Council Moves Sit-Lie Forward for Enactment

By Sarah Owens and Michael Livingston

 

Headline a month after camping ban went into effect

After hours of public testimony, Councilor Kaser, reading from a prepared statement, moved to direct staff to bring back an ordinance that provides that a violation of the proposed sit-lie ordinance will not be an enumerated offense under SRC 95.750 or SRC 95.760 and enactment will be delayed until at least outdoor shelter and restroom access are available 7a-9p (the hours that the ban is effective).  The motion was seconded by Councilor Hoy.

Council voted 7-1 in favor, moving sit-lie forward for enactment (first reading). 

Councilor Lewis was the only "no" vote.  He was present by phone.

Council is banking that the move will "clean up" downtown sidewalks and avoid embroiling the City in litigation.  

Sit-lie laws haven't "cleaned up" San Francisco (see City Hall Fellows' Implementation, Enforcement and Impact, by Cassella et al.), or Berkeley (see Berkeley Law's Does Sit-Lie Work, by Cooter et al.) or Spokane (see Wohlfeil, S. "More than half of Spokane's sit-lie citations have been handed down in 2018."  (17 September 2018, Inlander.)).  

Mayor Bennett told Salem Reporter last week that the law was needed to give people "incentive to move on" to the library (which prohibits lying and sleeping and bringing in packs and luggage), shelter day rooms (limited hours and might not allow sleeping or packs/luggage) and park shelters.  Harrell, S. "Salem Mayor pushes for 'sit-lie' in the face of increasing uproar over homeless problem downtown."  (21 February 2020, Salem Reporter.)  He also told Salem Reporter that, if Council failed to pass the ordinance, "there’s a potential for an initiative campaign to pass the ordinance over the council", making it clear he would support such a move by saying he thought sit-lie was "something we need to do permanently."  

Bennett appears to have abandoned his disingenuous claims that sit-lie will somehow help improve things for the people it targets.  See "Mayor Bennett Pushes Sit-Lie on KYKN" (23 February 2020).  Staff however, have not. The staff report stated that "[t]he amendment would provide the Police Department, the Salem Housing Authority, and other organizations engaged in outreach to Salem’s homeless residents additional encouragement for individuals to seek shelter and assistance rather than living on a sidewalk."  Aside from that statement, the report did not recommend moving the ordinance forward for enactment. 

It might be hard to believe any reasonable person could consider being waked by a police officer and told not to sleep or sit on the sidewalk "encouragement", but the City must sport its fig leaf. 

Councilor Andersen was still in Bhutan tonight, and didn't call in, which put all the pressure squarely on Councilor Kaser, a fact he would have known on February 10 when he cast the deciding vote to bring sit-lie back on February 24 (Kaser voted against bringing it back).  She also voted to remove sit-lie from Ordinance Bill 10-19 last November for the same reasons she opposed sit-lie in 2017 -- it didn't address the complaints of downtown businesses. 

Whether the City can meet Kaser's shelter/restroom conditions any time soon is unclear.  The City is in negotiations with The ARCHES Project to extend hours on weekdays (adding the hours from 3 to 9p) and open on weekends, but that is likely to cost the City upwards of $.5M annually, according to estimates provided the City, unless other revenue sources are found.  Those funds would be better spent getting people enrolled in the City's Homeless Rental Assistance Program.

Councilor Kaser speaks to her motion Monday night.

Signage on the sidewalk outside Rite Aid states that the sidewalk will be closed for cleaning/maintenance at 8a Tuesday (tomorrow).  Police were down there this afternoon, letting everyone know that they were subject to arrest beginning at 8a (no additional time to gather belongings and move).  We've been told that there's a possibility that fencing will be used to prevent access to the sidewalk after maintenance is completed.