Dusk-to-dawn police raids on Ashland campground spark problem-solving efforts – Ashland News

Committee addresses problems in the sleeping area next to the police station, also known as the “night zone”

By Morgan Rothborne, Ashland.news

Mayor Tonya Graham was invited to and attended Friday’s meeting of a volunteer committee formed to develop strategic solutions for Ashland’s dusk-to-dawn camping area (or night lawn), located behind the Ashland Police Department (APD) and City Council buildings on East Main Street.

At 6 a.m. last Wednesday, the belongings of several guests who had spent the night on the lawn were collected by APD officers in trucks and dumped in the dump, said Debbie Niesewander, a self-proclaimed advocate for Ashland’s homeless.

“I’ve spent the last week replacing things and creating a sufficiently stable area. … A lot of people just refuse to come back (to the night turf). They spread out, hide and feel inferior,” Niesewander said.

According to the city of Ashland’s camping ordinance, camping on public lands is prohibited, so the only place homeless people can camp is the night meadow.

Graham stated that she was informed of the incident and contacted Ashland Police Chief Tighe O’Meara, who told her that the action was under his direction.

“On the property in question that morning there was a mixture of items that had been in police possession for some time and had not been collected and some items, including food, that had been left outside the car park for several days and were found to be clearly rubbish,” she said.

Billy Carpenter, a pastor and volunteer on the lawn, said he saw two police officers bagging valuables on Wednesday. He said he saw the valuables neatly arranged the morning before and they did not look like trash. He questioned the officers and was told it was “all trash.” He believed the action was wrong.

Disposing of belongings can mean the loss of identification cards, birth certificates and other items that make a homeless person’s situation even more difficult, says Avram Sacks, a longtime volunteer organizer and host of the city’s emergency shelter.

Ashland residents have complained to the city about the appearance of camps in the area, Graham said.

“It’s a huge frustration. We still get messages like, ‘Why is there so much trash in front of the police station?'” she said.

She asked the committee to explain how these properties could appear abandoned. Niesewander responded that at least two of those involved in last week’s raid had been in jail, one had been hospitalized after a stroke. Some guests had also left early to recycle cans before the day’s heat.

The two main sources of income for this population group are “cans and blood,” that is, collecting cans for recycling and donating blood plasma, says Alexandra Ried, who runs the Laundry Love trailer.

Niesewander showed Graham a photo of an abandoned warehouse with food and trash. Guests sometimes leave things behind, but they also disappear and reappear, for reasons such as incarceration or hospitalization. They sometimes ask other guests to look after their belongings, but when officers remove them early in the evening without notice, they have no way to intervene.

Using some of the city’s pallet houses or sheds for storage would be ideal, said Helena Turner, a nurse with Oregon Health and Sciences University’s street nursing team. When asked, guests said they wanted containers that could be fitted with wipe-clean markers and shelves to protect their belongings from police raids and preserve their food from the ever-growing rat problem.

The city has not irrigated the area, Niesewander said, and the rats are “terribly thirsty” and therefore no longer nocturnal, but roam the area day and night.

“The rats are very happy and content and are making more rats,” she said.

The considerations about the rats led back to the discussion about storing belongings and some sort of structured supervision, such as by a designated host, on the night lawn.

Graham explained that “clarity is kindness,” and shared concerns and limitations regarding her requests. The city’s general fund could not support the previously considered host given other priorities, such as preparing Ashland Fire & Rescue for wildfire risk, she said.

Some residents have told the city that while they want to support those trying to improve their situation, they don’t want people with mental health, addiction or other behavioral issues to be supported in Ashland. There is also concern that the services offered will only increase the demand for services and the city cannot be expected to take responsibility for solving mental health issues, Graham said.

The possibility of storing data must be linked to behavior; there must be an appropriate way to ensure that the nighttime lawn guests are not people with disruptive behavior, she said.

Jayvon Ried, Alexandra Ried’s husband, said that while the city cannot be expected to solve the problem, the issue of night-time lawn care remains urgent.

“There are very few facilities dedicated to caring for the mentally ill. We have a really big mental health problem in Oregon. In every small town, we suffer the consequences,” he said.

Despite financial investment, Oregon is one of the states with the worst mental health care in the U.S., and the city is struggling to reach a coherent plan with the state because the system is “in ruins,” Graham said.

Evicting people with problematic behavior is not effective, Turner said. As part of her work, she visits Medford, Grants Pass and Ashland and sees the same people over and over again. When they are evicted from one city because of their behavior, they move on to the next.

Creating a sense of safety and expectations reduces anxiety and makes it easier for people to stabilize, she said. Someone who can safely store their belongings may be encouraged to visit a methadone clinic. Volunteers have also begun serving as receptionists in the evenings, explaining rules and pointing out resources as guests arrive.

Graham responded that in her experience, addicts do not enter treatment until the cost of addiction is greater than the drive. She acknowledged that the city struggles with the balance between allowing guests on the lawn and dealing with complaints from residents, and that it often allows possessions to remain cluttered and visible until complaints force them to remove them. Structure can help create stability, she said.

In addition to storage, volunteers requested a liaison to help APD officers and volunteers resolve problems, clearer signage of rules, demarcation of campsites, setting guest capacity, giving volunteers the authority to eject rule violators and an area to serve breakfast and coffee.

Graham said she will consult with the acting city manager and police chief and bring the results of those discussions to the committee meeting on June 28 at 9 a.m. at the Ashland Community Development Building at 51 Winburn Way.

The committee meets every Friday morning downstairs at the Ashland Public Library unless the mayor or other city staff are present, in which case they meet on Winburn Way, Niesewander said.

Email Ashland.news reporter Morgan Rothborne at [email protected].

Similar posts:

Homeless man injured in overnight grass fire in city has died (May 9, 2024)

US Supreme Court appears to side with Oregon city in complex homeless case (April 24, 2024)

City staff: Help needed so city can continue to serve homeless (April 16, 2024)

More demand than available accommodation for the homeless: “There is no peace” (March 4, 2024)

One victim of a nighttime grass fire recovers, others remain in hospital (February 27, 2024)

Homeless campers had ‘hair on fire’, witnesses say (16 January 2024)

Ashland’s Nachtrass campsite faces challenges (December 11, 2023)

Now that there is an alternative, the city will begin enforcing public camping policies on May 26 (18 May 2023)