New sidewalk ruling draws protests

bubbapdx said on April 30, 2010 at 9:17 AM

"The group also said it was it's unfair not to let people take a rest" KGW - HIRE A PROOFREADER!!!

pdx_elitist_lib said on April 30, 2010 at 8:43 AM

You live in the fringelands, why do you care? Once again we must question exactly WHICH God you worship. I'm thinking it's the one with horns, a pitchfork, a (Walmart-purchased) Chinese-made King James version (by a whitie, for whities), and a box of Twinkies. Here, kitty kitty. That's a good kitty.

last__boyscout said on April 30, 2010 at 8:42 AM

And about the "bums", do they possess a yet undiscovered "gene" that mysteriously draws them to busy downtown areas, or is the simple answer that they are in fact quite capable of reason and logical thought and therefore purposely infest the areas where they are most likely to goad passersby into giving (not "giving" in it's true sense but more like extortion) them some money? The majority of these bums are more than capable of working at available jobs. By "jobs" for example, in Arizona alone if the 500,000 illegals were not there, that would leave a few hundred thousand "jobs" for the bums in Arizona. So perhaps if Kulongoski would enforce our existing laws against illegally working in Oregon, the majority of the downtown bums could then have a job rather than begging from those of us that choose to work. Actually, I don't consider working a "choice", it's instinctual, and unfortunately is not taught in public schools. But they are taught to protest at union sponsored events.

corporatemom said on April 30, 2010 at 8:21 AM

To all the street people sympathizers (1) Get a clue and understand what IS happening (2) The city has a number of shelters to help people - these people CHOOSE not to go to the shelters because they don't wish to follow the rules (3) Topaz--if they have mental illness, they shouldn't be permitted to aimlessly wonder the streets and harass people. They should be in a care facility where they can receive the proper care (4) Some of these people (ie street kids) CHOOSE this way of life--they want to be free spirits and not follow laws/rules (5) The homeless that are temporarily "down" are their luck are the ones at the shelters, looking for job assistance and actively using the resources available to help them (6) Some are scammers: this one woman used to sit on a bench every day--found out fr a coffee shop worker she had a monthly parking pass ($150 per month) owned a home and was doing it to help her son get $$ cause he had a meth problem...

wakegrrl said on April 30, 2010 at 12:50 AM

People's comments here are unbearably idiotic. Its like your brain(s) are too small to comprehend that there are people who comprehend reality differently than you do. How fortunate for you if your take on reality so happens to coincide with "the right way to live". If your life is so blessed that you've been given the chance to figure it all out, where's the compassion? Selfish.

n9nf8ces said on April 30, 2010 at 12:23 AM

By the way, these people who are incapable of working but can stand by the road holding a sign all day can get a job holding advertisement signs. Oh wait, I forgot when you hold a panhandle sign whatever money you make is TAX FREE.

n9nf8ces said on April 30, 2010 at 12:21 AM

jazzysport, you are a freaking idiot. If something is going in one direction and does a 360 its still going in the same direction. I do agree though there is too much pandering to the homeless, I have heard many interviews with people who are homeless who said they were homeless because they did NOT want to report to a job 5 days a week. There are many programs out there for people who want to better themselves but the conditions of the programs are NO drug use, they don't want to do that so they sleep under the bridges and shoot up. Too bad, so sad.

topazgirl said on April 29, 2010 at 7:56 PM

Irideadonkey:...I agree with you!...I'm not sure why I came to this story, knowing the "holier-than-thou" hatred that is always vented here! I supposed it was to see where compassionate solutions to this sad situation may be found!...I am always sadly mistaken. I wish the City could find a safe, comfortable place for these people to rest, out of the elements, during the day...Thinking that they should all be warehoused in shelters is self-delusional!...There aren't enough shelters!!! Many of these people ARE NOT lazy drug addicts...they are mentally ill or disabled (our thrown-away veterans or children?...mentally handicapped family members?!...) The "bile" from many on this site that undoubtedly call themselves "Christian", is always (and reliably ) disheartening!...But for the Grace of God, go they......

jazzysport said on April 29, 2010 at 6:47 PM

In the name of compassion and civil rights we allow the homeless to just own the sidewalk and do whatever they like. Pee, puke, spit, trip people and ask for your money. It is no wrong in America to be responsible, hard-working and have anything at all. We have turned the values of this nation 360 degrees from what it was intended to be. Maybe pretty soon it will be just as well if Muslim terrorists detonate a couple dozen bombs in America and put it out of its misery.

robert57 said on April 29, 2010 at 4:40 PM

sisters of the road. that just sounds too funny just as it is written.

