Opinion articles provide independent perspectives on key community issues, separate from our newsroom reporting.

Letters to the Editor

Letter: Umatilla infringing on civil liberties with tent ordinance

Just across the river in Oregon, the city of Umatilla’s government passed an ordinance that people could not live in tents on public or private land.

Their tent community is not visible to the city. The property is not owned by the city (hence private land). The city of Umatilla in my opinion has infringed on civil rights and liberties of homeless people who are trying to survive.

The city of Umatilla did not make any effort to put programs in place to help these people, there were no alternate shelters provided or a jobs program. Now it’s September and there will be no shelters for these individuals who are trying to survive.

Please help if you can.

Laura Snyder

Hermiston

This story was originally published September 21, 2015 at 12:31 AM with the headline "Letter: Umatilla infringing on civil liberties with tent ordinance."

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