After abandoning the vote last minute amid outcry from homeless advocates back in December, Portland’s city council is poised to approve a controversial $4.5 million annual contract to clear out homeless encampments.
The contract with Rapid Response Bio Clean, a hazardous waste removal company, was originally expected to sail through city council on Dec 18. But it became clear the day before that commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty would be a “no” vote after meeting with homeless advocates and the item was pulled.
Though the city has worked with Rapid Response since 2016, the new contract drew the ire of advocates, who said they did not want to see millions going to a hazardous waste removal company — nor did they want to see Portland's government nearly double the amount it was willing to spend on cleanups overall.
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The city spent about $2.3 million last year on campsite cleanups, distributed between three providers. The city has said there are two main reasons for the increase: the number of illegal encampments has ballooned and the states now pays the city to clear out the sites along the area's interstates.
The city council is expected to approve the contract when it returns to council Wednesday. Minor negotiations have happened in the weeks since, notably the promise of a future public work session that would allow residents to discuss the contract, after it’s approved. The contract is renewable for up to five years.
Council members also may have felt the pressure in the last week as Rapid Response halted their cleanups, which entail removing trash and human waste from sites and dispersing campers. Their funding ran out on Dec. 30.
Central City Concern’s Clean Start program has continued its more limited work of picking up trash and needles from campsites.
Assuming the new contract’s approved, Rapid Response is poised to restart cleanups Wednesday afternoon, according to Heather Hafer, spokesperson for the Office of Management and Finance, which oversees campsite cleanups.
The office has framed this contract as a significant improvement from those that preceded it. This version requires staff to be trained in non-violent conflict resolution, “be polite, diplomatic and professional at all times,” and be capable of administering Naloxone.
Mayor Ted Wheeler has also thrown his support behind the contract.
“We can effectively address public health, environmental, and public safety issues in problematic camps while also being compassionate in our approach,” Wheeler said in a statement. “This contract achieves both goals. This is the case that I will make to my City Council colleagues on Wednesday.”