Document text
Bad-behavior zone may expand A Medford police officer visits with homeless people gathered under a gazebo at Alba Park in downtown Medford. [Mail Tribune / file photo] Friday Nov 17, 2017 at 5:25 PM Nov 17, 2017 at 5:28 PM Damian Mann Mail Tribune @reporterdm After rejecting a proposal to expand an exclusion zone for scofflaws, Medford City Council Thursday indicated it might want to include the Jackson County Courthouse after hearing more reports of bad behavior. County officials have complained of harassment, human waste and other bad behavior since the city created an exclusion zone that extends from Bear Creek to Oakdale Avenue, and from Sixth Street to 10th Street. "We've shown a willingness to support people in attempts to provide social services," Councilor Mike Zarosinski said. "But we've also got to show a willingness to deal with the ramifications of bad behavior." The council agreed to consider an ordinance at a future date that would expand the exclusion zone to include the Jackson County Courthouse, at 10 S. Oakdale Ave., and surrounding grounds. The exclusion zone, which bans individuals who have committed offenses from the downtown area, currently stops at the curb on the west side of Oakdale. Zarosinski said he used to work in the downtown area, and he saw some of the bad behavior firsthand, including public defecation and urination, destruction of property and harassment. Many merchants are discouraged by the problems they're facing, he said. "There was a lot of aggressive behavior," Zarosinski said. Councilor Kevin Stine said he will vote against expanding the exclusion zone as he has for other exclusion zones that include public parks, the Bear Creek Greenway and the downtown area. "I get it why people want a solution," he said. "People have plenty of complaints, but I'm looking at something that is not working." He said he would like people to point to a park and show how the existing exclusion zones have made a difference. John Galbraith, a landscape architect with an office building at 145 S. Holly St., wrote to the council Oct. 27 asking whether something could be done to curb the problems, saying it's a continuing battle to chase the homeless off his property. "This past year has been horrible," he wrote. "I have attached photos of walls smeared with human feces and areas riddled with tissues the perpetrators have used to wipe themselves. This morning, my tenants were greeted with vomit at the steps and vomit in the middle of the alley." Marieka Losinski, a child and family therapist in Galbraith's building, also sent a letter Oct. 27 describing how the bad behavior makes it difficult for families that are in crisis. She said the behavior is indicative of drug and alcohol abuse. Jackson County Commissioner Bob Strosser, a former Medford councilor, said people who want to come into county facilities are intimidated by aberrant behavior. He said the back doors of the annex to the courthouse building were broken open, and a generator was stolen, later found across the street. The existing exclusion zone shouldn't stop at the curb in front of the courthouse, he said. While he didn't think expanding the exclusion zone would solve all the problems, Strosser said, "It's a step in the right direction." — Reach reporter Damian Mann at 541-776-4476 or [email protected]. Follow him on www.twitter.com/reporterdm.