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About Street roots. (Portland, OR) 1998-current | View Entire Issue (March 18, 2011)
7 Street roots March 18, 2011 BUILDING from page 1 N.F.: It has been a challenging two years. Advocates talked about the need for change for over a decádé. In my first year on Council, the Mayor and I acted to bring all the city* s housing programs and resources under one roof. I am very proud of the work of Director Margaret Van Vliet and her dedicated team at PHB. They have worked hard to restructure the city’s housing delivery system and to weather this economic storm. Looking forward, with a stronger foundation, we need to address the challenges on the horizon: developing a new sustainable funding source, addressing equity, fighting for our fair share of federal and state dollars, and strengthening our partnerships. I.B.: While the city has put together several major projects for affordable housing in the past two years, it’s also facing a major revenue decline through tax-increment financing (a major source of affordable housing funding) of up to $16 million. How-does the city meet the challenges in the years to come? N.F.: We need to continue toinvest in long term, cost effective strategies to meet the needs of all Portlanders. But the TIF cliff — the decline in available TIF resources — is real. In the future, we must develop sustainable and flexible resources beyond our federal entitlements and TIF. Our trip to Seattle was a first step in our plan to lead on this issue. I.B.: Your thoughts on the legislative session in Salem related to homelessness and housing? N.F..\We don’t have a clear sense of the magnitude of cuts, and how they will affect our partners. The city is less dependent on state revenue, but because the city and the county are so closely aligned on human services — when the county takes a hit, the city feels the pressure to step up and help backfill some oHhose cuts. There’s no 2 question the outcomes may leave big holes in our safety net. I was down in Salem a couple of weeks ago testifying to renew our tax investment program, and make sure that we continué to have this tool at our disposal for housing. There’s also a team of people from the city pushing the housing agenda is Salem. Seattle’s approach has much to offer Portland leaders BY ISRAEL BAYER term programs. Dobson told the group that the only nowing Portland can’t reinvent the , real rules here are being nice to one wheel concerning resource another, as we walked through the development forliomeless and building where an older gentlemen sat housing dollars, Commissioner Nick Fish ánd drank a Busch Light in the day space. led a team of housing experts and “If you can do that, you’ll be fine,” says business Dobson. ««■■■■■■■■■■■■■■ h representatives to The idea of offering a facility where Seattle on a two- people can openly drink is not new in the day trip to look at harm reduction world, hut it is the first of was financed by models its kind in the United States, Enterprise surrounding harm Dobson was peppered with questions Community reduction and a from the group ranging from service Partners housing levy. delivery approaches and funding (Northwest), a On March 3 the mechanisms to how DESC built the national nonprofit group visited the political will to créate such a facility in lender and Downtown Seattle. Dobson’s response was building Emergency consulting firm for non-traditional allies with law Service Center, or community enforcement, the business community, DESC, an and advocates. “If you have these different development and organization with groups bought into the idea, the entire affordable housing, a long track record community will take pause, and listen.” and the City of of working with The group also toured the Morrison Portland. Street people with Building in the heart of Seattle’s Roots and the mental health and downtown, where DESC operates a 190- Portland Business addictive illness. nnit housing center on top of a shelter Alliance paid their The group spent that houses more than 200 women and own expenses. several hours with men. The facility also offers additional DESC Executive . ' beds meant for individuals specifically being discharged from the hospital, or in Hobson talking extreme distress. The shelter is open about the organization’s approach at 24-hours a day, seven days a week. In working with individuals with chronic many ways the Morrison Building is like alcohol and drug addictions through a the Resource Access Center that will harm reduction model. open in June in downtown Portland, The group toured the controversial, yet except older and bigger. successful 1811 Eastlake Building — The afternoon was spent in two where DESC houses 75 homeless men separate in-depth meetings with the and women with chronic alcohol and Medina Foundation Executive Director addiction issues who are the heaviest Adrienne Quinn, and former Deputy users of publicly funded crisis services, Mayor and Philanthropy NW CEO Tom such as emergency rooms, jails and long- Byers, who talked to the group about STAFF W R ITER ■ th e h o u sin g ta x a b a te m e n t doesn’t have a big impact on the state revenues, but does allow cities and counties to help create an v incentive for housing. I.B.: What about the federal cuts we’ve been hearing about? N.F.: Honestly, this concerns me the most. We are looking at potential cuts to the Community Development Block Grant I.B.: What does the tax investment program program. It’s an important piece of the look like? ■ . funding puzzle for housing. The dollars are reasonably flexible, and can be used for N.F.: It allows us to give a developer a many different projects. Unfortunately, the 10-year property tax break if they meet President h a s . certain policy goals proposed a cut to the that include building program and the housing units that Republicans have are affordable. It come along and said comes with a wrinkle “What's been humbling for let’s double those 7* wé ask that the law cuts. We’re at wits me Is that yon can't take for be clarified to allow granted that we've made onr ends trying to figure us to extend the out what’s real, and abatement tp the case around homelessness what’s not., it’s been commercialportion and housing with the public, keeping me awake at of thè building if it and that the public is always night trying to figure meets a clear public it o u t Think the bènefit. Both County going to be with yon." Admiral Building, and Chair Jeff Cogen, and the Martiia I