CRESWELL – The Creswell City Council unanimously abandoned the concept of a family-oriented “Everyone Village” model for addressing homelessness during their April 27 meeting, pivoting the conversation toward locally controlled, charity-based approaches.
City staff had been exploring a “family-oriented village” concept – partnering through the school district, focused on families with children rather than a general “Everyone Village” model in Eugene.
Creswell Mayor Nick Smith read a prepared statement stating that the “majority of Creswell’s voice” opposes the model, citing prior community conflict over homeless policy.
“I do not want to lead this community down that trail again,” he said.
Council President Alonzo Costilla reported that, in his conversations, no community support for the proposed village emerged.
Costilla, who is in his eighth year serving on the council, recalled previous conversations around these cases that drove the homeless dispute and said he does not want to repeat that experience.
Costilla served as a councilor through the Martin v. Boise era from 2018 to 2024, specifically, when the Ninth Circuit ruled that cities cannot punish people for sleeping on public property if there are no available shelter beds. The “shelter-first” requirement effectively halted most camping bans across the West.
In 2024, after the City of Grants Pass v. Johnson, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the Martin logic. They ruled that camping bans are not “cruel and unusual,” even if shelter is unavailable.
Since 2025, federal protections have vanished, leaving the rules up to states and cities. In Oregon, local governments must still follow state law (HB 3115), which requires camping rules to be “objectively reasonable” regarding when and where people can sleep.
Councilor Joan Morris initially had mixed feelings, seeing housing as a genuine need, and was sympathetic to single mothers and children. However, her concerns about “unintended consequences” and about how non-local people might end up in the village ultimately led her to decide not to pursue the model either.
Councilor Staci Holt, who has been a “hard no” since the start of these conversations, said that a village would further strain local resources and would be incompatible with Creswell’s lack of support services (doctors, DHS, etc.).
Holt also criticized the “Everyone Village” model, allowing off-site drug/alcohol use while housing is paid for, saying that taxpayers are indirectly subsidizing addiction.
“They can go get drunk and stoned on their own time, and then as long as they come back without any of that stuff on them,” Holt said. “I don’t work hard and pay tax dollars to support their habit.”
South Lane County Fire & Rescue Chief John Wooten, while attending the meeting to advocate for the upcoming levy, was also asked about the impact of sanctioned or semi-sanctioned camps/villages, based on Cottage Grove’s experience.
“As fire chief, I won’t endorse it. We saw it in Cottage Grove, and we saw what it did down there, and I can tell you that as a fire chief, I will not sign off on it. I will not endorse it, and I will not put my support behind it unless there is some form of mandatory treatment program that goes with it,” Wooten said.
According to Wooten, the existence of a camp in Cottage Grove led to increased call volumes – something they’re already struggling to keep up with.
“We ran an additional four calls a day, so we were running almost 20 calls a day – three to four overdoses or fights or assaults in those camps per day,” he said.
He also tied his concerns to fire risk, noting unhoused individuals had been responsible for large fires along I‑5 and within the district.
The chief said that, while some officials claimed, “These are our local residents,” he personally encountered people from Utah, Arizona, and other states who had been sent to Oregon because of Oregon’s laws, programs, and relatively strong charitable support.
Holt agreed, saying, “Even if we can get this levy across the finish line, (SLCFR is) still not going to be at a normal level of staffing to take that kind of thing on.”
Alternative means of help
Council acknowledged the impact of rising costs in food, gas, and taxes, suggesting many long-time Creswell residents are close to their own tipping point, or “one bill away from a crisis,” making them wary of new tax- or resource-intensive projects.
Although they rejected the village, councilors collectively agreed they still wanted to help local families in need.
Smith proposed a year-round “Giving Tree” as an alternative, building on Creswell’s 15-year run as a certified Tree City USA.
“That’s an amazing streak that has engineered an alternative option, in my mind, to have a yearly giving tree,” Smith said. He proposed that this could grow into a partnership with other nonprofits and community entities.
“We can still work with the Creswell School District, Family Resource Services, Creswell First, and city staff for an anonymous platform,” Smith said. “This allows us to pick something from the tree for a Creswell family in need … clothing, food, utility bills … support for services for health care, fees for sports, music, dance … an employer who is looking for a good employee,” he said. Residents could take a tag and fulfill it, keeping aid local, voluntary, and targeted.
