Mayor Julie Hoy has joined a coalition of the state’s largest employers seeking to make it easier for cities and counties to remove homeless people and their belongings from public spaces.

Hoy and two other chief petitioners filed an initiative Oct. 15 with the Oregon Secretary of State’s office titled “The Local Control & Safety Act.”

It seeks to repeal a 2021 state law that requires cities to justify whether removing someone from the public place they’re sitting, lying or sleeping is “objectively reasonable as to time, place and manner.” They’re hoping to gather enough signatures to put the measure to Oregon voters in the November 2026 election.

“Homelessness continues to be the issue the people of Salem care most about solving. We need more tools to be able to deliver, and this w

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