10A | WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2019 | SIUSLAW NEWS
Difficulties from page 8A
Camping and codes
Wood did have another theory
about the possible decline.
“I think they migrated to Eu-
gene,” he said. “There seems to
be more resources in Eugene.
I don’t really know. Some are
going up and down the coast. I
think from talking to folks, it’s
getting harder for people to be
homeless here in Florence.”
Some of that feeling may have
to do with a code that was passed
last year which in the public cre-
ated a stir, but in practice has
done very little.
In September 2018, the Flor-
ence City Council unanimously
passed a code that amended nui-
sance laws in the city.
The original code, drafted
in 1977, read, “No person shall
lodge in a car, outbuilding or
other place not intended for that
purpose.” However, tents and
RVs are intended for the purpose
of lodging, therefore were not
considered illegal.
Two years ago, the Florence
Municipal Court judge identified
the problem with the tent defini-
tion, “So, our code enforcement
and police officers hadn’t hand-
ed out any of those citations all
during that time,” Pitcher said.
They were working on a new
draft covering both public and
private lands, but then just weeks
before they were to submit it to
the city council, such laws were
blocked by the Ninth Circuit
Court of Appeals. The court
ruled that prosecuting homeless
people for sleeping on public
property when they have no ac-
cess to shelter violated the con-
stitution and was deemed cruel
and unusual punishment.
“That had to change the city
ordinance completely,” Pitch-
er said. “We took out the pub-
lic part entirely, and it was just
about private property.”
The result of the ever-evolving
legal status, Pitcher stated, is that
Florence Police haven’t issued
an unlawful lodging citation in
years.
“Now, we do address other is-
sues that might be happening, lit-
tering and those type of things,”
he said. “If we see a problem or
we get complaints, we address
them. We’re not citing anyone for
lodging, but we will cite for other
things if it’s called for.”
And guests at the shelter said
they try to avoid camping on pri-
vate property. While they found
it difficult sometimes knowing
where public and private lands
end, they tried to avoid the pri-
vate property because not only
could it incur a camping fine,
but trespassing violations as
well.
Are the police more aggres-
sive with public fines?
“I wouldn’t say we’ve been
ramping up on that,” Pitcher
said. “If there’s an issue we need
to address, we do. That’s been
our stance for quite some time.”
The local department does re-
ceive multiple monthly calls for
“illegal camping/lodging,” but
some of the issues can be taken
care of with a simple conversa-
tion.
“If we go somewhere where
someone isn’t doing anything
wrong, nothing illegal or vio-
lation of city ordinances, then
we don’t do anything,” Pitcher
said. “It matters what they’re
doing. If it’s a matter of city or-
dinance, then they get citations.
If it’s a criminal offense, then
they could get arrested or give
citations. It matters what the
situation is. If it’s something we
can handle and not have to take
them to jail and it won’t happen
again, then we’re not going to
take them to jail.”
The guests at the shelter did
not talk of any crackdown or ag-
gressive ticketing either, stating
that the Florence Police could be
strict, but also fair and deserving
of respect.
Wood believes that there
could be other factors in en-
couraging the homeless popula-
tion to leave.
“I think the businesses are
pushing people away,” he said,
referencing a specific business
that he heard had banned mul-
tiple individuals.
“The only thing I can talk
about is that we have a no loi-
tering policy at the front of our
store,” a representative told the
Siuslaw News.
“And rightly so,” Wood said,
acknowledging that some public
problems do occur. “I have some
sympathy for that.”
But Wood also pointed out
that while there is a large swell
of support for the homeless in
the community, there are also
a fair share of vocal detractors
that may have left the popula-
tion feeling unwelcomed and
forced out.
“People may have seen the
writing on the wall and moved
on,” he said.
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Debate
The debate over the place of
homeless people in the Siuslaw
region has been raging for de-
cades, with strong opinions on
both sides of the issue.
Last week, the Siuslaw News
printed a two-part series on
interviews with the homeless,
posting a link on Facebook. De-
nise Weatherwax-Ebner wrote
the following on our Facebook
page:
“Thank you for doing this.
There are so many people in this
town who look down upon the
homeless. Like they are dirty or
beneath the rest of us. Both of
my grandmothers where consid-
ered ‘lower class’ by each of their
husbands’ (my grandfathers)
families. Growing up, they both
drilled into my head that no one
is BETTER than anyone else in
this world. ‘There, but for the
grace of God, go I.’ (sic)”
The majority of the comments
posted on Facebook shared the
similar sentiments. On the Let’s
Talk, Florence Oregon Facebook
page, Melanie McKinzie Peters-
en didn’t disagree with Weather-
wax-Ebner’s statements, but did
offer some concerns.
“My neighbor would have
had help from other neighbors.
We have a great town. We have
a wonderful police department
and first responders. We also are
supporting transients in one way
or the other. Let them be tran-
sients. Give our police depart-
ment a break. They have to spend
way too much time on many of
the same people over and over.
Let them move on to where there
are facilities for them and larger
agencies for them. Your neigh-
bors are being robbed, your
child’s bike may have been sto-
len. Our agencies are maxed out.
