A Portland city leader’s effort to temporarily pause the distribution of tents and tarps to homeless people has drawn the ire of local activists who have disrupted the last two city council meetings, including scuffling with a security guard on Wednesday.
In mid-February, after a rash of tent fires in Portland, Commissioner Rene Gonzalez, who manages the city’s fire bureau, announced that the city’s street response team would no longer hand out tents and tarps to homeless people. The suspension of tent and tarp distribution would be “temporary,” Gonzalez’s office said, according to media reports.
Homelessness activists called the order “cruel” and “evil.” And then it snowed.
A late February storm dumped eleven inches of snow on Portland, and temperatures dipped into the 20s. The next day, Gonzalez defended the tent and tarp ban. “We’re putting all energies into facilitating – when shelter or warming spaces are available – getting folks that will take it to accept that space,” he told the Oregonian newspaper.
Last week, Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler shut down the city council meeting after at least four activists railed against the tent and tarp ban during a discussion on an unrelated topic. Wheeler noted that the tent ban was not on the agenda, and called the speakers “disrespectful.” The activists continued to express their opposition.
“Do you see these people standing up? We’re all here for it,” one of the speakers said. The Oregonian noted there were about ten people in council chambers for that topic.
“Lift the ban. It’s killing people,” an activist said, calling on others to say “f*** Ted Wheeler,” according to a video of the meeting.
Wheeler eventually halted the meeting, which was resumed in a virtual session.
Homeless activists opposed to the ban returned to Wednesday’s city council meeting and heckled leaders and speakers, according to news accounts and a video from the meeting. “Why don’t you build some f***ing houses for people?” one activist yelled.
A scuffle ensued when a security guard attempted to remove one of the activists. The security guard said the activist hit him in the head, according to a video. “You shoved me at the door, man,” the activist yelled. “This is not professional. The city of Portland is not being professional,” yelled another activist, the video showed.
“I don’t care if you disagree profoundly with everything we say,” Wheeler said, the Oregonian reported. “There is absolutely no place for violence in this chamber.”
Gonzalez’s office did not respond to a request for comment from National Review on Thursday.
Gonzalez, a Democrat and a business lawyer, was elected in November, calling for a thoughtful and data-driven approach to addressing “Portland’s declining livability, defined by skyrocketing crime and out-of-control homelessness,” according to his campaign website. He took office in January.
More than 14,000 people are homeless in Oregon, according to the National Alliance to End Homelessness. More than 4,000 of those people are in the Portland area, where homeless encampments in busy neighborhoods and business corridors have become common.
In September, the city was sued and accused of failing to keep its sidewalks clear of debris and homeless tent encampments, and failing to ensure the sidewalks are accessible to people with disabilities and visual impairments. Lawyers behind the lawsuit say the government provided many of the tents that have clogged the city’s sidewalks.
In addition to the threat of fires, Gonzalez told the Oregonian in February that the lawsuit, along with “heavy drug use” and crime, were reasons for the ban on distributing more tents.
Portland firefighters have been called to more than 1,000 tent-related fires over the last two years, the city’s fire marshal said. A dog and six puppies were killed in a Portland tent fire last month, according to news reports.
“It has become clear that tent and tarp-related fires are a grave public safety emergency for our city,” Gonzalez said, announcing his ban on distributing tents and tarps. “Unsanctioned fires put our first responders, houseless individuals and our neighborhoods at risk. I am taking immediate action to save lives and protect Portlanders from life-shattering injuries.”
In 2020 and 2021, eleven homeless people in Multnomah County died from hypothermia during colder months, the Oregonian reported. Gonzalez said that is evidence that encouraging people to stay on the streets in tents is not working.
“We have been distributing incredible numbers of tents and tarps in the region and that’s still not preventing hypothermia deaths,” he told the paper. “I think there’s real evidence that it’s been a failure in protecting against hypothermia in a material way.”