in re Sidewalk Behavior Ordinance

CANDO RESOLUTION NO. 2019-1 

A RESOLUTION REGARDING PROPOSED SIDEWALK BEHAVIOR ORDINANCE 

WHEREAS, between October 2016 and January 2019, more than 2,600 residents of Marion and Polk counties were identified through evidence-based assessments to be at risk due to living outdoors or in places not fit for human habitation;

WHEREAS, these “homeless” residents include children, families, veterans, and those suffering from addiction and physical and mental illnesses, some of whom have been “homeless” off and on for many years, many of whom have sought housing and been denied for lack of resources; 

WHEREAS, approximately 1,800 of these residents live within Salem’s Urban Growth Boundary, with as many as 700 living within one mile of Marion Square Park, including the Union Gospel Mission and Wallace Marine Park;

WHEREAS, the vast majority of these residents go out of their way not to draw attention to themselves and to avoid causing a disturbance on the sidewalk;  

WHEREAS, petty offenses can lead to misdemeanor convictions that can and do have collateral consequences that create barriers to housing and employment;  

WHEREAS, the Salem Revised Code includes a number of petty offenses, so-called “quality of life” crimes punishable by exclusion, such as disorderly conduct (SRC 95.120), urinating and defecating in public (SRC 95.125), trespass (SRC 95.550), drinking in public (SRC 90.020), public indecency (SRC 96.220), noise disturbance (SRC 93.010), and pedestrian interference (SRC 95.700); 

WHEREAS, proposed Ordinance 10-19 seeks to expand the list of “quality of life” crimes to include sitting and lying on sidewalks during the day and evening hours;  

WHEREAS, for residents living in the streets, sitting and lying on the sidewalk during the day and evening hours may reasonably considered “acts of living”; 

WHEREAS, making “acts of living” illegal is cruel, stigmatizing, counterproductive and bad public policy;    

WHEREAS, in 2012, the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH), in partnership with Department of Justice and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), published “Searching out Solutions: Constructive Alternatives to Criminalization”, which outlined “alternatives for communities who implement local measures that criminalize ‘acts of living’"; 

WHEREAS, in 2014, HUD issued guidance citing a recent report by the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty, “No Safe Place: The Criminalization of Homelessness in U.S. Cities”, finding that there had been a significant increase in city-wide bans on camping, loitering, and begging in public areas, which HUD characterized as “effectively criminalizing people’s need to survive” (emphasis in original) and “exacerbat[ing] existing problems”;

WHEREAS, in 2015, HUD required applicants for Continuum of Care Program funding to describe “specific strategies implemented” — such as engaging local policymakers and law enforcement officials — to “ensure that homelessness is not criminalized”;  

WHEREAS, in 2016, the City of Salem helped launch the Mid-Willamette Homeless Initiative “to identify and launch proven strategies to reduce homelessness” in the region; 

WHEREAS, the Initiative’s strategic plan included numerous recommendations, some of which concerned code amendments specific to Salem, but none of which involved prohibitions on sidewalk conduct; 

WHEREAS, in 2017, the City Council considered and refused to enact a substantially similar sit-lie ordinance for reasons including that it criminalized homelessness, failed to address “root causes”, and did not address the behaviors businesses typically complain about, many of which already are illegal;

WHEREAS, the City Council subsequently authorized the Mayor to appoint (what would become) the Downtown Homeless Solutions Task Force to identify practical solutions to the problems experienced by downtown businesses;

WHEREAS, in 2018, the Downtown Homeless Solutions Task Force repeatedly declined on policy grounds to support the enactment of a sit-lie ordinance;

WHEREAS, in 2019, the City convened the Good Neighbor Partnership in follow up to recommendations made by the Downtown Homeless Solutions Task Force;

WHEREAS, the Good Neighbor Partnership has also refused to endorse, tacitly or otherwise, a sit-lie ordinance; 

WHEREAS, on September 9, 2019, the City Council authorized a Memorandum of Agreement to create a Development Council to oversee and manage the development of a local Continuum of Care for purposes of receiving much-needed homeless assistance funding through HUD’s Continuum of Care Program;

WHEREAS, to compete successfully for Continuum of Care Program funding, the region must demonstrate compliance with HUD policy and guidance, potentially  including being able to describe specific strategies implemented to ensure that within their jurisdictions, homelessness is not criminalized;  

WHEREAS, insofar as proposed Ordinance 10-19 criminalizes homelessness by making what might reasonably be considered “acts of living” illegal, it is inconsistent with 

1. CANDO’s goal to “Support initiatives offering practical solutions for neighbors living in the streets”;
2. the mission and purpose of organizations that CANDO supports, like the Salem Housing Authority, the Union Gospel Mission, Northwest Human Services, the Mid-Willamette Valley Community Action Agency and United Way;
3. the mission and purpose of the Homeless Rental Assistance Program, whose activities include the expenditure of General Fund dollars to remove criminal history barriers to housing and employment;   

WHEREAS, proposed Ordinance 10-19 targets people experiencing homelessness, is not designed to address the substantive complaints of downtown businesses and is likely to inflict adverse, unintended  harm on Salem’s most vulnerable residents, including further stigmatization of their condition, whether or not they are found to be in violation of proposed Ordinance 10-19;

NOW. THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that CANDO recommends to the City Council AGAINST enactment of proposed Ordinance 10-19. 

ADOPTED by the CANDO Board of Directors, this 17th day of September, 2019.

ATTEST:

CANDO Secretary/Treasurer