Wallace Marine Park resident sues Salem to pause camp removals
A woman who has lived in West Salem’s Wallace Marine Park for about eight years has gone to court to stop the City of Salem from clearing the park’s remaining homeless camps.
Katrina Randklev filed a complaint against the city in Marion County Circuit Court on Wednesday, Oct. 7, Salem Reporter first reported. According to Salem Reporter’s Abbey McDonald, Randklev wants the court to pause the removals until the city can offer an accessible alternative for campers with physical and mental disabilities. The complaint says the city is moving campers with disabilities out of the park without an adequate, legal place for them to sleep, Salem Reporter reported.
Willamette News has not reviewed the complaint itself. As of Thursday morning, we had found no scheduled hearing and no public statement from the city responding to the filing.
Removals already underway
On Sept. 21, crews cleared about 20 campsites where 25 to 30 people were living, roughly half of the estimated 65 people then at the park, city spokesperson Rob Layne told Salem Reporter. Most of the 13 people Salem Reporter interviewed that day expected to remain unsheltered. Days later, KPTV reported the park was again lined with tents and carts, and one man said he had lost most of his belongings.
Layne has said the city expects to end camping at Wallace by the end of October, though the work could stretch into November depending on circumstances and resources. “At this time, we have no plans to pause our cleanup of the location,” he wrote in a Sept. 15 email quoted by Salem Reporter.
The city’s position
Camping at Wallace is not allowed under city code. Salem lifted its camping ban at the park in 2020 to limit the spread of COVID-19, reinstated it in 2021, and has removed camps gradually since, according to Salem Reporter. Community Services Director Gretchen Bennett and Interim Police Chief Brandon Ditto told the publication in August that camping must end because of winter flooding, crime targeting campers and environmental damage from trash.
City officials say services come first. “We lead with services and support in our interactions with unhoused community members,” Layne said in a Sept. 22 statement to Salem Reporter. He has said the city pauses a removal when someone has an acute medical issue or needs more time to stabilize.
City Manager Krishna Namburi told Salem Reporter in August that the timeline is a projection, not a firm deadline, and that staff should move “as quickly as we responsibly can, but not faster than our ability to meaningfully engage with people.”
Shelter gaps at the center of the dispute
Layne has listed the Salem Navigation Center, SafeSleep United, the Union Gospel Mission and reconnecting with family or friends as options. Salem Reporter has reported limits on each. The Navigation Center has 75 beds, with 15 open to referrals from agencies including the police team. SafeSleep United’s 50 beds serve women. The Union Gospel Mission is a faith-based shelter for single men. As of Sept. 22, the city’s own resource list showed no shelter beds in Salem for couples or for people with multiple pets, conditions that apply to most people at the park, Salem Reporter reported.
Randklev raised those gaps when she asked the City Council on Sept. 14 for “an emergency halt on the camp clearings.” She quoted Councilor and Mayor-elect Vanessa Nordyke, who told Salem Reporter in August: “If appropriate shelter or other housing options are not available, we need to pump the brakes.”
The legal backdrop
Oregon law generally requires officials to post written notice at least 72 hours before removing people from an established camp. A separate state law, ORS 195.530, requires local rules on sitting, lying and sleeping on public property to be “objectively reasonable as to time, place and manner” for people experiencing homelessness, and lets them sue in circuit court to challenge those rules. The public part of Salem Reporter’s story does not say which laws Randklev’s complaint relies on.
Willamette News will update this story when a hearing is scheduled or the city responds.
How you can help
Need shelter? Dial 2-1-1 for current openings. Mid-Willamette Valley Community Action Agency says its warming centers, when activated, are low-barrier, open 7 p.m.–7 a.m. and welcome partners and pets. See shelter locations.
Donate items: Union Gospel Mission of Salem says socks, sweats and shoes are frequently needed. Drop-off is at its Donation Center, 1100 Front St. NE, Monday and Wednesday–Thursday, 8 a.m.–3 p.m. (details)
Shop their list: The mission’s Urgent Needs page links to its own Amazon registries, which ship items straight to its shelters.
Sources
Salem Reporter (Abbey McDonald), “Wallace Marine Park resident asks judge to stop camp city of Salem’s camp removals,” Oct. 7, 2026
Salem Reporter (Abbey McDonald), “‘You gave people a false hope:’ City of Salem proceeds with camp removals at Wallace Marine Park,” Sept. 23, 2026
Salem Reporter (Abbey McDonald), “Wallace Marine Park residents ask Salem city councilors, manager to stop camp removals,” Sept. 16, 2026
Salem Reporter, “Salem City Council Q&A: Ending camping at Wallace Marine Park,” Aug. 13, 2026
Salem Reporter, “As city leaders say it’s time to leave Wallace Marine Park, residents say they’ll be driven to city sidewalks,” Aug. 7, 2026
KPTV, “Homeless campers uncertain of next steps amid sweeps at Wallace Marine Park,” Sept. 24, 2026
City of Salem, “Responding to Sheltering in Public Spaces” and “Find Shelter, Help and Information About Homelessness”
Oregon Revised Statutes, Chapter 195 (ORS 195.505 and 195.530)
Mid-Willamette Valley Community Action Agency, The ARCHES Project; Union Gospel Mission of Salem, Donate Goods and Urgent Needs
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