's really going to help people experiencing homelessness, and not put the problem where no one can see it.    

Carrie Elmore

Carrie Elmore, Ward 1, grew up in Salem, and is a law student at Willamette University who'd been working on the child-friendly city initiative, but wanted to speak about the ordinance bill.  She said if the Council advanced the ordinance bill, it would be only a matter of time before it was declared unconstitutional, so it would be a waste of time and resources.  It would also push people in need away from services.

Gordon Roth

Gordon Roth, Ward 5, also a WU law student, also there to support the child-friendly cities initiative, said he felt compelled to speak about the ordinance bill.  He said the bill was anti-homeless, and, as "the homeless are us", it was also anti-elderly, anti-child, anti-veteran, anti-disabled, anti-mentally ill, etc.  He pointed out the contrast between the one person who spoke tepidly in favor of the ordinance [Nick Williams], versus the passion of those speaking out against it.  He said the latter were all saying, in essence, that human dignity is more important than "aesthetics or profits."  And, the fact that the Council was trying and failing to help people get off the streets does not mean they have permission to enact laws that attack and target the most vulnerable among us.  He urged the Council to vote no on the ordinance bill. 

Rebecca Larson

Rebecca Larson, Ward 7, also a WU law student, also there to support the child-friendly cities initiative, urged the Council not to support the ordinance bill.  "It doesn't make sense", the homeless are vulnerable, just like the children, so if we believe in protecting the children, we should not criminalize homelessness.

Audrey Schackel

Audrey Schackel was ready to assume the Council was not going to enact the ordinance, and wanted to talk about the City doing more to improve toilet facilities for the homeless.

Ken Hetsel, Ward 3, likewise spoke about the need for toilet facilities for the homeless.
 

Ken Hetsel

James Cox

James Cox spoke about his desire to find practical ways to help meet the basic needs of his homeless neighbors.

Jamie Brasington

Jamie Brasington said she was there as a survivor of childhood homelessness, and said "the divide" between the City's child and homeless policies -- thinking of homelessness as an adult issue -- was just silly.  Homelessness is not a choice, she said, and the City should not criminalize it.

Pamella Watson

Pamella Watson, the last of the public to speak, echoed the sentiments of the previous speakers, and called on the City to take a leadership role in addressing the problems of homelessness in the City.

Finally, three hours in to the evening, the Council reached Ordinance Bill 22-17, and the Mayor called on Chief Moore to tell the Council "what this ordinance says." The Chief then spoke for several minutes, in an effort to reassure everyone the ordinance was not what everyone thought it was.

Chief Jerry Moore

The Chief said much thought had gone into drafting the ordinance, and that he'd heard nothing new in the evening's public comments.  He spoke in general terms of the complaints the Department had received over the years (making no mention of pedestrian safety), and how his officers have for years worked to connect people to resources and services.  He denied the ordinance criminalized homelessness, saying its purpose was to get people connected to services, while admitting, "of course, there is an enforcement equation in this, which is why a lot of people were talking tonight."

He spoke about having "empathy" for and responsibility to the members of the community who feel victimized.  He said ordinances similar to the one being proposed "work fairly well" in other "major cities", which he did not name.  About the notion that people's so-called fears of "the homeless" are based largely on misconceptions, he said, without irony, that "perception is reality", meaning, people act on their fears, whether or not they have any basis in reality, and that's why the ordinance is needed.    

Mayor Bennett

Ultimately, the votes were not there.  The strategy to put Chief Moore's face on the ordinance bill was, in the end, just not enough of a selling point, and it didn't help that Chief Moore's not that good of an actor.

After much discussion, a motion by Councilor Andersen to reject the motion outright and authorize the Mayor to create a task force to "study homelessness" passed unanimously, with a caution from Councilor Kaser to narrow the scope of the task force to something  deliverable.  The Mayor asked to have a month to think about it, and report back with a proposal, which was agreed to.            

So, Salem's nascent sit-lie law is dead, and another task force is about to be born.  Let's hope this one delivers something real, however modest.  Developing a standards and methods for responding to so-called "quality of life" complaints involving people experiencing homelessness would be a good start.

In December, the City Council repealed SRC 95.560 (Vagrancy) by Ordinance 25-17, effective 1/1/18.  See "DHSTF misled on need to 'repeal codes'."