Portland city council rejected a plan Wednesday to cut millions from a program that removes homeless camps from public property.
Councilors considered a proposal to take four million dollars from this program and put it toward funding rent support, food assistance and other services. It failed after seven hours of heated debate among councilors and the public over how to address the city’s homelessness crisis.
The debate centered on Mayor Keith Wilson’s homelessness strategy, which relies on campsite removals. Councilor Tiffany Koyama Lane urged Wilson to take the discussion to heart.