THE WELCOME MAT grudgingly offered to a hardy group of campers outside Portland City Hall—drawn to the building’s wide sidewalks ever since an Occupy-inflected prayer vigil and protest sprung up in December—appears on the verge of being rolled up for good.
And, at the same time, city officials are losing patience with activist Cameron Whitten and his 40-day-long housing-justice hunger strike—which has emerged as another magnet for protesters looking to poke at the heart of Portland’s government.
Early Monday, July 16—days after the city complained about public sex and intoxication, and promised cops would start enforcing city codes—power-washing crews showed up and forced campers, along with Whitten, across SW 4th to the sidewalks along Terry Schrunk Plaza.
As of press time, Tuesday, July 17, many of those campers were still across the street, unsure how to take a warning from the mayor’s office that even though sleeping will be permitted on the sidewalk, storing personal property would not be.
“Look, if you wanted to stay at city hall overnight and then stay during the day,” says Caryn Brooks, Mayor Sam Adams’ spokeswoman, “the courteous thing to do is take your sleeping bag, roll it up tight, and make sure you’re not in anyone’s way. That’s all we’re asking for.”
Whitten was back at his usual spot in front of city hall with his water bottles, blankets, laptop-powering car batteries, and pile of placards. He’d written a letter the day before letting city commissioners know why he needed to keep his stuff outside city hall—even when he leaves to go to class.
“Lack of these items will most likely cause me to lead to a very dramatic hospitalization,” he wrote, “which is publicity that I would rather wish to avoid.”
Brooks wasn’t very charitable, asking “is he more special” than someone with, say, mobility issues who can’t navigate the sidewalk? “That’s what we’re dealing with.”
But Commissioner Amanda Fritz, replying to Whitten’s email, was more reassuring. “Whenever I’ve visited you,” she wrote, “all your stuff has been within arm’s reach.”
The tension comes prior to another city hall rally, planned by Whitten and Occupy Portland, this Friday, July 20. That will be the 50th day of Whitten’s strike, and the 20th since he gave up drinking juice. Both mayoral candidates, Charlie Hales and Jefferson Smith, are expected to address the crowd.
That kind of drawing power shows the extent that Whitten’s strike—particularly his call that the city waive fines against the Old Town homeless rest area Right 2 Dream Too (R2D2)—has focused even more attention on housing issues. Last week, for example, Mark Kramer, an attorney with the National Lawyers Guild, wrote the city a letter asking if R2D2 might be treated like a second Dignity Village-style camp.
It’s less clear, however, whether city hall is still listening to Whitten. Instead, the place abounded with the wishful rumor that Whitten was spotted (gasp!) eating an orange.
Housing Commissioner Nick Fish said he’d take Kramer’s letter seriously, but Fish’s office has kept mum on Whitten and his demands after the two met this month. The mayor’s office has also been largely silent on Whitten’s cause.
But not Commissioner Dan Saltzman, who oversees the code enforcers who are fining R2D2. Saltzman, hoping to broker some kind of deal, says he approached Whitten on a recent Saturday to talk about finding a new location for R2D2. He even called fellow Commissioner Randy Leonard’s cell phone during dinner and had Whitten talk to him.
Saltzman grumbled that Whitten demanded a citizen panel work on the issue—a dealbreaker, he says, for him and Leonard. After that, he was done.
“Everybody in this building is through with him. No one is negotiating,” Saltzman says. “If there’s a medical crisis, we’ll call 911.”
Whitten smiled when he heard that. He’s lost 30 pounds, he looks noticeably more haggard, but he’s not planning on ending his hunger strike.
“I’m out here to say this isn’t working.”
Caryn missed a great opportunity to make the case that all the homeless folks in Portland should just roll up their gear and disappear at sunrise every morning so as not to clutter up the sidewalks of the city, thus making way for the more fortunate amongst us as we leave our homes and head downtown.
I hate to break the news to Commissioner Saltzman, but it is highly unlikely “everyone in the building” is through with this idealistic young man. My guess is he will be around long after all the current “city leaders” have moved on. I doubt that Saltzman would have been so caustic in his remarks if the young person on the street happened to be the idealistic son or daughter of a prominent Portland family rather then a young black man from a broken home standing his ground for what he believes in, justice for the “houseless”.
Three Cheers for Saltzman!
