Report: Democrat Portland Mayor to Propose Plan to Build 3 Mega Homeless ‘Campuses’

Democrat Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler is planning next week to announce a proposal to build three sanctioned mega homeless camps called “campuses” in an attempt to address the city’s out-of-control homeless crisis.

According to Willamette Week, each campus’s capacity would hold 500 people, and each campus would be divided into three camps with a capacity of 125 individuals.

The city plans to expand and build more campuses once each 125-person camp is filled. The Portland news outlet also noted that the city would hire an outside contractor to oversee the three campuses.

In conjunction with Wheeler’s proposed mega homeless campuses, the plan would ban unsanctioned camping across the city — including on sidewalks.

It is unknown where these campuses will be located or how much it will cost.

The announcement comes just weeks before voters head to the ballot box to vote in Oregon’s gubernatorial election on November 8.

All three major gubernatorial campaigns have reportedly been briefed on Wheeler’s campuses plan. Recent polling has shown that Republican candidate Christine Drazan narrowly leads her two left-leaning opponents.

Portland’s homeless crisis further increased after former Democrat Mayor Charlie Hales permitted camping on city sidewalks in 2016, the Week reported.

Moreover, in 2018, the U.S. Court of Appeals in the Ninth Circuit ruled in Martin v. Boise that cities cannot enforce camping bans if there are not enough shelters to provide beds for homeless people. The ruling applies to all states within the Ninth Circuit’s jurisdiction, including Oregon.

Since then, homelessness has exploded and is not just confined to the downtown area but is spread across the city. Some longtime residents in North Portland have already packed up and moved or are considering doing so, Breitbart News reported.

As the crisis has worsened over the years, homicides within the city have also increased by 207 percent from 2019 to 2021. Within that same timeframe, frequent ANTIFA riots became a common occurrence in the downtown area too.

Portland has not had a Republican mayor in office since 1980.

You can follow Ethan Letkeman on Twitter at @EthanLetkeman.