GRANTS PASS, Ore.- Wednesday night, the Grants Pass City Council held an emergency meeting to discuss its designated campsites, on A and J Streets.
According to City Manager Aaron Cubic, the city has no legal obligation other than designating these sites.
“While it our goal to provide as much support as possible, it is equally important that we do so in a way that protects the city from potential legal liabilities,” Cubic said.
Members of the Mobile Integrative Navigation Team (MINT) say its cruel for the city to leave these people without shade, water, additional bathroom facilities and more.
They say when these people were in the parks, they were provided with things they don’t have now.
“I do appreciate the fact that you’re not required to put up covered awnings, but when it’s 100 degrees outside, which it is supposed to be this weekend, and you have people who can’t walk, and there’s a lot of them in there, you are going to have medical emergencies. It’s inevitable,” one MINT member said.
After MINT, the public was invited to share their thoughts.
Some agree with MINT, saying the city isn’t helping the homeless population enough.
“The honorable council people may not have yet realized that by opening approved camping locations, we have, and rightfully so, accepted the responsibility for our fellow human beings,” one man said.
“I’m ready to go out there right now and build a shelter,” another man volunteered.
“We treat our dogs better than we do people who have no home,” a woman said.
Others say the city needs to stop helping the vagrants that continue to threaten the tax-paying citizens.
“We need to rid our community of the vagrants because they are the ones that are sucking the resources out of this community,” a man said.
“Our problem isn’t with homeless people, it’s with people not allowed home because they’d rather do drugs,” a woman said.
After the three-hour meeting, the city council voted to allow non-profits to provide shade, water and benches.
The city itself would maintain sanitation standards and provide doggy bags and cigarette butt collection cans.
Council Member Dwight Faszer II says the city’s done enough.
“What I mean by the city has done it’s part, I mean that we have provided a place for people to be. Any service that we provide as a city, here moving forward, we need to be prepared to provide that service in perpetuity, theoretically, forever. I’m not willing to do that,” Faszer said.
The city council finished its meeting by voting to increase the allowable time spent at both campsites to one week.
The vote was tied with council members Riker, Yunker, Faszer, and King voting no, but Mayor Sara Bristol broke the tie and voted yes.
Council Member Vanessa Ogier says she doesn’t understand the point in moving these people out.
“I really encourage this council to look to the future, have an ounce of vision, and ask what the next goal is after that. Is it to get these people back into housing or is it to be cruel?” Vanessa asked the council.
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