The Overlook Neighborhood Association Board at its monthly meeting on Tuesday discussed the homeless camps at N Greeley Avenue near N Interstate Avenue. Board members expressed particular concern that the city has neither communicated with the neighborhood nor followed through on its promises to manage the camp responsibly.
Therefore, the Board today sent the following letter to Mayor Charlie Hales and members of City Council asking that the city immediately close the camp, exercise emergency authority to open humane shelters throughout the city, and help campers relocate into them or other more suitable places.
Members of the media and mayoral candidates also received copies of the letter.
Dear Mayor Hales and Commissioners Fritz, Novick, Fish and Saltzman:
The Overlook Neighborhood Association opposes the City of Portland’s continuing to allow homeless camps located at the south end of the Overlook Neighborhood along N Greeley Avenue near N Interstate Avenue. OKNA initially had serious concerns about the camp. After meeting with campers and after Mayor Charlie Hales’ office pledged that the camp would be managed responsibly, we took a wait-and-see stance. During the last couple of months, we sought to work with the City to make this a success. Unfortunately, the City has not delivered on its pledge nor engaged with the neighborhood in any meaningful way.
Since sanctioning the initial “temporary” encampment at this location with a group of residents numbering fewer than 20, the City has failed to provide any meaningful boundary or population limits, nor safety and enforcement support for the residents. The number of campers on City property at the site has ballooned beyond the 25 originally discussed for the original camp. By some estimates there are now 55 to 75 residents on the site, most not part of the original group.
The encampment is at the base of a steep bluff, and the site is not suitable to ongoing camping. Pooled water and mud surrounded tents and crude structures during recent rains. With temperatures dipping into the low 20s, winds whipping through the camp, and weeks of winter rain ahead, living conditions at the site are inhumane and entirely inappropriate for a City that claims to care about all of its residents.
City Hall has failed to communicate its plans and strategies with Overlook Neighborhood. Although the original intent was for a small campsite that would be self-regulating within a code of conduct, that did not last. Many new campers do not consider themselves beholden to the rules, and more arrive seemingly daily, often encouraged to go there by police, social groups and churches without any consideration of whether each person would be a suitable member of the camp. The result is conflicts between the campers and with neighbors, without the promised support from the City to address such problems.
Camp residents have been told by the City that they will not be moved during the winter, but the winter is precisely when they need adequate, safe, warm shelter from the elements. The pace at which the City is moving under the declared housing state of emergency is intolerable for the many people in North Portland and citywide living outside in this bitter weather.
The people struggling to survive the winter outdoors cannot wait for City Council to dither about developing a long-term strategy to address homelessness. If this truly is an emergency, the City must take emergency measures to provide shelter and services. OKNA strongly urges Portland to open emergency shelters throughout the city immediately.
In the meantime, the current short-term approach of allowing camping at the Greeley site has proven untenable. We ask that the City revoke the permission it has given to camp there and work with campers to find better alternatives throughout Portland without delay.
Sincerely,
Overlook Neighborhood Association Board
Dannielle Herman, Chair