Volunteers counter that Tent City was always clean not a mess
By Brad Smith
MEDFORD,
Ore. – While both the city and Medford Police Dept. claim that the few acres of
Hawthorne Park occupied by over 100 homeless individuals created a mess
– it appears to be a lie.
And the
MPD staged photos of a trashed-out park.
Since the
MPD’s Sept. 22 sweep through the park – which resulted in a few reporters and a
number of volunteers arrested – local media has played up the city’s narrative
that the Tent City occupants made a mess at Hawthorne Park. However, according to
Randi Vigil, who was one of the Hawthorne Park Mutual Aid group’s media
representatives, that wasn’t true.
The MPD
Livability Team asserted that human waste and needles were everywhere. Vigil
denied that allegation.
“Between
the community staying and the community helping, the park was cleaned every day,”
they said. “There were people that would come to help in the morning and
evening, that would spend time cleaning up, and many days where people staying
in the camp would pick up around the community and personal areas. Every single
night a houseless member, Mike, would separate all the trash and make sure
everything was bagged and prepared nicely for whoever was to pick it up.”
Vigil said
there was a chunk of time where the City of Medford had lessened their trash
pickup schedule in the area and many members of the community pulled together
to do dump runs for Hawthorne Park Mutual Aid. The Way Medford Family Church
was a great help in this matter.
The park’s
bathrooms and the trash bins were a mess before Tent City opened up, Vigil
said.
“Before
people started arriving at Hawthorne Park Mutual Aid, the bathroom doors were
broken and one of the bathrooms – the one facing the parking lot of Hawthorne
Park – was clogged for multiple days before a volunteer fixed it themselves,”
Vigil said. “The trash bins were very sparse and thinly dispersed at the
beginning. As Hawthorne Park Mutual Aid grew, trash increased but was
manageable; there were donations of garbage cans which helped immensely with
organization and presentation. The presence of trash should not be an excuse to
degrade or trample on human rights.”
According
to crime mapping reports, there were little or no incidents reported. Vigil
said both volunteers and Tent City inhabitants were able to mitigate incidents
as a community through problem solving, de-escalation, and group
accountability. Having volunteers awake and available at all times helped
provide a sense of security to the camp. The community continuously
self-regulated and residents were committed to the longevity of the camp, they
added.
“Hawthorne
Park Mutual Aid received donations, services, and volunteers from partnering
groups, local nonprofits and churches daily,” Vigil said. “However, Officer
Mike Wulff and the MPD Livability Team were not helpful.”
The
Rogue Free Press
was at Tent City the day before the forced evictions happened. The park area was
devoid of trash, hypodermic needles and human waste. In fact, Tent City
residents were seen cleaning and keeping the area clean.
In short,
there was no problem with trash or human waste.
Hours
after the MPD made its sweep, sources contacted The Rogue Free Press and
reported that MPD officers used confiscated tents and other items to stage photo
ops for the press – who were out of sight at a staging area.
“Why do you think that JPR reporter and those volunteers were treated like shit and arrested,” the source said. “(The cops) were afraid they would have caught them in the act. That’s why they went after all of those people. The people at that park worked hard to keep it clean. Sure, who knows what happened in the tents but none of that shit happened in public. The city and the cops wanted to make these people look bad.”
It should be
noted that The Rogue Free Press attempted to contact the source for more comments but
there was no response.
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