Date:  October 3, 2025 

Portland: Neighbors Welcome 

RE: Reject Enforcing the Public Camping Ordinance 

Dear City Council Members, 

Portland is in crisis. Every day, people in our city are forced to live on the streets in deplorable and degrading conditions. On one thing, we all agree: this must end. Where we differ is in how to address it. 

Some argue for sweeping encampments and expanding a shelter system that has repeatedly proven ineffective and, too often, inhumane. Others call for a housing-first approach that provides real stability, dignity, and services. We implore our leaders to choose the latter. Every dollar we have must go toward placing roofs over people’s heads and offering the wraparound support necessary to help our unhoused neighbors rebuild their lives.

Mayor Wilson has proposed enforcing the camping ban that was approved in May 2024 by then Mayor Wheeler and previous council. The ordinance repealed the prior code and introduced new restrictions which prohibited camping when a person had “reasonable alternative shelter.”  This policy is cruel on its face. Its true purpose is to funnel people into shelters—drawing resources away from housing solutions and binding us more tightly to a cycle of temporary, inadequate fixes. The council must reject this. 

Cities and countries that embraced housing-first have achieved remarkable success in reducing homelessness in humane, sustainable ways. Portland can do the same. Housing-first programs do not just move people off the street, they keep them housed. Housing-first strategies are more humane, cost-effective, and offer dignity and respect to those facing the violence of poverty. 

We urge the council to resist the mayor’s proposed ban on encampments. We urge the council to re-visit the prior city council’s decision to delegate this authority to the mayor’s office, and consider that returning this back to city council would provide a more democratic decision making path forward for Portlanders. We simply cannot police our way out of homelessness. We have viable options: repurposing derelict hotels, renting existing housing, or building new, dense, affordable communities. Let us move with the urgency and creativity to house our neighbors that the housing crisis demands. Until housing is secured, unhoused people need space to breathe, not harmful displacement and criminalization.

History will remember whether we chose punishment or compassion. Let us commit to building lasting solutions - together.

Sincerely, 

Portland: Neighbors Welcome