testified about the Washington Building, program. An i t ’s one of the most example of a mixed- crucial tools we have use development for preserving affordable housing. that would qualify in a place like the Lents The Portland community, and advocates neighborhood or East Portland is where a iike ydurself and the city are a part of developer would also like to include a national coalitions and other groups that are grocery store in what we call a food desert doing everything possible to move the (whère a grocery store doesn’t exists in the housing agenda forward. We simply can’t neighborhood). It’s the goal to extend the balance our budgets on the backs of the i abatement to bring people both housing, poor. We’ll see how that shakes out in and things like a grocery store to Washington, and in Salem. I’m extremely neighborhoods that have been traditionally proud in Portland that we have wall-to-wall under served. We’re cautiously optimistic. support for housing, but we can’t do it . The reality is we need as many tools in alone. We have to be on high alert and the toolbox as possible. We have to be able active. to use tax abatement, tax credits, and direct subsidy along with other tools to fund affordable housing. At the end of the day, I.B.: One of the themes we heardrfrom foundations and advocates this week is that if the housing agenda locally, a n d around the country is to move forward, we have, to be working in collaboration with non-traditional allies. It’s something Street Roots has taken very seriously over the past twoyears, and taken a hard look in the mirror and asked ourselves, how do we honestly build a movement what’s four take on this? N.F.: At One time I worked for (Massachusetts Congressmen) Barney Frank — one of the biggest housing advocates of our time. When I was running for office he came out and spoke to a group of supporters on my behalf. He said, two of his best allies in moving the affordable housing agenda forward were the home builders and the real estate industry. There were some progressive housing folks in the room that looked as though they had just swallowed the cat. At the same time, the idea that the most powerful Democrat in Washington was working on housing issues had identified home builders and the real estate industry as real allies was very sobering for others. The reality is to he successful on the housing front, locally and at the state level we need a big coalition. Part of this is about the confidence and maturity of a movement, and its willingness to build a big tent. Bill Hobson (executive director of Seattle’s Downtown Emergency Service Center) said it yesterday. His biggest allies on the most contrbversial form of harm reduction and housing programs ended up being the business community, and law enforcement We’ve heard this week that it doesn’t matter what people’s motivations are. For the police, it may be that they-are stretched thin and don’t have the capacity to respond to calls surrounding homelessness. For the business community, maybe they didn’t feel like it was productive for the retail community to have people sleeping on the streets in front of their businesses. I . honestly don’t care how you get to our > building the political will and inner workings of Seattle’s housing levy. The Seattle Housing Levy passed in 2009 by* more than 60 percent by Seattle voters. The levy has dedicated nearly $145 million dollars to capital housing projects and rent-assistance over a seven- year period. The cost to Seattle households is roughly $65 a year, or $5.40 a month. Much of the conversation about the housing levy was off the record, but representatives from the city and county, and the Portland Business Alliance all had questions and lively conversations about the challenges of such a move in Portland. Dinner was spent at FareStart - an impressive culinary program/restaurant that trains people experiencing individuals. In attendance were representatives from Housing and Urban Development, the Gates and Medina Foundations and Enterprise. The theme of the night was building a broader partnership around housing in the Pacific Northwest, and how Portland can both learn from Seattle and work with larger foundations to have a role in funding homeless and affordable housing projects in the Portland region. On March 4 the group met with housing levy advocates, and city administrators for a two-hour session hosted by Key Bank in downtown before taking a tour of the Seattle Housing Authority. The meeting about the housing levy on the second day was off the record. The conversation entailed an A to Z presentation on the Seattle Housing levy along with two hours of questions and movement I just need you ät the table ‘ helping. We have spent too much time in the past fighting with potential allies instead of looking for common ground, and agreeing to disagree. To drive housing policy locally, and in Oregon, we have to build a bigger te n t LB.: What are we getting right on the housing front? N.F.: We have identified long-term cost effective strategies to end people’s homelessness. That means not going after quick fixes and expanding our shelter > capacity. Politically, that was a difficult fight at one-time, but it is the right approach. Half way into our 10-year plan — we know we have a model that works. We have strong political support for our work. We are a collaborative community working with foundations, non-profits, the private sector arid government. We can always do it better though. The challenges are that we need to be more organized, and we need develop more resources. We have to guard against complacency and frankly, we have to hit the refresh button and question assumptions. We always have to be asking how we can do it better. The economy has thrown us for a loop, and there’s no question that some of our non-profit community partners are fragile, and it’s been brutal on some of our best providers. What’s been humbling for me is that you can’t take for granted that we’ve made our case around homelessness and housing with the public, and that the public is always going to be with you. We’re halfway through a 10-year plan to end homelessness, and the 30 percent set aside for Urban Renewal dollars is up for reconsideration. Like I said before, we have to be on high alert, active and able to state our case. We know we’re all collectively doing good work. We just have to continue to build that big tent and move forward. fo in us on Facebook to stay in touch with the issues and advocacy you care about.