We have more people living on the streets of Portland than are in emergency shelters on any given night. This does not include all those who are turned away and told there is no room for them. Dignity Village was created because there was no room for the “houseless” and the city goes around bragging about it. R2D2 was started because people have a right to be safe at night and they have no place to go. The mayor and Commissioners have now said they are through with Cameron Whitten, well we are not through with you 5 insensitive people who do not care about the most vulnerable among us. Cameron started his hunger strike with 3 demands and has agreed to drop all but one, stop the damn fines by the city against R2D2. The city says no! There will be a protest this Friday evening at 4:30 PM in front of City Hall and across the street to tell the 5 people in city hall that we are losing patience with their lack of understanding, that there is an emergency just outside their place of work. Most authorities will tell you there are a large number of veterans in this group of homeless/houseless people. Some put the figure at 25%. This council should understand this simple concept, Mayor Adams’ political future is over, Leonard is running away, Fritz is in the battle of her political life against Mary Nolan and that leaves only saltzman and the fishman; they will be run out of office if something is not done. Cameron has offered a compromise but our representatives and their staff say they are finished with him—I think not!!!!!
Joe Walsh-Lone Vet
Individuals For Justice
Member of Oregon Progressive Party
I called Dan Saltzman’s offices to complain about his treatment of R2D2 on Wednesday, and talked to his assistant, she told me that Dan hasn’t met with anyone regarding the R2D2 yet. She also told me that he can’t show the R2D2 encampment special treatment, or it wouldn’t be fair to others. She said, he wants to talk to the R2D2 people to try to relocate the encampment somewhere else within the city. After reading this, either his assistant is unaware of a lot of his actions or she was lying to me. Either way, I’m a bit pissed off at their unprofessional actions in the treatment of the R2D2 encampment and how they treat Cameron.
The Portland police and Multnomah county sheriff’s are pedophiles and there is no process available to citizen’s to get them arrested!
The Independent police review board and the Portland Copwatch organization is a joke and actually cover up felony complaints against suspect police officer’s!
Cops arrest citizen’s all the time whether they witness a crime or not, but police will not arrest a police officer no matter how many witnesses there are and will ignore and or edit evidence in order to protect a cop from prosecution!
There is no one to report this to that cares, cops cover their butts and they cover each others butts no matter what and they have many people within the system that lies for them so they just don’t care!
I am a witness and a victim of Portland police and Multnomah county sheriff’s felony crimes and I am not their only victim!
I have been beaten, poisoned, and threatened by the police and no one cares, local news media covers this all up they only report publicly what the police WANTS reported to the public, local news media is controlled by police!
Police have many friends working in hospitals it is nothing for police to gain doctors as accomplices in order to cover up beatings, poisonings, the doctor simply refuses to take a toxicology test!
How does a victim prove their poisoned when the doctors refuse to take a toxicology test?
Terry Wagar
Innocent people are homeless living on the streets while Portland police officer’s and Multnomah county detectives give homes to their whores for lying for them!
My wife Joan Wagar was having an affair with a couple of police officer’s and they paid her to frame me for their crimes and she got a house for it!
So whores that lie for pedophile cops get free homes in Portland Oregon, the police take care of their “BRO’S” and they don’t give a damn if anyone knows it!
They gave my wife’s lover the cop a new identity and he still works here as a police officer!
The Portland police and Multnomah county sheriff’s have a lot of empty homes they steel from innocent people and they give them away to their BRO’S and to their whores!
The independent police review board and Portland copwatch just look the other way and local news media is mums the word about their organized crimes they commit!
Joan Wagar got a free home because she was sleeping around with cops and was helping them to frame me for their crimes and they paid her for her help!
Meanwhile people are homeless in Portland and the police have the gall to fine them for being homeless!
Terry Wagar
There was an elderly gentleman who owned property in Laurelhurst that dedicated his life to giving the homeless a place to live, on his own dime. The PPB busted their asses trying to drive him out of the elite neighborhood. They fell all over themselves to evict everyone and sell the property when the gentleman suddenly fell ill…problem solved—they got ‘our kind’ out of their neighborhood. The harassment had gone on for a decade.
Having a safe place to go also means being out of the reach of police officers, safe from continual harassment and arrest. No more fine collection. No more illegal searches and seizures. No more ‘fun’.