I testified today, and I don't feel as though we were heard. It's insulting that they use the Americans with Disabilities Act as a guise for circumventing the court's ruling on Sit/Lie. The degree to which this council will kowtow to the Portland Business Alliance is infuriating, but honestly not surprising.

While I could see all the evils the law brings (addressing a symptom instead of a solution, things like that), I could really use hobos- and in particular the street gutter punk types- not accosting my girlfriend for spare change and then throwing bottles when she rightfully refuses to give them any. This has gotten really bad up around the nob hill area, and it's always this bad- especially in the summertime- in downtown. If a cop could kick their asses out and use this law as reasoning to do so, I'm all for it.

Jake, they didn't listen and never will. Isent comments to Mayor Adams and all the council members, and for some reason they never made the handout. As far as the stance from some council members that the PBA being human beings is just plain wrong, they are an organization trying to preempt public property. I and others are kust waitng for the city to put this in place as they STILL exempt sidewalk cafes. But by using the ADA Act, they overlooked one thing. Under the ADA Act, businesses can not be exempted and our plan is simple in it's beauty. According to the City video, the first 6 to 8 feet of a building frontage is to be left open for peds, so other people and I covered under the ADA act will file complaints against ANY cafe or other commercial use in that first 6 to 8 feet that the CITY quotes with both the city HRC and federal offices so they can't cover it up. What is good for people on the sidewalk is good for businesses on the sidewalk. If it's not discriminatory as the city says, they should have NO PROBLEM enforcing against sidewalk cafes

We're in bizarro world where Portland's business alliance has enough power to get this type of law pushed through but Seattle's gets smacked down by hundreds of activists and a mayoral veto that can't be overridden.

Innit the other way around usually?

Seems like lots of people feel like the Mayor didn't hear them, or listen to them. Have you listened to other people? I mean, there's a lot of disagreement on this, right? I sure want a sit/lie ordinance, and I know most of you don't agree with me. S do you understand that we'll both have to compromise, or do you just want everything your way? If you don't get everything exactly your way, will you say the 'process was flawed' and the evil mayor dictated the new ordinance?

Oh my god, I get on-demand replies if I mention Seattle.

This is great information for future use.

Seattle!

Waiting...

I've got it! Move the homeless, clipboard drones, and activists into THE MALL. That way, people who have nothing better to do with their day than trying new gadgets at the Mac store can alleviate some privilege class guilt and working lads & ladies can grab lunch without the daily dodge of Greenpeace & gutter punks.

Class warfare averted!

Lots of empty space in the Galleria!

Ps, SEATTLE!

This isnt' a civil rights issue. The city wants to specify that you sit at the edge of the sidewalk instead of in the middle of it where people are walking. This isnt' some grave injustice. It's common sense, and if you have any manners, you'd already be doing this anyway.

There are many homeless in Portland who are older people, many with disabilities. These people deserve our support.

18-year-old gutterpunk losers do not deserve our support. They do not deserve to clog up our sidewalks with their filthy dogs. This city is so wound up about ensuring the "rights" for these peices of shit that it can get extremely unpleasant for the other 99% of the population to try to get around downtown.

These kids aren't civil rights heroes. They are fucking losers.

God damn it, Blabby. You write one more thing that I agree with and I'm eating a Double-Down from KFC.

I'm buying!

Everyone around here agrees with me at least once, then I go back to just being the town curmudgeon. I'm comfortable with my role.

Blabby, I hate to say this; but I almost agree with you except for one point. It is a civil rights issue when the city uses the ADA act as color for this ordinance, but exempts businesses. If you follow the letter of the ADA, there can be NO exemptions for commercial use, as the ADA act was developed to allow equal access to accommodations for all. If the city really wants to crack down on unacceptable behavior, maybe they should do what the judges told them to do when they struck down this law FOUR times, use the existing state statutes you already have