Maybe the reporting folks just didn't open that email, like the Bush Administration did with a pesky EPA order.

I find it hard to believe there are NO resources in the city for homeless pregnant women. As a matter of fact I think that would be a total crock.

She is on a waiting list to get into housing. The list is long. You were saying?

This damn sit-lie ordinance! Unfairly targeting those who sit-lie on the downtown streets! Just like drug laws unfairly target those who manufacture, sell and possess drugs. And those damn speeding laws that unfairly target speeders. And those damn theft laws that unfairly target thieves! Enough already! Did you know that the majority of people arrested for Domestic Violence assaults are WHITE MALES! How racist and sexist is that!!!!

Why does anyone think that the rest of us owe her anything for being lazy and getting pregnant? So she gets tickets for essentially panhandling. Big deal. Get a job and be responsible. Maybe the Portland Mercury will give her a job.

Ever try getting a job without an address? Or wearing nice clothes to an interview when you have nothing? Or able to shower before work when you have no shower? Yeah...good luck getting a job. This is why she needs help. I don't know if she is lazy or not, but most homeless people are not lazy, just mentally ill or have had horrible things happen to them. So Tony, it is easy to say those things when you have opportunities that not all have.

I am shocked, shocked to find the PPB lying/misreporting/being inept...shocked. no wonder they fight so hard against oversight. it should be interesting to see what the results of the recount is. Keep up the great work trying to get to the truth, Matt - be sure to report on the July 10th update. I would be interested to know how this error came about. Was it one cop, their data system, etc.

r.james: How is sitting in the street the same as dealing drugs, speeding, or thieving? Tony: nobody's saying you have to give her money. The article is about the cops not giving information about her citations to the group responsible for overseeing the sit/lie law. Kirby: She applied for a job at Nordstrom recently but was turned down. "Nobody will give me a job when I'm on the streets," she says.

All the while, Ted Papas is illegally operating a sidewalk cafe without a license, and Greg Goodman has tons of unlicensed A-board signs. Of course, fining people who can pay for it just isn't done in this city. Fining someone who can't afford it in the hope that she'll leave downtown so people don't go "EWWWWW!" - now, that makes sense!

someone needs to tell Monica Gorake that she got duped. I am not sure which is worse, Mike Kickenhobos and the PBA, Tom Terrific and his gestapo, or the advocates like her who were (willingly?) duped in to believing that these evil bastards have a soul and want to help people. the whole lot should be ashamed. how long till someone who "represents us" will realize that they are being evil bastards and they should start representing everyone, including bums. maybe Sam "Portland is for all of us" Adams will be the first person who is man enough to stand up and say "no, I wont discriminate against someone because they are poor"

The real issue here is the cops "cooking the books". But why is anyone surprised?? It's business as usual at the PPB.

Thanks for reporting this, as it's all too clear that something dreadfully wrong is going on at PPB. The more that comes to light, the more dis- tressing it is to have faith in these darn people. We have one living in our neighborhood and we don't trust him or his obese wife and so far we've not been able to get them to move away and get out of our neighborhood. Damn these people! Thanks for being there for us out here and telling us the truth when Tom gives us nothing but lies, while Rosie prances around like a dizzy-headed blond in need of a visit to her hair-dresser. Honestly, these damned people make me sick!

I would have to agree with Matt, this in particular is not about her being without housing. To me this is about citations for a law not making it to the group that the mayor has appointed to oversee the law. I find this whole mess sad. I have been thru my copy of the data from those months and can only find one warning for her and not one citation. How would we react if a bunch of tickets for any other law did not make it to the oversight group?

I don't know what to say to this. It's frustrating. I feel like the issue that you're writing about, Matt-- sympathy-- really isn't as clear cut as how many tickets this or that person has received from the police. And people, institutions, parts of society don't necessarily need to extend their sympathy in exactly the same way to have it qualify as such. My personal belief is that the most caring, considerate thing I can do for people who panhandle and who seem functional and not completely shot with mental illness, is to not enable them in any way. Therefore, I absolutely will never give any money, no matter how convincing a picture they paint. Not this woman necessarily, but statistically speaking if you dole out money to people on the street, there's a great chance it's going up their arm, nose, mouth, etc. And as advice, If she really wants a job, I'd also tell her that she could find a more than suitable outfit at goodwill or dress for success for, probably, half of a day's profits ($10)... and she could wear that all day, instead of what's she pictured in... Which is, like it or not, a 'I REALLY do not want a job' uniform. Is she really going to hear about a job from this or that person, see a 'help wanted' sign, or overhear a conversation on the street, and go there immediately and apply in this?

Lyle, Libertarian nutcase that you are, and I really love your comments, this isn't a story solely about homelessness. It's a story about a government-appointed oversight group being misled (whether intentionally or not) by the police bureau it has appointed to enforce a controversial law. If it were a no-militia law, it would be the same story. Although I suspect you might be somewhat more aggrieved.

