I wrote to Mayor Kate Snyder to express my dissatisfaction with the way the homeless encampment outside City Hall was addressed or, rather, not addressed. It is well past time to stop pandering to the organizers of and participants in this “protest,” as well as the Black Lives Matter movement.
I agree with Police Chief Frank Clark, who described the situation as “unacceptable.” I presume that the encampment was in violation of city codes or ordinances and, per Chief Clark, there was activity that was clearly in violation of the law.
It would seem to me that the mayor should have taken note of a previous encampment and the resulting Cumberland Superior Court decision in OccupyMaine v. City of Portland. To quote: “Moreover, the health and safety concerns that are apparent from the record in this case are stronger than the administrative concerns that were found sufficient to justify the camping ban in Clark.”
So-called “protesters” should have been removed, so the city could conduct its business, and those violating the law should have been cited or arrested. Whatever happened to the proposed Riverside shelter? I see it is still in the planning stage. It would seem its construction would have helped address some of the concerns of the “protesters.”
The mayor’s and the City Council’s inaction, plus the movement’s inordinate demands, in my opinion, created a backlash and created a segment of voters that are beginning to have little regard for these people and their causes – a segment that, in other times, would be sympathetic.
Arthur Kane
Portland
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