Portland city councilors rejected a plan Wednesday to cut millions from the city program that removes homeless camps, after a lengthy and contentious council meeting.

The city Impact Reduction Program’s current $14.7 million annual budget largely goes toward dismantling homeless camps and removing trash from public spaces. The budget proposal, introduced by Councilor Angelita Morillo, would have reduced that program’s budget by $4.3 million, among other things.

Morillo proposed that money instead go to city personnel costs and grants supporting housing, food assistance and immigration support services.

After more than seven hours of debate and public testimony, the proposal failed. The proposal received three votes in favor but needed seven to pass. Five councilors voted against and four were absent.

“I’m not really interested in incremental betterism on something that stinks anyway,” said Councilor Eric Zimmerman, before leaving the meeting early for a prior commitment.

The majority of councilors who opposed Morillo’s proposal left the meeting before casting a vote Wednesday, and few gave much explanation for their opposition. But their absences were enough to block the plan.

While councilors considered several budget adjustments Wednesday, the crux of the discussion and public comment centered on the cuts to the program that removes camps, a process often referred to as “sweeps.”

“I reject the idea that violent human displacement is necessary in order to achieve our shared goals,” said Councilor Mitch Green, who co-sponsored Morillo’s proposal. “We know empirically that sweeps are not only ineffective, they are counterproductive. They layer trauma on top of trauma, and they lead to more deaths on our streets.”

The debate illuminates a growing divide between some city councilors and Mayor Keith Wilson over Wilson’s approach to the city’s homeless crisis. While Morillo’s budget amendment failed, she left the debate undeterred.

“I want everybody here to think about when you’ll be willing to draw the line and say that enough is enough, and that sweeps and overnight shelters are not going to cut it,” said Morillo, referring to Wilson’s new overnight-only shelters. “I have personally seen enough.”

Two sides of sweeps

Wilson urged councilors to reject Morillo’s proposal Wednesday.

“Let’s work together for compassionate solutions that will bring about our renaissance, not perpetuate more hardship in our neighborhoods,” said Wilson, before asking councilors to reject Morillo’s proposal on Wednesday.

Wilson entered office in January on a promise to end unsheltered homelessness by opening hundreds of new shelter beds and cracking down on public camping. He said that swiftly clearing camps is vital to carrying out his mission. Dozens of Portlanders agreed in their public testimony Wednesday.

Katharine Applegarth is an administrator with the International School of Portland, which is located in downtown Portland. She said the school has begun to see Wilson’s plan reflected in the reduction in camps on city sidewalks.

“We see it, our families feel it. The promise of renewal is working,” Applegarth said. “The [Impact Reduction Program] isn’t just about garbage removal or campsite assessments. It’s about dignity, safety and keeping hope visible for the next generation.”

Most people who spoke Wednesday were opposed to cutting the program, saying the camp removals shows the city isn’t giving up on people living outside.

“Compassion means keeping people off the streets, not abandoning them there,” said Bruce Studer, president of the Pearl District Neighborhood Association.

Morillo and other councilors in the six-person progressive caucus pointed to data showing correlation between city camp removals and deaths among people experiencing homelessness. Some who spoke in favor of her proposal spoke about the impact these removals have on people.

Diana Rempe works for the nonprofit Street Books, which distributes books and other items to people living outside. Rempe said that she’s heard from many people who’ve had irreplaceable property thrown away through camp removals.

“We hear the stories of the things people have lost: IDs, medications, the last picture of their dead child,” said Rempe. “This policy is about displacement, about moving people out of sight to appease the complaints of those who do not want to look at the evidence of our society’s decision that certain people do not deserve to have their most basic needs met.”

Added enforcement

The discussion comes 12 days after Portland police began enforcing the city’s public camping ban, which imposes criminal penalties on people who are camping on city property. This policy is another problem identified by progressive councilors, who argue that the city doesn’t have enough shelter options or housing available to offer as an alternative to criminal charges.

“Criminal citations are not gonna magically house thousands of people that are sleeping on the streets,” Councilor Candace Avalos said Wednesday. “We’re spending millions and millions to move people block to block without addressing the real issue.”

