EDITORIAL Homeless evicted: A tale of three cities When local governments attempt to address a trou bling and complex problem, a frequently obeyed rule of thumb is to sweep the problem under the rug. However, cities all along the West Coast, from Seat tle to Springfield to San Francisco, have boldly decided to abandon this useless strategy and adopt a more pro ductive. responsible attitude. They have chosen, instead, to sweep it under someone olse's rug. Measures taken within the past year in all three of those cities have attempted to tackle the growing prob lems of panhandling and homelessness. These issues, inextricably intertwined, defy oasy solutions. Govern ment agoncies throughout the nation have been grap pling with them for decades. And yet in each of these cities, lawmakers have sought the quick fix. which would get the citizenry off of their backs, but which accomplishes next to nothing. In Seattle last week, several ordinances were passed by the Citv Council that would, in effect, make home lessness illegal. The ordinances prohibit sitting or lying on the sidewalk, urinating or defecating in public (despite the lack of public toilets downtown) and pub lic drinking, among other things. A loss drastic measure in Springfield, which gained council approval in the spring, prohibits standing along the street with a sign and asking for handouts or work — one of the preferred methods of panhandling. The City Council used a state law. which was originally designed to prevent traffic tie-ups, to justify its actions. And San Francisco, with its vaunted progressive political tradition, has taken the most radical steps of all: Police in the "City by the Bay" are required to wake up anyone found sleeping outside and force them to get up and move on. Where they go, of course, is no one’s concern. The effect of all of those measures is obvious. Rather than correcting the problem (which, admittedly, is not a simple task), these three cities have merely managed to move it next door. The real losers, aside from the home less themselves, are the cities of Tacoma, Eugene and Berkeley ... which are all possible destinations for those homoless people who suddenly find themselves city less as well. Residents of this area should be thankful that Spring field’s measure is so much loss severe than the others. A cynic might argue that this is simply because the home less problem is less severe hero than in Seattle and San Francisco. That might bo an accurate assessment, but hopefully, the law is more lenient because the Spring field City Council understands the futility of outlawing homelessness. If local governments continue trying to push the homeless out of their respective jurisdictions, eventual ly there will be nowhere left for them to go — except maybe the sea. And the EPA would probably havo some thing to say about that. Oregon Daily The Oagon D»ty Emerald it puNfWsd da«»y kfcjnday through Friday during (he achooi y9at and Tuesday and Thursday during Iha summer by the Oregon Oa»iy Emera»d Pubfeshmg Co . Inc . ai the University o» Oregon Eugene. Oregon The Emerald ope*afee independently o< the University *ith o«*ces at Su«te 300 ol the Erb Memorial Urnon and >t a mamba* o* the Associated Press The f meratf *s pnvate property The unla*