(Op-ed)Local group wants portable toilets, needle boxes and trash cans installed at illegal camps all around Roseburg

After several months of illegal camping and offensive littering, the enormous camp and all the garbage under the Stewart Parkway bridge was finally cleaned up at the end of April. Now a local group wants to put a Porta-Potty, garbage cans and a sharps container there for future campers to use. And that’s not the only location being proposed. “The intent of the proposal is to place portable toilets, trash receptacles and sharps containers in locations that can serve those who are living outside. With the exception of two, all of the locations listed are within parks. The locations outlined in the request are as follows:” Eagles Park - toilet placed in the park or in city owned lot adjacent South end of Mill Street Micelli Park - south end Templin Beach - north end of the parking lot Deer Creek Park Bike path from Deer Creek Park to Gaddis Park Gaddis Park - toilets at each end of the bike path Fir Grove Park - one near the soccer fields and one near the Wooley Center Stewart Park - across the river Duck Pond Charles Gardiner Park Several of these locations have just recently, at great effort and expense, just had all the camps shut down and all the garbage cleaned up because it’s illegal to camp within the City of Roseburg. Here are a few of my personal thoughts: 1. How can we make it illegal to camp and discard trash in these locations, ask our law enforcement officers to patrol and shut down the illegal camps at risk to their own selves, and then immediately turn around and place a toilet and garbage cans in that same camp? It’s a mockery of our rules, law and of law enforcement itself. There is a reason why the Portland Police Association is so against these same toilets being placed all over the place in Portland. 2.These are our only parks and many in the community are refusing to take their children to them because of the increase in illegal activity taking place within them. This proposal will make the problem worse. 3. It’s illegal to be in our parks after dusk. Putting toilets in and purposely keeping them open all night long will make it impossible to enforce our current laws. How is it possible for the city to enforce laws for one person while at the same time encouraging others to break the law? 4. I don’t believe the people of Roseburg support these moves, and they are the ones that will have to live with the consequences for a year. Put it to a vote and find out. What do the neighbors have to say in all these locations? 5. There is a high likelihood that they will be abused and vandalized. Who will use these toilets then? 6. Putting these toilets in these locations is declaring the locations as places we expect these people to camp. The message is clear and it will be heard and seen by everyone. If this goes through, we will most assuredly see more campers in Roseburg and definitely at these locations. Many of them have zero campers in them as of today. 7. This move is very defeating to all those in our community that have worked so hard to get these camps in our parks shut down and cleaned up. Imagine finishing up a giant cleanup only to have another group come in after and drop off a toilet which encourages people to come back and camp at that location? These moves are well intentioned, but misguided. I encourage the Roseburg Parks Commission, the Roseburg City Council and our Mayor to honor our laws and ordinances, including the Prohibitive Camping Ordinance, and stop sending mixed messages to our community by encouraging these activities in these locations. For those that would like to join the discussion, there is a Roseburg Parks Commission meeting Wednesday morning at 8:15 a.m. at City Hall in the third floor conference room. If this issue is important to you, please show up to the meeting tomorrow morning.