Although there were no action items on the agenda devoted to the topic, homelessness remained the main topic for discussion at Monday nightâs Corvallis City Council meeting.
Simon Date, president and CEO of the Corvallis Chamber of Commerce, offered a presentation of some survey data his organization had collected on the impact on homelessness on downtown business.
And the community comments section of the meeting continued to be dominated by individuals aggressively speaking out on the homelessness issue, including several people who participated in a âcamp-inâ protest last Thursday at City Hall and Central Park.
Date submitted a 45-page survey that he an his staff had collected (see the full text online). And although councilors welcomed the involvement of the Chamber and its business members in the discussion of homelessness, several councilors took issue with how the survey was framed.
Corvallis will continue its posting and cleanup of homeless camps on city property.
The Corvallis City Council voted 6-2 at Monday nightâs remote meeting to reject a motion from Ward 2 Councilor Charles Maughan that would have rescinded the cleanups.
Maughanâs earlier motion to stop the cleanups was tabled (postponed) at the July 6 meeting because the matter was not on the agenda. The council has been under pressure from community members to discontinue the sweeps because of the challenge of where else the campers can go.
After a lengthy discussion, including four pieces of oral testimony from residents, councilors voted to continue to post the camps. Ward 5 Councilor Charlyn Ellis was the lone councilor to vote with Maughan, although several councilors said they were torn by the matter and praised Maughan for bringing it forward.
Those were the highlights at a high-profile City Council meeting held remotely Monday night.
Here is a look at the council action on the two major items:
Homelessness
The issue of what to do about camping on city land was resurrected by Ward 2 Councilor Charles Maughan, whose motion to stop the cleanups was tabled (postponed) at the July 6 meeting because the matter was not on the agenda.
After a lengthy discussion, including four pieces of oral testimony from residents, councilors voted 6-2 to continue to post the camps. Ward 5 Councilor Charlyn Ellis was the lone councilor to vote with Maughan, although several councilors said they were torn by the matter and praised Maughan for bringing it forward.