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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 6, 2017)
Page 6 December 6, 2017 Web: www.sunlanlighting.com • E-mail: kay@lightlady.com 3901 N. Mississippi Ave. • Portland, OR 97227 503.281.0453 • Fax 503.281.3408 BUSINESSGuide Double J Tires New & Used Tires Overstock & Used Tires $20 & up Priced To Sell All tires mounted & balanced on the car, out the door – no additives. Free stock wheels w/ purchase of any new or used tire limited to stock on hand 30 years in business 2 locations to Serve You 6841 NE MLK, Portland 503-283-9437 4510 SE 52 nd & Holgate 503-771-1834 Advertise with diversity in The Portland Observer BUSINESS GUIDE Call 503-288-0033 ads@portlandobserver.com A sign prohibiting the blocking of any pedestrian movement sparked protests after they were placed in front of the flagship Columbia Sportswear store, apparently in response to the company’s chief executive complaining about public nuisances, downtown. Critics say ‘no-sit zones’ criminalize homelessness. (KGW photo) ‘No Sit’ Resistance to Mayor Protestors say response criminalizes homeless D anny p eterson t he p ortlanD o bserver About 40 protesters rallied against so-called ‘no-sit zones,’ designated sections of city side- walks where blocking pedestrian traffic is prohibited, at a demon- stration Saturday outside the Co- lumbia Sportswear flagship store, downtown. Portland’s Resistance, the group that organized the protest, called ‘no-sit zones’ a means of ‘criminalizing houeselessness’ and criticized Mayor Ted Wheel- er for authorizing eight more city blocks with those designations last week, including two blocks near the Columbia store on South- west Broadway. Two blocks near the Safeway on Southwest 10th and three more near the downtown Galleria were also posted as ‘no- sit zones.’ Wheeler was urged to repeal the policy. by About two weeks prior, Colum- bia Sportswear CEO Tim Boyle wrote an op-ed in the Oregonian complaining about conditions downtown, saying his employees regularly get their cars broken into and one even received a death threat, and said he may have to move the store to a different loca- tion if things don’t change. Critics have noted that Boyle has contributed thousands of dol- lars in campaign contributions to Wheeler. According to news reports, Wheeler authorized the Portland Bureau of Transportation to add eight new no-sit zones after sitting down with about 75 members of the Portland Business Alliance, an organization that originally re- quested that 90 blocks of ‘no-sit zones’ be implemented. The Portland Bureau of Trans- portation has the authority to prevent people from sitting on downtown sidewalks if pedestrian safety concerns or design issues justify it, according to city policy. The Portland Police Bureau, how- ever, has not been instructed to enforce the new signs, according to the Portland Mercury. The pol- icy has been implemented in the past. In 2013, then-mayor Charlie Hales instituted no-sit policies to combat a protest encampment in front of City Hall. Other cities in Oregon have been flirting or experimenting with similar restrictive urban zone policies. When Eugene’s restrict- ed dogs on public property in spe- cific areas of the city’s downtown, the majority of citations were issued to homeless people, the Register-Guard reported. Medford also proposed an ‘exclusion zone’ expansion, which would have pro- hibited people with civil offenses from being in certain areas of the city for 90 days, but it was voted down by the Medford City Coun- cil. A Multnomah County count in February estimated that 4,177 people in the county were home- less; either in an emergency shelter, transitional housing, or unsheltered. That’s nearly a 10 percent increase compared to numbers from two years ago. Oregon’s overall homeless population has increased by six percent over the past two years, according to a statewide point-in- time count of homeless folks done in January. Got Loved Ones You Want to Visit? $5.00 TEES CLUBS FAMILY REUNIONS SCHOOL CLUBS BUSINESSES SCREEN PRINTING 503-762-6042 971-570-8214 Seasonal Clean Up Special! E-Waste • Car Towing Appliances • Debris Scrap Metal • Recycling ABLE ARM Reycling (503) 545-3160 Coffee Creek, Two Rivers, Snake River, OSP, Deer Ridge, Mill Creek, Federal, OSCI, Eastern Oregon or other institutions? We can Help. Carpool with us on the weekend. Lunch Included. Space is Limited, RSVP required. For More information . . . Call or Text 503-447-6550
