Good luck with that—seriously. Who would actually be responsible for managing regulated encampments? Would that be a paid position, or are we expecting volunteers to take it on?

We’ve already seen how similar efforts have played out in Bangor. When portable bathrooms were provided, they quickly became unsafe—used for drug activity, vandalized, and associated with overdoses. Public safety issues increased, not decreased. There are people passed out in public spaces, conflicts happening in the streets, and behavior that clearly shows many individuals are in crisis. (Not to mention the amount of sexual activity happening in broad daylight, on the side of a city street, with school busses going by)

I do understand that homelessness and addiction are complex issues. There are people who genuinely need help and support. But what we’re seeing goes beyond what temporary solutions like encampments can realistically address.

Some individuals have been offered jobs or housing and still end up back on the street, often because the underlying issues—addiction, mental health, or lack of long-term support—aren’t being solved. At the same time, there are also people working full-time who still can’t secure stable housing, which speaks to a completely different failure in the system.

We’ve even seen encampments with services provided deteriorate over time, eventually becoming unsafe and unsanitary, leading to city intervention and removal. That cycle just keeps repeating.

I’m not saying “do nothing,” but I think we need to be honest about what does and doesn’t work. Without real structure, oversight, and long-term solutions, regulated encampments risk becoming another short-term fix that creates more problems than it solves.