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FRIDAY, DECEMBER 13, 2019
The Observer
Across the Fence
What should communities and local
government do about homelessness?
We must provide affordable housing Warming Station failures
and social services for the homeless demand community action
W
hen the La Grande City Council voted
unanimously on Dec. 4 to allow the
Union County Warming Station to operate in
its new location, we moved closer to meeting
the emergency needs of some of our homeless
neighbors for shelter from freezing tempera-
tures.
Testimony by many residents supporting or
opposing the appeal of the warming station’s
conditional use permit made clear that we must
address an issue far greater than temporary
respite from the cold. Speaker after speaker sup-
ported action to reduce homelessness in Union
County. Mayor Steven Clements refl ected the
wishes of proponents and opponents alike when
he promised to provide leadership bringing dif-
fering sides in the warming station controversy
together to address local homelessness.
Union County residents are not homeless
by choice. They are part of the nearly 554,000
Americans who are homeless on any given night.
Their lack of homes is part of the national defi cit
of 7.2 million rental homes inexpensive enough
for persons with the lowest incomes to afford.
When rents are high and affordable housing
unavailable, our neighbors are forced to live on
the streets or in temporary accommodations
not available to all. La Grande needs to address
the crisis of our lack of affordable housing. This
will take time and our concerted efforts. Union
County progressives and Democrats look forward
to working with the mayor and all concerned citi-
zens of Union County to ensure that all residents
have access to good quality affordable housing.
Why are people homeless? According to the
Oregon Community Foundation’s 2019 report
“Homelessness in Oregon,” some people are
homeless because of highly challenging personal
circumstances — for example, mental illness,
addiction, lack of job skills or lack of jobs. These
individuals need sustained, intensive support
from traditional, local homeless agencies.
Emergency shelters and social services, as
important as they are, cannot solve the homeless
crisis. More than 150,000 Oregon households
experience at least short-term homelessness
because of high housing costs and lack of afford-
able housing units. Growing numbers of severely
cost-burdened Oregon renters are on the verge of
homelessness.
BILL WHITAKER
UNION COUNTY PROGRESSIVES/
DEMOCRATS
Homelessness and housing instability impose
high costs on families and especially on children
through learning loss, lower rates of educational
attainment and lower lifetime earnings.
The Oregon Community Foundation report
also shows 5% of students enrolled in Union
County schools were homeless during the 2017-
18 school year. During 2018-19 school year, there
were 153 homeless students in the La Grande
School District. And 25-30% of households in
Union County are “housing cost burdened,”
paying more than 30% of their gross income on
housing and utilities. For many households at
the lowest income levels (i.e., below 50% median
family income), the market fails to deliver any
suitable housing at affordable costs.
During 2016-17, federal rent assistance
programs helped 56,000 low-income renters in
Oregon; 153,000 low-income renters received no
help and were “severely cost burdened,” paying
more than half of their family incomes for rent
and utilities. Only 29% of Oregon households in
need of federal housing assistance are receiving
it. All of Oregon’s “severely cost burdened” low-
income renters who receive no federal assistance
are at risk of homelessness.
There is not enough affordable housing avail-
able in Union County. From 2010-2016 Union
County built only 0.61 new housing units for
each household that formed.
Housing Matters Union County, a housing
collaborative of local government, social service
agencies, landlords and other concerned citizens
believes expanding the local affordable housing
market and providing support services is the foun-
dation of thriving communities. Studies show that
the ability to obtain safe, affordable and secure
housing leads to incredible benefits for families
and the communities we live in. Crime goes down,
tax dollars are saved and productivity is increased.
With our communities being designated as
“severely rent burdened,” it is vital that all Union
County residents concerned about homelessness
come together to provide the affordable housing
and social services needed to end our crisis of
homelessness. This will require local, state and
U
nion County Warming Station goals
are to provide a warm place at night
for the homeless living in La Grande. That
goal will be partially reached when the
shelter on Third Street is functional. That
vacated offi ce building is ostensibly the
only available spot in town. The warming
station’s website states its mission is “to
provide a welcoming, safe, and compas-
sionate place where all people can stay
the night and are offered resources and
pathways toward housing stability.” I
think we can all admire and support such
a mission; so I encourage those who agree
to make a donation of time or money to
the Union County Warming Station.
What are the objections to setting up a
warming station in the selected location?
La Grande downtown urban renewal
efforts have been underway for decades,
making progress, losing a little, regaining
a little, etc. For years, considerable expense
has been put into making Downtown La
Grande a beautiful place to attract viable
businesses, the shopping public and tourist
traffi c.
Since Al Adelsberger’s name has been
thrust into this discussion, consider why he
might object to a warming station opening
its doors across the street from one of his
projects. His philanthropy has been a labor
of love for La Grande and Eastern Oregon.
And he has been appreciated for his gener-
osity and large-scale improvements to the
downtown area, including the New Town
Square on Washington Avenue and major
construction and renovation projects on
Adams Avenue, to no personal gain. Could
it be he wants to see Market Place Fresh
Foods and surrounding small businesses
thrive?
For the plight of downtown merchants
in La Grande, just walk the sidewalks
of Adams Avenue to see several vacant
street-front business locations. This attests
to the tenuous existence of those who open
a business hoping to survive long enough
to profi t from the effort and employ local
citizens. The La Grande City Council,
having involvement with the Urban
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A division of
UNION COUNTY REPUBLICANS
Renewal Agency, should have no diffi culty
in understanding the desire of downtown
merchants to keep the area safe for shop-
pers and free from the optics of Burnside in
Portland.
Marco Rennie, co-owner of Market Place
Fresh Foods, shared that he recognizes the
need for a warming station but that it’s not
fully addressed by this Third Street plan.
Since Fresh Foods has been open, he has
donated more than 12,000 pounds of food,
amounting to $3,000 a month, to Com-
munity Connection. He does not consider
himself an antagonist, but he would like to
see more effective planning.
The failure is on multiple fronts. The
Union County Warming Station began
the process of getting permits to use the
property at such a late date that any op-
position to it would put them in the exact
place they are now. The city council chose
not to notify local businesses, practically
ensuring an appeal would come forth. The
selected site is measurably inadequate to
the task at hand with maximum capacity
accommodating 26 people of the many
more in the community who are in need
of that service. Adequate planning for
this shelter was observably absent. The
location was determined by a rushed
expediency, not a reasoned, well-planned
approach.
Compassion is not accomplished by locat-
ing a warming shelter in a place that pits
members of the community against one
another. Nor is compassion being extended
to those who are expected to bear the
burden while trying to run their businesses
and survive into the next year.
What have we learned? Now, not later, is
time to plan for a fair location for a warm-
ing station that meets everyone’s needs.
The La Grande City Council is not the
Politburo. This is a time for affected and
concerned citizens of La Grande to come
together.
STAFF
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