Residents and downtown business owners press Portland council for action on Monument Square safety and homelessness

Dozens of residents and business owners urged the Portland City Council on a range of public-safety and homelessness-related problems in and around Monument Square, saying visible drug use, littering and aggressive behavior are making the downtown area unsafe for customers and employees.

The most immediate appeals came from residents who said the problems are worsening. “I have become frightened in my own neighborhood to go outside my own door,” said Elizabeth Stoddard, who said she lives in Monument Square, requesting council attention to “unsafe conditions that persist in the square.”

The testimony included business owners describing harms to staff and customers and to their bottom lines. Bill Stauffer, introduced himself as a Portland resident and business owner and read a letter from restaurateur David Turin that described repeated break-ins and vandalism: “In the past month, we have had staff cars broken into on 6 occasions,” Stauffer read. He also…