Please do not give them cash. Do
not allow the transients make the
mistake of thinking this is a safe
haven. I cannot afford to sup-
port them. Please help the truly
homeless, there are felons and
misdemeanors hiding here as
well. Just be careful. (sic)”
In September, the city released
information on the cost of clean-
up of illegal camping. The annu-
al expenses for these incidents
totaled $10,650 for Siuslaw Val-
ley Fire and Rescue and $19,500
for Western Lane Ambulance
District. For Florence Code En-
forcement and the Florence Po-
lice Department, expenses have
ranged from $50 to $400 per call-
out and as much as $4,997 per
site cleanup for Florence Public
Works.
That’s a problem that even
some of the guests of the Cold
Weather Shelter saw.
“If you pack it in, you pack it
out,” a guest named Hobbit said.
“You mean to tell me that you
can carry a 12-pack of beer and
some hamburgers out there, and
you can’t bring them cans and
trash back? Please.”
“And you’re conscientious. I
am too,” James, another guest at
the shelter said. “A lot of people
aren’t, and that’s what people
have a problem with.”
As for the time the police de-
partment invests in the popula-
tion, Pitcher said, “There’s defi-
nitely some calls with homeless
people that create a lot of time
for us. There’s a portion of that
population that is a criminal
element. Not all, but there’s a
portion. That portion definitely
takes up a lot of time.”
He listed drugs, alcohol, tres-
passing and vandalism as fre-
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While the numbers may be
smaller at the Cold Weather
Shelter, “The need is still there,”
SOS’s Teter said. “It’s definitely
supplying an emergency need in
the community. The last thing
we need is for people to get
frostbite, or even death. Hypo-
thermia is an issue here because
it’s wet.”
Wood would like to see ser-
vices expanded in the region. If
given the chance, he would want
the shelter to be open any time
it’s under 40 degrees, but the
program lacks resources to han-
dle that at this time. To expand
to that temperature, a new struc-
ture would have to be found,
along with funding and more
support from local volunteers.
But Wood also would like to
see more comprehensive solu-
tions as well.
“I would love to see some-
place that would serve as a day
shelter, but also as a drop-in cen-
ter that would also get people to
find work,” he said.
But such plans may involve a
broader discussion in the com-
munity. Does the region want
to become a safe place for the
homeless, embracing its place
on the Highway 101 corridor?
Or is that even needed? If the
population is in fact decreasing
for whatever reason, perhaps the
goal should be to continue what’s
being done. The question then
is, what are we aiming for? Zero
homelessness in the region? If
not, who gets to stay, who gets to
go, and who decides?
Basically, what’s the answer to
homelessness?
“I wish I had the answer to
that,” Pitcher said. “A lot of plac-
es are dealing with the problems
surrounding homelessness.
I just don’t have that answer. I
don’t know.”
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don’t know your way around
and that kind of thing. You don’t
have any money, and you don’t
know anybody. And you’re lost,
you know? You don’t know what
your next turn is going to be. It
can be an adventure, I guess, if
you have that kind of spirit. But
me, it scares me. You’re home-
less, jobless and penniless.”
The guests, one of which had
been in Florence for 10 years,
wanted exactly what many of
the local residents do — A quiet
place they feel comfortable in.
They may not have a shelter, but
they still call Florence home.
quent issues, most of which are
misdemeanors, which limits
what the police can do to prevent
problems.
“If it’s staying at the misde-
meanor level, which the majori-
ty of the crimes are, they’re not
going to see prison,” he said.
“They’re going to see jail time
here, but not prison. We don’t see
felonies being repeated over and
over again. It’s the misdemean-
ors that are getting repeated over
and over again.”
Pitcher said that it’s easy to
see why a minority of homeless
individuals can give the impres-
sion that the entire population is
dangerous.
“When you’re in law enforce-
ment, and you go through a lot
of calls, you start to wonder if it’s
everybody, but it’s not,” he said.
“We’re dealing with the same
few people over and over again.
It comes down to individuals. It
doesn’t matter if they’re home-
less or not. If you have a certain
population, whether it’s bikers,
homeless or whatever, if you
have a group in that population
that are causing problems, those
are the people that you worry
about. Most people who ride
bikes are good people. But there’s
one percent that’s not. Those
are the people that cause most
of the issues. With the homeless
population, the ones who are in-
volved in the criminal element
do present something to worry
about. But the other part of the
population, they’re not causing
problems.”
While the majority of the
homeless do not cause severe
problems in the community,
some believe that merely having
homeless in the community is a
blight. The general public may
be supportive of those who lost
housing due to current housing
problems and are just trying to
get by, the more chronic home-
less are continually looked on
with fear — such as the travelers
on Highway 101 and those who
come from Eugene looking for a
more temperate climate.
“We don’t want to become
another Eugene” is a common
refrain when it comes to the
homeless population, and it’s
one many of the homeless them-
selves don’t want.
“Scary place,” James said
when talking about Eugene.
“There’s all the same problems
as there is everywhere, there’s
homelessness and crime. And
you don’t know anybody. You
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