The city’s rules around removing homeless camps on public property — the policy that was the target of Morillo’s budget proposal — are different from these new criminal sanctions.

Under the city’s camp removal rules, which were the result of a 12-year-old legal settlement, the city must give people at least 72 hours’ notice before removing a camp. That notice comes in the form of a neon green sign affixed near a camp. If tents and property haven’t been moved once the removal teams arrive, any personal property is bagged up and taken to a storage facility. People have 30 days to retrieve their belongings.

The majority of councilors agreed to keep the program funded as-is.

“This funding is essential for creating safer, cleaner neighborhoods and supporting campsite sweeps and cleanup initiatives,” said Councilor Loretta Smith, who voted against Morillo’s plan.

A ‘weaponized’ program relocated

One budget proposal was adopted by councilors Wednesday. The conversation put Wilson on the defense, drawing out an impassioned reaction from the city’s typically cool and collected mayor.

Part of the city’s camp removal process includes trash cleanup, which is largely carried out by the nonprofit Ground Score. Ground Score employs people who have experienced homelessness or are currently homeless.

While Morillo’s proposal tried to protect Ground Score from the cuts to the Impact Reduction Program, Wilson’s office said that was impossible. That’s because much of the program’s funding is already tied up in legal obligations, like contracts and court agreements. The Ground Score contract is one of the few areas of the program that could legally be cut into.

Morillo disagreed with this explanation, accusing Wilson of spreading “disinformation” to Ground Score and its supporters to derail her plan. In turn, Wilson said Morillo had been sharing “bad information” with the public.

“While you may criticize the administration, my job is to make you successful,” Wilson said. “We need a professional, disciplined executive. Also, we need a professional, disciplined council. Together we have to move our city forward.”

Whether or not the program could have been cut under her proposal wasn’t explained. Instead, Ground Score staff asked that their contract with the city be moved to a less divisive department, to protect it from future budget cuts.

“Our program has repeatedly been used as a tool, even weaponized in debates to discuss funding shifts,” said Katie Lindsay, a development manager for Ground Score.

Councilors approved a proposal introduced by Councillor Green to move the nonprofit’s contract into the city’s Bureau of Planning and Sustainability.

Bureaucratic breakdown

There were many moments of tension between city elected officials Wednesday. Wilson and several city councilors criticized Morillo for the fast-paced proposal, which gave the public just five days to prepare testimony.

“I’m concerned about these huge decisions coming to us with five days to look at them,” said Councilor Steve Novick. “I think that if you’re going to propose a big cut to a program that will force big policy changes to that program, there should first be a detailed discussion about the policy that exists to begin with.”

City councilors adopted their current budget in June, after weeks of public meetings. Wednesday’s discussion was part of a process in which city councilors can tweak spending plans midway through the fiscal year. Budget Director Jonas Biery said the process is handled differently than the annual budget.

“It does not typically include any process for robust public engagement,” Biery said. “It’s not intended to be a moment for policy development.”

Several councilors disagreed, arguing that the budget office was just trying to advance Wilson’s own preferred budget plan.

“As city councilors, we give you all financial guidance,” said Smith, speaking directly to Biery. “We review and give recommendations. We examine proposed budget changes. We make revisions, and we submit the final budget proposals. That is our job. That’s not your job.”

The disagreement isn’t new. Since entering office in January, Portland councilors have raised concerns that the city’s executive office, which Wilson oversees, is stepping on councilors’ toes with the way budgets are handled in the new form of government.

Councilor Tiffany Koyama Lane told Wilson that he should take this heated discussion as a sign.

“A sign that there are councilors and community groups and community members that are not feeling brought in early enough or meaningful enough to help shape your plan around homelessness,” she said. “I’m asking that you do hear this as a plea for partnership.”

Wilson agreed that there is “room for improvement” in how he operates.

Wilson’s midyear budget plan, which includes funding adjustments to fill budget gaps in his homelessness plan, will need a final vote from councilors next week. It’s not clear if he has the support of enough councilors to advance it.

News Source : https://www.opb.org/article/2025/11/13/homeless-camp-removal-sweep-portland/