"You only matter if you’ve got money, nowadays." Well, that's not exactly a new phenomenon.

wow, what a lame assed thing to do. are the po-po really that stupid? they had to know that eventually they would make a mistake and word would get out about the other tickets they are not sending to the street group. I cannt wait to hear what the people who support the homeless who are on that group do, hopefully they leave. do you know what their plans are Matt? who is on that group that is not working for the city or some other pro-oppression group? someone should ask them why the hell they are still there. when and where is the next meeting, I might want to go to see what happens. is it open?

Sit/Lie blows. No argument there. But, doesn't this chick know they give out free birth control at Planned Parenthood? What the hell is wrong with people?

Ahhhh, now here we have an issue: THE DATA! Where oh where has my data gone? Oh where oh where can it be? You can't trust any official "data", EVER! DON'T BELIEVE THE HYPE!

Only one thing is obvious from this story - she's obviously not a very fast learner.

the only thing obvious Freshmaker is that you have never heard of civil disobedience.

Ahh, I've had my coffee. No redfan, I have. I see the issue here and the only thing I can think of is a max amount of times people can be cited for this somewhat nebulous law, copies of every citation CC'd to a third party review group/person, a pass or grace period if on a waiting list for shelter and mandatory review of cases where people have been cited multiple times. That's all I got.

actually, I think there is a oversight group, from what the article says, they got no game though, the city/ppb/pba/who ever just owned them and ignored their oversight.

I guess, it just seems SAFE doesn't have the ability to pursue these citations. Maybe if you get cited you should have to report it to SAFE. Aren't they public record? If the oversight committee can't trust the data it receives, then it should get the information on its own somehow...

I have limited tolerance for people in the peak of their young, able-bodied lives hanging around on the streets begging for things. If you're responsible enough to get pregnant and have a child, you're responsible enough to go to some kind of job on a part-time or full-time basis. Some agency in this town will help you get cleaned up and get a workable wardrobe. You're not doing anything, so you have all day to haul yourself around Old Town and find these services for you and your baby. It's the kids that really piss me off. I know I'm getting old because I have less and less tolerance for this nonsense. "Waiting for housing." Go find housing and earn your rent. I have to believe that with the amount of work you put into bothering people for money and staging protests in front of City Hall that you could find some type of work. Hell, they just built a day worker center on MLK. Go hang out there.

great quote about this very issue... "The poor have to labour in the face of the majestic equality of the law, which forbids the rich as well as the poor to sleep under bridges, to beg in the streets, and to steal bread." which is of course by Anatole France. thanks Patrick

Hey Brandon, What is your tolerance of your Police providing false data to your elected government officials?

The story: 1.The cops are supposed to tell the SAFE oversight group when they give people sit/lie citations. 2.They gave this girl 11 sit/lie citations and didn't tell the SAFE oversight group about any of them. 3.Those pushing for the sit/lie ordinance have denied all along that it is targeted at one specific group of people, yet these concealed/lost cites show otherwise. @17: "who is on that group that is not working for the city or some other pro-oppression group? someone should ask them why the hell they are still there. when and where is the next meeting, I might want to go to see what happens. is it open?" -Marc Jolin of JOIN -Monica Goracke of the Oregon Law Center -Sean Suib of New Avenues for Youth -Doreen Binder of Transition Projects The next meeting is on Thursday, July 10 at 9:30am at City Hall. But I'll keep you posted—they tend to move around at the last minute, and I'm never informed formally.

Yes, I got off on a tangent. It is unacceptable for the police not to provide the info they're supposed to be providing. I agree with that completely. The PPB is always a wild card. I strongly recommend the book "Portland Confidential" if you want to understand the history of corruption that today's PPB evolved out of.

I think the reason they are underreporting this ticketing must be that they don't want to loose this tool. I mean is that the Elephant? If they report how much they ticket then it will be said that they are targeting the pan handlers (Street kids)? Is that right? So is the argument that we should just take the consequences that come with reporting the facts? ... the Police will have to now give a ticket to a street kid and then go over to Burnside and ticket a passed out homeless person with mental and or drug problems? Is that what we are talking about?

Ok, let's say they HAD indeed reported that they had given her 11 tickets. What sort of different policy would we see? The only thing I can think is that people--including Portland Police--would conclude that the policy doesn't really work if the same person keeps getting ticketed. Either that or they'd conclude that they need stiffer penalties. I don't see this as a nefarious coverup so much as it is a stupid screw up. As for this particular case, yes, I have to second the "why the hell did she get pregnant" sentiment. My wife and I waited YEARS to have a kid because we wanted to make absolutely certain our finances and every other part of our lives was rock solid enough to support another mouth to feed. It's not necessarily her fault for being homeless--it IS her fault for making really poor judgements while homeless that do not help her situation at all, and in fact compound her difficulties. She thinks it's hard to find a job when you're homeless and don't have a place to shower, an address to receive mail, or decent clothes to wear? Keep all that, and add a needy kid to the mix. Really, an astoundingly poor judgement on her part.

