Sit-Lie, Sit-Lie Jr, "Very Similar"

By Sarah Owens and Michael Livingston

 

Chief Jerry Moore at City Council, 25 September 2017

Chief Moore told us that this year's Ordinance Bill 10-19 "relating to conduct on sidewalks" is "very similar" to failed Ordinance Bill 22-17, "relating to promotion and preservation of safe sidewalks."  Our reading is that the two are virtually identical, with one exception.

For our analysis of the failed 2017 ordinance, see "City Council to Consider Sit-Lie Bill" (20 September 2017).

Both ordinances make it a crime (offense, infraction) to sit, lie down, camp or "abandon" property on sidewalks, with exceptions that mostly don't apply to the target population -- people living in the streets.  The new ordinance, however, would add the property crime to those that are punishable by exclusion.

Violation of an exclusion order can lead to arrest for criminal trespass, an additional 30-day exclusion, and possible jail.  

The City claims the the purpose of Ordinance Bill 10-19 "is not directed at preserving physical pedestrian access or public safety", even though that's exactly what its findings section suggests.  (There is no substantive difference in Section 1 of each bill.)  Ordinance Bill 10-19 thus does not, as alleged, "specifically address[] appearance and enhancement of community vitality."  See City of Salem Preliminary Review Draft "Fact Sheet" dated July 9, 2019. 

Below is a chart comparing the two ordinances.  As always, bear in mind that police have a great deal of discretion when it comes to enforcement.  In deciding whether this is the route one thinks the City ought to take, the focus should be on what the law allows, i.e., what could happen to a person when s/he commits the newly-invented crime (offense, infraction), and what unintended consequences there might be for the City's efforts to help get those this ordinance targets permanently off the streets. 

At this point, it would appear that the City is retreating from its announcement last week that the new ordinance will come before City Council at its next meeting, July 22, 2019.  We will know for certain when the agenda is published later today.  This post will be updated.  [Update:  per the City Recorder's Office, the ordinance "has been pulled from the July 22, 2019 City Council Meeting, and no date yet on when it might go before Council."]

Ordinance Bill 10-19 (won't be in the SRCs)

Ordinance Bill 10-19 (the revisions to the Salem Revised Code)

Ordinance Bill 22-17