Portland City Council meeting erupts over homeless encampment safety risks: 'Existential threat' to business

Federal employees demanded Portland City Council address a homeless encampment outside their office that they say has created safety concerns, cost the agency hundreds of thousands in security measures and become "an existential threat" to businesses. 

Portland city print shop window smashed. (Portland Police Bureau) A large homeless camp at Laurelhurst Park in Portland, Oregon, Oct. 29, 2020. Laurelhurst Park is at the center of one of Portland's most affluent neighborhoods.  (iStock) A homeless camp near the Delta Plex soccer field and a local park Oct. 29, 2020. (iStock)

Alexandra B. Ethridge, a new Portland resident and associate director at the U.S. Geological Survey, told city commissioners how the environment outside the Oregon Water Science Center in downtown Portland has "deteriorated." The worsening encampment brings "targeted crime" against work trucks and leaves colleagues feeling a sense of despair from "simply not feeling safe," Ethridge said Wednesday. 

"Many of us are spending lots of time on Band-Aid measures, such as creating emergency contact cards, creating personal safety plan templates and documents or attending trainings with security professionals," Ethridge told commissioners. "Meanwhile, employees continue to feel that nothing will prevent an inevitable personal injury because of continued exposure to targeted crime."