Courtesy of the Facebook group The Sit/Lie Ordinance is Unconstitutional. Really. Stop Trying To Fix It:

The city council has considered and will vote on an ’emergency’ new sidewalk management ordinance on Thursday. It is vital that Portland residents call the city council NOW and let the council know that this law is unnecessary, unappreciated, unconstitutional and un-Portland. Join us on Tuesday and CALL CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS between noon and 2:00 PM on Wednesday.

Some reasons you might suggest that they vote no on the sidewalk ordinance renewal:

The ordinance is:

1) Unnecessary: There is no emergency. The sidewalks are doing just find in the absence of the Sit/Lie ordinance. Existing criminal laws, A-board rules and property rights allow for a dynamic and fair use of sidewalks downtown. You don’t need this new complex law

2) Unappreciated: No one is pushing for this law except for the city’s largest lobbyist, the Portland Business Alliance. Despite the whitewash parts of the ordinance addressing sidewalk cafes and the disingenuous use of the American With Disabilities Act as a justification, we all know the true purpose of this ordinance is to offer police an opportunity to stop, harass and roust ‘undesirables’ from our city streets and empower law enforcement to make needless contacts with people the business alliance deems undesirable.

3) Unconstitutional: Like the Drug Free Zones and Sit/Lie ordinances before it, this new ordinance will face years of costly litigation and be picked apart piece by piece by judges who will recognize that this law will be enforced unfairly, threatens personal liberty and does not meet the requirements of the Oregon and US constitutions.

4) Un-Portland: Our city is not about unfairly targeting one group. Our city is not about fake due process serving one interest group. Our city is not about prejudice and anger.Our city is about the free flow of ideas and dissent and a mix of people interacting. This law shuts down the random public meetings in a public space that enrich our city.

Take ten minutes from noon to 2:00 on Wednesday and call your city commissioners. With over 500 people in this group if we all call hopefully we can let the city commissioners know all 500 reasons that they should not renew the Sit/lie ordinance. Be sure to POLITELY ENCOURAGE (or demand) that the council members let the Sit/Lie ordinance die.

Call and ask to speak to the commissioner at the following numbers:

Mayor Sam Adams – (503) 823-4120
Commissioner Randy Leonard – (503) 823-4682
Commissioner Dan Saltzman – (503) 823-4151
Commissioner Nick Fish – (503) 823-3589
Commissioner Amanda Fritz – (503) 823-3008

Call each of them and let them know your name, phone number and mailing address and ask for a response from the commissioner. Be firm but polite. If a receptionist has to take a message, inquire when the commissioner can get back to you. Don’t be afraid to take up some of your government’s time.

Let us know how your call went in the comments. Were you politely received? Did you feel listened to? What was the justification you were given?

Matt Davis was news editor of the Mercury from 2009 to May 2010.

12 replies on “Today: Emergency Call In Hour On Sit-Lie Vote”

  2. @Jack I’m against it, personally, and I’m sure that’s shone through in my reporting. But this Facebook page was organized by a downtown lawyer, and he’s leading the campaign.

  3. I’m not sure what’s so bad about asking people to stay to the side of the sidewalk if they’re squatting. Sidewalks are for walking. The Downtown sidewalks are large enough for squatters to stay off the main drag so that pedestrians (like me) can walk easily.

  4. @Jack If this were about access, and not rights, I’d agree with you. But the people lobbying for this are not pure of heart, I can assure you.

  5. Is that so important, Matt? When are any lobbyists “pure of heart”?

    I think the more important issue should be what they’re lobbying for. If it serves me as a Downtown resident and worker to have people on the side of the sidewalk instead of in the middle of it so that I and others can navigate said sidewalk a little easier, I’m all for it.

    It’s not like they’re giving the PPB the power to wrangle the gutter punks up and ship them off to SF (or worse) on a bus or anything.

    They’re just asking them to move aside and not block a public right of way.

    Please don’t think I’m attempting to troll. I enjoy the debate and getting your side of this in an attempt to possibly see it in another light in case I’m inadvertently being a prick to these kids. But so far I haven’t seen anything offered by the ordinance to be too far out of line.

  6. @Jack. We live around the corner from each other. We’re both downtown residents. Let’s have coffee at the Starbucks on 9th and Taylor and talk this over. I reckon I could win you over in about 45 minutes.

    You can bring your wife, too. Although watch out she isn’t smoking any cigarettes down there…

    503 502 2106. Some time this weekend?

  9. “It’s not like they’re giving the PPB the power to wrangle the gutter punks up and ship them off to SF (or worse) on a bus or anything.”

    Is there a way we can re-word the proposed law to make this happen?

  10. FYI, there’s something wrong with your RSS feed. It only sticks the first paragraph of something quoted in blockquotes:

    http://d.aaron.gy/merc.png

    And it’s not just this post, it’s all quotes ever. It’s annoying (and confusing, and inaccurate) as heck.

  11. There are so many crashed out people on my corner that I have to look down as I walk around downtown so as not to fall over someones feet. This is not acceptable… in any city. What are the choices?

  12. On the corner where I live I have to look down as I walk around downtown due to all the legs and belongings of people sleeping, just lying around and resting it off. This is not acceptable in any city.

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