That’s the trouble with winter: The foliage is gone and you can see the trash that people have left behind where, in summer, it’s hidden in the bushes.
A trip along Albany’s creekside paths can be discouraging because of the mess that a few people leave behind. I was reminded of this on a bike ride down the Cox Creek Path on Jan. 6.
I was out of town when I wrote Monday about the latest plan to rid Simpson Park of unauthorized encampments. On Tuesday the bike took me there to look around.
There has been considerable progress in the cleanup of vagrant camps along two of Albany’s multi-use paths. You cannot help but notice this if you go past these places every few days.
Two sides of Albany’s homeless problem came up before the city council Wednesday night in the form of pleas for help. But it did not look like any form of concrete help would come.
This, a garbage dump on a public trail, is still the exception in Albany. What can be done to keep scenes like this from multiplying as they have in other cities in Oregon and up and down the West Coast?
Sheriff details Simpson Park operation
Monday’s operation to expel unauthorized campers from Albany’s Simpson Park has been widely covered on social media and the local paper. But the press release from Sheriff Michelle Duncan contained noteworthy details.
Tags: homeless, illegal camping, Linn sheriff, Simpson Park, vagrancy