Protest not over, homeless say

A lone protester, sleeping without a tent on a small plot of grass behind City Hall, was the only visible sign remaining Friday of a homeless demonstration after the city ousted campers from their downtown campsite the day before.

Scott Stanger said he camped out Thursday night on the site across Post Street from Riverfront Park. He was the last protester to be removed Thursday morning from the protest site at Riverside Avenue and Monroe Street. Stanger said he opposed the group’s decision to go peacefully and was continuing the protest, even if he had to do it alone.

Ten more of the original 50 protesters slept as a group on city property Thursday night, said homeless leader Dave Bilsland, but he would not reveal where for fear the police would run them off again. The others scattered, Bilsland said, some sleeping in shelters.

“The protest continues,” Bilsland said, who saw the 10-day campout as a victory despite Mayor Jim West’s pledge to sign the ordinance banning transient shelters approved by the City Council on June 28. As far as he is concerned the protest succeeded in bringing the plight of the homeless to the attention of the city. Two protesters were outside the Post Street entrance to City Hall on Friday afternoon, holding American flags.

Though the protesters are now largely out of sight and out of mind, Bilsland still envisions a permanent homeless site on city property.

“I do not support a tent city,” Police Chief Roger Bragdon told the protesters on Thursday after they were kicked out of the Riverside campsite on Riverside and Monroe. He cited what he called the failed experiments with such arrangements in Portland and Seattle. “It’s inhumane. People shouldn’t live like that.”

Bilsland said his homeless group, People 4 People, will now pursue an initiative to repeal the city ordinance banning building or occupying a structure on city property.