Multnomah County to continue handing out thousands of tents & tarps while city enforces camping ban

Multnomah County Chair Jessica Vega Pederson said the county will continue to hand out tents and tarps to houseless people in need, even as the city plans to enforce a camping ban.

The announcement comes as the city begins enforcement of its camping ban on Monday.

On Wednesday, Mayor Ted Wheeler criticized the county's tents and tarps policy.

“It doesn’t make any sense that with 6,000 homeless people on our streets that we would hand out more than 6,000 tents and nearly five times that many tarps,” said the mayor.

Meanwhile, the city and county are in the midst of negotiating on a new three-year homelessness response plan.