March 2016
NEWS
The Southwest Portland Post • 3
Mayor brings community together for second meeting to address homelessness in Southwest
By Jack Rubinger
The Southwest Portland Post
After three articles, three meetings,
numerous interviews, edits and rewrites
on the subject of the Sears Shelter and
homelessness in southwest Portland,
this reporter has come to the following
conclusion:
The struggle continues but the city
and neighborhoods are making progress
in the exceedingly polite manner that
characterizes our community.
Ironically, when concerns are aired,
many are paranoid about the presence
of the media, showing a reluctance to
be quoted and downright fear of being
photographed.
When this reporter first visited the
Sears Shelter located on Southwest
Multnomah Boulevard, the care,
concern and compassion the staff
showed was impressive.
The neighbors who live near the Sears
Shelter do care about the homeless;
they want to help and contribute with
donations of food and clothing.
Mayor Charlies Hales discusses the Sears
noise with a concerned neighbor.
(Post photo by Jack Rubinger)
They’re also wary of strangers on
their streets, frustrated about excessive
noise from shuttle buses that transport
people to and from the Sears Shelter,
and angry about people loudly arguing
across the street from the facility.
A community forum on Feb. 16 at the
Multnomah Arts Center featured an
all-star cast including Portland Mayor
Charlie Hales, his chief of staff Josh
Alpert, facility manager Bob Kieta, and
Stacy Borke from Transition Projects,
the agency that runs the shelter.
The community came together to get
a status update about the success of the
Sears Shelter, the mayor’s plans to deal
with homelessness on a wider scale
throughout Portland, and the future of
the building now housing the shelter.
Neighbors also collected socks and
canned goods for the shelter.
Greater clarity — and some tensions
— were released at the community
forum.
Here are some of the highlights:
The Menashe family opened up a
temporary men’s shelter on a whole
floor of one of their buildings.
A former strip club on 162nd
and Stark is now a family shelter.
The city now offers about 1,000
shelter beds and 695 homeless
veterans are housed.
An online homelessness “tool
kit” from the Mayor’s Office
will go live soon.
The Multnomah Neighbor-
hood Association and the
Sears Shelter are drafting a
memorandum of agreement,
which will address who to call for
emergencies, what the police will
agree to do, and what neighbors
will agree to do.
“We have an increased budget
for housing and homelessness
as our city and county
budgets have grown modestly
and we’re in the market to
purchase buildings or land or
both in Southeast Portland to
Shelter accommodate our homeless
population,” said Hales.
“We want to bring order to the chaos
of people camping and we’re also
working on changing zoning laws. But,
homelessness has grown more visible
because more people are sleeping in
tents on the streets vs. being curled up
in doorways.”
Stacy Borke, from Transition Projects,
the organization that manages the
Sears Shelter, reported that things are
operating swimmingly. “Possessions,
pets, and partners ease the pain of
homelessness,” said Borke.
Neighbors and volunteers have
provided more than 8,000 sack lunch
since opening in November. Residents
are saying that they have gotten the best
night’s sleep in a long time.
People are getting jobs and moving
onto permanent housing.
“While it may seem that people are
choosing Portland as a destination to
be homeless, of the thousands who are
homeless, only dozens came to Portland
homeless. Most are longtime residents
of Multnomah County. The large
majority of people that are homeless
are from here,” said Hales.
“The ability to sleep is a basic human
right,” said Hales. “For the 1,800 or so
people sleeping outside, we want to
give them a constructive answer with
a basic approach to camping because
it is legal to camp on some sites if you
roll up your stuff and move in the
morning.”
As to the future of the Sears Shelter,
POLICE BLOTTER
(Continued from Page 2)
After being struck by Yam, Baranow
was struck a second time by an eastbound
2015 Toyota Rav4, driven by 57-year-old
Carolyn Smith. Both drivers stopped at
the scene and cooperated with authorities.
Neither driver was impaired by alcohol
or drugs.
The investigation is continuing and,
once complete, it will be presented to the
Mayor Charlie Hales listens to a panel
member during the community forum on
homelessness.
(Post photo by Jack Rubinger)
which transitions into an emergency
management facility in May, crews are
working on heating, ventilation and air
conditioning systems, and upgrading
elevators.
By the end of the meeting, the mayor
and the woman who lived across the
street from the shelter were putting
their heads together to come up with
a solution to the noise and the beeping
from the shuttle buses.
Multnomah County District Attorney’s
Office for review.
The Portland Police Bureau is
committed to working with our partners
in government and the community to
create safer streets and work towards
reducing, and eventually eliminating,
traffic fatalities as part of Vision Zero.
To learn more about the city of
Portland’s Vision Zero effort, please
visit: http://www.portlandoregon.
gov/transportation/40390.
Westside Candidates Forum
Get to know Portland’s candidates for Mayor and City
Council. Let them know your concerns.
Tuesday, March 29, 2016
Multnomah Arts Center 7688 SW Capitol Hwy.
6:15-7:00 pm - meet-and-greet
with the candidates
7:00-8:45 pm - Forum
• Saturday night music series starting
at 8 PM
We have invited ALL the Mayoral and City Council candidates and have confirmation
from the campaigns of Ted Wheeler, Jules Bailey, David Schor, Amanda Fritz, Steve
Novick, Susan Stahl and more!
As of press time:
Candidates for Mayor
• David ‘The Ack’ Ackerman
• Jules Bailey
• Sean Davis
• Bim Ditson
• Steven J. Entwisle
• Deborah Harris
• Lew Humble
• Sarah Iannarone
• Trevor Manning
• David Schor
• Jessie Sponberg
• Ted Wheeler
• Monday night Trivia starting at 7 PM
• Craft beer Thursdays every third
Thursday of the month featuring a
local brewery, tastings and swag
Candidates for City
Council Commissioner,
Position #1
• Amanda Fritz
Candidates for City
Council Commissioner,
Position #4
• Chloe Eudaly
• Fred Stewart
• James Bernard Lee
• Joseph Puckett
• Michael Durrow
• Shannon Estabrook
• Steve Novick
• Stuart Emmons
• Susan Stahl
• Newly remodeled with more
seating and over 13 TVs for all the
sports games
• 24 taps with 21 craft beers and ciders
• Chicago fans welcome
Contact SWNI with
questions - 503-823-4592
or www.swni.org
Sponsored by Southwest Neighborhhoods, Inc. (SWNI) and Neighbors West-Northwest.
7827 SW 35th Ave.
in Multnomah Village
(503) 244-7345
Open daily
10am – 2:30am
$2 off Lunch
on food purchases of
$6 or more, with coupon.
The Ship Tavern
Multnomah Village
503-244-7345
Expires 3/31/16