Page 6
December 6, 2017
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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.
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