benaround said on April 29, 2010 at 4:15 PM

There are a number of shelters available for these people. Why do they insist on camping on sidewalks? OHHHH it's so they can pandandle citizens walking by. I really feel badly for many of the homeless, but those who insist on blocking sidewalks are simply too lazy to work for a living... and work is available.. even though it may be minimum wage. But then they would have to clean up.

shallowend said on April 29, 2010 at 4:13 PM

I haven't got a problem in front of my business, because the vagrants learned (very quickly) that the faucet on the front of the building is connected to the Hot water (and the heater is set way up . . .).

corporatemom said on April 29, 2010 at 3:53 PM

ENFORCE the code & get these people off the streets. They ARE hurting business downtown, the beg for money for drugs (so STOP giving them money) and shame on freak organizations like the ACLU for supporting the "rights" of these people to be thugs!

washcomom said on April 29, 2010 at 3:27 PM

"Classist"? I don't think so. It's class-less that the homeless obstruct the walkers' right of way. It's happened many times before, and it is frustrating when you try and walk around their obstacles of store carts (which, by the way, are illegal to "own" as they cost the stores $250 each to replace). They do need to find a better place, but they also need to be mindful of other people in the world - just like we are trying to be mindful of them.

theoldrebel said on April 29, 2010 at 3:21 PM

Hey all you druggies, drunks, bums, crazies, street thieves, car clouters, hopeless, helpless, & hapless....irideadonkey has invited you over to his house to get you off the downtown sidewalks!

jkdmom said on April 29, 2010 at 3:10 PM

spencerneil - people paying for a lunch and patronaging a restaurant is not a public neucance like the homeless are. Duh.

captaink said on April 29, 2010 at 3:09 PM

MYVIEWOFTHINGS-You are misspelling Soylent. How are the homeless fined if they have no stable residence to record. Is their ID valid. Arrest them, put them in jail and release the violent offenders to make room. Hell, just arrest everybody and ship 'em to Arizona.

leftyloosey said on April 29, 2010 at 3:08 PM

Lock-step in the philosophy keep Portland (politics) weird. I guarantee homeless or employed people waiting for the bus or a ride who don't "look" like they're employed will be targeted over people in slacks but also sitting at the curb waiting for a bus will be ignored. An excuse to continue profiling, possibly?

captaink said on April 29, 2010 at 2:43 PM

Here is a way for Portland to save 300 Million dollars!!!! Write and enforce a law prohibiting or restricting people from using the sidewalks, THEN only allow bicyclists to use the sidewalks. THEN we wouldn't need elevated bike paths, wouldn't need to raise the water and sewer rates to an unattainable amount and THEN the bicyclists could travel all over town via the sidewalks and the city could raise money vai fines for people who use the sidewalks or walk in the street. THEN we would all live in peace, except people who don't/can't ride bikes. (Kinda like right now>0 BTA rules the city!!

yoyo503 said on April 29, 2010 at 2:35 PM

I lived on the streets downtown before, and most of the money goes to booze and drugs. you beg all day and get 20-50 a day 5 is for food and the rest is for drugs and alcohol. and by drugs I don't mean pot, its meth and heroin.

irideadonkey said on April 29, 2010 at 2:33 PM

News Flash: Being employed should not give you a license to be an obnoxious unsightly pest on the comment board of KGW.com.

newsdude said on April 29, 2010 at 2:32 PM

I don't see why they need to consider such a harsh fine. The people who are sitting/lying on the sidewalks don't have a dime to spare. Maybe they could be given the choice to pick up 100 cigarette butts or move on.

surah said on April 29, 2010 at 2:25 PM

YEAH!!!! I'm sick of the nasty street rats. Go home to your parents....and stop pretending to be homeless because you hate mommy and daddy. Then there's just the tweakers. They're just nasty.

spencerneal said on April 29, 2010 at 2:14 PM

The ordinance makes an exception for restaurants outdoor seating which obstructs the sidewalks. Why is that OK if one of the purposes of the ordinance is to permit wheelchair users to have adequate sidewalk access?

myviewofthings said on April 29, 2010 at 2:07 PM

"Soylant Green is People!!!'

ithink said on April 29, 2010 at 1:56 PM

If the city has no intention of following through on the enforcement of this ordinance, why are they wasting time - taxpayer time - with this issue. Either do something and follow through or get on to other business!

carbonmaker said on April 29, 2010 at 1:50 PM

So the city thinks it can get $250.00 from someone who is homeless????

theoldrebel said on April 29, 2010 at 1:43 PM

News Flash: Being homeless should not give you a license to be an obnoxious unsightly pest on the sidwalks of Portland.

whitewolf1957 said on April 29, 2010 at 1:40 PM

Let's examine this... They're homeless. They're blocking access to common space used to access buisnesses. At the risk of sounding heartless, they need to be restricted as to where they can stay. They are obstructing access to PRIVATE PROPERTY!!!