Amy Harris offers the example of how San Francisco is now struggling to reclaim its quality of life for residents and visitors alike

Amy Harris
Clark County Matters

A lot of good things are happening in Vancouver. But growing homeless camps threaten our progress and our quality of life. We only have to look to Portland to see what happens when elected officials allow public camping, drug use and lawlessness to get out of control.  Another example is San Francisco – one of the most beautiful cities in the world now struggling to reclaim its quality of life for residents and visitors alike.

What both Portland and San Francisco share in common is an unwillingness to combine services for those in need with enforcement of no-camping laws. But now, San Francisco is changing course. Daniel Lurie, San Francisco’s mayor recently put it this way:

“We’re always going to lead with services but let me be clear: There will no longer be an option for people to sleep and use drugs on our streets,” says Lurie.

Vancouver elected officials should learn from Portland’s mistakes and from San Francisco’s new approach to reducing homeless camps – and homelessness – in their city. Simply put, more shelters without enforcement of no camping laws will only result in more shelters and MORE people camping on the streets. Camping on public property in Vancouver cannot be a choice.

TELL THE MAYOR AND VANCOUVER CITY COUNCIL
IT’S TIME TO END PUBLIC CAMPING IN VANCOUVER

Since we launched Clark County Matters, nearly 4000 of you have joined our grassroots movement – urging elected officials to do more to protect our quality of life. Thank you for making your voice heard.

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