I am a street outreach worker in Eugene. I just read your article about the state law that Eugene has not been following (“City of Eugene Ignores State Law on Camping,” Eugene Weekly, June 15).

I cackle at “Eugene officials say they don’t follow state law because they fund ongoing outreach services to unhoused people whether or not they have received a notice to pack up and move their camp,” because all outreach teams in Eugene are extremely underfunded. We are hanging on by a thread. The city gives us the bare minimum. We get the short end of the stick, while officials claim they praise us and fund us adequately. Yeah, right. 

I have never once heard a client tell me that cops gave them a full 72 hours to move — only ever within the hour (after giving a 24-hour notice), and I have never heard of a cop giving a homeless person a list of resources. 

If the city wants to stop seeing homeless people, stop building new parks they can’t safely camp at and house our community members already. We clearly have the money. So do something like I do on a daily basis already. 

Sierra Carpenito
Eugene

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