1. reporter makes a case against city oversight/coverup on pertinent data 2. reporter uses pregnent homless girl as an example 3. dozens of white collar yuppies pick example apart for being pregnant, jobless, not in a suit, not in a position of power, not having a stable background 4. i realize i would rather be on the streets with that girl than working in the same cubicle with ignoramuses

Fuck yeah. Where do you people get off with criticizing other people's parenting choices? Dan Savage's kid was adopted from a woman like this. When I have a child he will of course be 6'7", genetically perfect, and named Sven. And none of you will be able to touch me for it.

what everyone seems to be missing is that these may not be the only tickets that the city neglected to mention. I wonder who is going to turn out be holding the grenade at the end of this one? someone should be fired for not letting the citizens of our city know all of the details of laws/deals cut with the PBA.

"4. i realize i would rather be on the streets with that girl than working in the same cubicle with ignoramuses" Would you really? Raising a brand new baby? I'm guessing you wouldn't really want to do that because its a dangerous and crazy way to live if you can avoid it. If we want to help these kids we need to not take a "I understand your lifestyle" attitude, and help them to fix their situation now. Otherwise a 20-year-old homeless person turns into a 40-year-old homeless person, and the city runs around trying to create enough beds with our tax money, and then word gets out that Pdx is a cool place to hang and the city will give you beds, and then 1000 more kids come, and then word gets out that we've scrambled to give them beds, and 1000 more kids come....

Thanks Brandon! For a perfect example of the classical logical fallacy known a the 'Slippery Slope'.

Where do you people get off with criticizing other people's parenting choices? Shove off, Davis. She selfishly decided to bring a person into the world who will be wholly dependent on someone who can't even support herself. Brilliant! Seems eminently worthy of criticism.

Dave J... how much does the PBA pay? the issue is that the PPD, the city and the PBA hosed us all and dont even think we are important enough to bother to comment on the story. Matt asked, they did not bother. it is sad that Portland has turned in to such a totalitarian dictatorship that the sheeple cant even efectively ask why they are not made aware of all the facts.

matt's mad about this because the city isn't enforcing the sit lie law fairly - they are using it as a tool to push along homeless people. regardless of how you feel about homeless people, you probably feel laws should be fairly enforced on everyone. the city isn't reporting the citations to the oversight group because they don't want this unfair use of the law brought into question. go look at the permit-less sidewalk cafe that greek cusina has and ask yourself if that's fair that they can "sit" without a permit but homeless people can't. (especially with how horrible the food is that he serves...good god man).

Matt thanks for tracking and reporting. Now, how about how the city keeps opening up shelter beds based on the police's request? Humanitarian response or cheap jail space without courts? If there are shelter beds, they can enforce the camping ordinance. Let's not let folks get "duped" again.

Thought I would wait until some of the dust settles, so here goes. First I happen to know Jas, and have known her for over a year. I have to say, I trust her MORE than some of the ignorant people I see in this blog every day that consider themselves normal.That being said, lets get to the heart of the issue. D.- There is simply a LARGE lack of resources for people who are down in their luck in our lovely city. Last count by those who can't even count to 12 or 13 was a lack of over 1300 beds. how far off are they on that count, I wonder? r. james- Fulfilling basic human needs such as sitting when you are tired, being a little less fortunate than others, keeping clean or being safe, should NOT be a crime. Tony- Lazy? Try being run from pillar to post to get something to eat, get a shower, deal with people who have LDS, (little dick syndrome), or woory about where i will sleep tonight, and will I be safe or will I end up being one of the nameless people who will end up on a slab at OSHU. Lyle- see above. G- I hat to tell ya this, but not ALL pregnancies are planned. freshmaker- not enough shelter space, so not doable. See above Brandon- One tip. Get real and get educated. Providing beds for homeless people does not attract 'em like flies. Lets see, I'm broke, have no money or job,don't know anyone in the city so I think I'll go there? WTF, do you have any idea what reality is? Greg-No. It is more about fairness for all people, regardless of their class. Damn constitution. Dale j.- see response to pregnancy above. Now lets get to the REAL issue. This city and this country has been taken away from people and been given to heartless corporations and a leadership that does not lead, but instead takes from ALL of us. It lies, cheats and steals and does not do what is right or good. Our leaders in a position of authority use that same authority to lie, and manipulate us into hating each other because THEY are not like US. Even the cause of homelessness dos not have just one cause, but I wish it did. then we could fix it in a hurry. For those of you with these bigoted ideas of homeless people, I offer YOU a challenge. Quit suckling at mommas teat, come out with the clothes on your back and noting else and see how fast your ideas about how fun? it is changes. Maybe you will get a sense of reality and a sense of real social justice. For those of you who were more open minded, I thank you. Once we all start working together, we can change the way the world is. After all, injustice to one is injustice to ALL.

