Mayor Wheeler recently organized a meeting with business districts and members of the business community to address the City’s plan for addressing the issues relating to homelessness and camping. The meeting was attended by Portland’s DA and the Chief of Police. Starting July 1st, the City will be hiring more Police and Park Rangers, enforcing the right of way law and having better enforcement to address unlawful behavior, removing derelict RV’s, and not allowing camping in parks.

The Mayor and DA both discussed a need for State and Federal support for what has become a national drug epidemic. Through the DA’s department, the City is working on a pilot project called LEAD (Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion) in partnership with Multnomah County, Portland Police Bureau and others. Through Central City Concern, they will hire Case Managers to help people with drug addictions and connect to resources.

For the future, the Mayor plans to secure funding for more drug & alcohol addiction recovery services, strengthen our community policing policies for more consistent police presence on the streets, and establishing a more consistent funding stream.