Portland’s long-promised plan to deal with homeless camps on the sidewalks took effect on Friday and if you walk through the city today things look exactly the same. The new law limits camping in various areas (sidewalks, near schools, etc.) between 8am and 8pm. But the city isn’t going to enforce it this summer. Instead the mayor has decided to start with a “summer of education.” Fox News published a story Saturday about the current situation.

Tents spilled over sidewalks and those who have made their homes on public property say the new policy isn’t likely to create meaningful change.

“It’s bulls—,” Michael, who has been homeless off and on since the ‘90s, told Fox News bluntly. “I’m tired of moving. They’re gonna have to make me move.”…

One man who was recently in prison for stabbing another man said he hopes homeless folks refuse to let authorities enforce the ban.

“What I think would be cool is if we stood up and stood as one, make sure that they don’t make us take down our tents or whatever,” said the man, who did not wish to be identified. “If they want violence, then give ’em violence back.”

Even once the city starts enforcing the law, the plan is to give lots of warnings and diversion programs.

People who violate the ordinance will receive two written warnings first. A third violation could result in a fine up to $100 or up to 30 days of jail time, although Wheeler’s office said the district attorney’s office will focus on “seeking alternative sentences.”

I guess if this is used as a way to force people to seek drug abuse counseling (rather than jail) that could be beneficial but I’ll believe it when I see it. The courts have already said you can’t prevent camping overnight unless you can offer people a sanctioned place to sleep. Portland has adopted this 8am-8pm ban as a way to get around that ruling (the Boise decision). But the moment they start enforcing this someone will sue and a judge will decide that expecting indigent drug addicts to pack up their tents during the day and pitch them again at night is too much to ask. My guess is the city will use this new law sparingly in hopes they aren’t sued but long term this either won’t be enforced or it won’t survive. I suspect Mayor Wheeler and others know it.

So why announce this doomed plan in the first place? Mayor Wheeler announced the plan last year after an ADA lawsuit was filed against the city. The lawsuit argued that disabled people were being punished the most when sidewalks aren’t passable. Most people can step into the street to get around an encampment or run away if they are threatened but that’s much harder to do in a wheelchair.

The city settled the ADA lawsuit in May of this year, agreeing to remove more camps on city sidewalks (at least 500 a year) and prevent city employees and contractors from handing out tents. That sounds promising but as you can see they are off to a very slow start.

This effort is too little too late for some people. Two weeks ago KATU ran a story about a property developer who sold his last parcel in the city. The former pizza parlor was broken into repeatedly by homeless people looking for a place to live. They damaged the interior and eventually set a fire outside where the dumpsters used to be. He boarded it up but they just broke in again. Finally he spent $13k on a new fence but it took 4 months to get that installed because there was a big backlog of other people also trying to protect their properties from the homless.

Driving a lot of this is drug abuse. Portland, like a lot of west coast cities is dealing with a fentanyl crisis. So you’ll never guess how the county is responding to the crisis. They are handing out tin foil and straws as part of a harm reduction strategy. Bottom line, the city is a mess because of drug addicts and the county’s response is to make it easier and safer for the addicts to do drugs. Even Mayor Ted Wheeler knows this is dumb.