Sorry, Dale, but over the past three years I've met dozens of street kids that migrated to portland because they heard that street life was easy. I don't agree with Brandon on a number of points, but your refutation from experience simply conflicts that of too many others.

but over the past three years I've met dozens of street kids that migrated to portland because they heard that street life was easy." That's crock of shit...

What I think Israel means there is that you should read the article the Street Roots did a few weeks ago that dispells this myth... while I was homeless the vast majority of the people that I knew that were living without housing were either from the Portland/metro area or had lived housed in Portland for a long while before becoming homeless... that trend has not changed now that I am not living without housing. my job keeps me in contact with this community every day, I think I would most likely notice a trend. thanks Patrick

I don't see how letting people panhandle for money downtown helps anyone. $30 a day is nothing. Id say go to the VOZ day labor site on MLK. You can get $10 an hour, maybe $100 a day (tax free). Its not much, but enough for a room and some food. I know its not an option for every homeless person, but some people travel thousands of miles just for that opportunity. I agree that more needs to be done.

Greg, I would agree, there are many different ways to earn money. I think the important part about this story is that for some reason, which has yet to be clarified, the SAFE oversight committee was not getting all of the warnings and citations for the Sit Lie law, which they are supposed to oversee. As a former member of the SAFE Oversight Committee I would like to mention that without access to _all_ of the citations and warnings it would be very hard to oversee a law that many people already feel targets one part of Portland's population. thanks Patrick

I agree. It seems like this discussion has slipped into a few discussions. In my first post I was trying to pinpoint what exactly we are talking about. It does sound like the Police are skirting the system, but maybe they need better options. Its a murky issue.

The police wouldn't have to under-report these tickets if people like Jas weren't breaking the law. In my day, we used to give these people a one-way bus ticket to South Carolina and be done with them. I also find it shameful that a girl would get pregnant out of wedlock. She also curses, which is incredibly unladylike. But I believe that anyone that hands her money on the street is also to blame.

"That's crock of shit... " Sorry, Israel, but I've been told by many pan-handling youth with a tenuous grasp on housing that they arrived here from out of state because a certain aspect of portland's reputation, i.e. the ease of street living compared to other west-coast cities. I'm sorry that admitting that this minority of portland's street demographics exists offends you somehow, but I think calling people liars when their first-hand experience is inconvenient to your agenda is kind of fucked up.

Debating the moral issue of homelessness is a diversion to the real point of this story and other stories that point to an increasing police oriented influence on homeless policy in Portland. That isn't good for anyone. I'm telling you, watch out when police say they are trying to help people who are homeless. Only a very few are. People got duped on this deal, they continued to get duped on other deals.

what gives with this "J. Reginald Forthewright esq."??? Is the dude a snob or what?

A cat, Key word is minority (of street demographics.) Yes, it's true a very small group of individuals travel the west coast - migrating up and down the west coast from Cisco, Portland, Seattle and Vancouver, but it's not because street life in Portland is easier - it's because they live a nomadic lifestyle. You could walk down Broadway on Capital Hill in Seattle, Turk Street in the Tenderrloin, etc. and experience the same thing you might experienc in Portland. For more perspective pick up a Street Roots - this edition has an interview with Dennis Lundberg. In fact, one of the questions in the interview is geared towards this very topic. And until someone can show me some demographics otherwise, I'll continue to think the idea that homeless people love Portland because street life is easy is "crock of shit."

Magnet Myth

Magnet Myth

"People that live a nomadic lifestyle are by definition going to travel to wherever the conditions are best for them at a given time."

Yes, and that could be Portland and it could be Dallas. All depends.

"You'll find that pictures can't be painted in black and white, an idea which the data in your "magnet myth" agrees with." Please elaborate. I don't understand your point...

You, or anyone else are free to report on why Portland is a magnet for homeless people - in 10-years of doing this work, and building relationships I've heard the myth, but I've never once seen it reported on and followed up with facts. It's usually thrown into an editorial, or paraphrased by a sole source either on the streets, or from the business community.

I don't think I'm being fundamentally dishonest as a reporter, or as an individual by saying that life on Portland's streets is not easy.

I respect your opinion, and respect the fact that you yourself have either been out on the beat, or have built relationships with people that are. I just can't get behind the idea that Portland, or any other city is a magnet for poverty and homelessness, especially because life might be easier here.