The core problem is that Grant’s Pass is being asked to shoulder the homeless burden for the region. They are not being provided with any means of help, and their ability to remove those who cause an excessive burden is being taken away.
Look at Grant’s Pass on Google maps. It’s a small mountain town that looks like it has a low tax base in the best of times. If, at enormous cost to their tax base, adequate shelter is built, the only result will be more homeless who gravitate to their tiny town because its better than anywhere else in the region.
The problem and solutions are regional. Who should really be being sued is the state of Oregon or the federal government, but that is much more difficult to do.
If the ruling goes against Grant’s Pass, the result will be even more off-the-books policies to harass and intimidate the homeless until they move to the next town over, because every small town will see them not as human beings but as a potentially immense local tax liability that has to be moved before someone notices.
Look at Grant’s Pass on Google maps. It’s a small mountain town that looks like it has a low tax base in the best of times. If, at enormous cost to their tax base, adequate shelter is built, the only result will be more homeless who gravitate to their tiny town because its better than anywhere else in the region.
The problem and solutions are regional. Who should really be being sued is the state of Oregon or the federal government, but that is much more difficult to do.
If the ruling goes against Grant’s Pass, the result will be even more off-the-books policies to harass and intimidate the homeless until they move to the next town over, because every small town will see them not as human beings but as a potentially immense local tax liability that has to be moved before someone notices.