A crowd of homeless people and their advocates showed up at Monday's Eugene City Council meeting to urge the city to repeal its camping ban. They asked for at least a moratorium on the ordinance that prohibits camping in public parks and on city property. Councilor Claire Syrett spoke with KLCC Tuesday.
Syrett: "My response last night after folks spoke was to remind my fellow councilors that we have a rest stop program. It's in a pilot form. As one of the speakers pointed out, it's time to take it from a pilot into a full, actual program because our pilot rest-stops have proven to be very successful."
The rest stops provide a safe piece of city property where homeless people can sleep in tents or micro-houses. Four are on city property. A 5th on county property near Autzen stadium was recently moved to Eugene's Whiteaker neighborhood to accommodate football parking. Syrett hopes the city and county can work together to provide more rest stops long term.
Copyright 2015 KLCC
