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About Street roots. (Portland, OR) 1998-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 14, 2014)
3 Street roots Feb. 14, 2014 DIRECTOR'S DESK, fro m page 2 ways, has amounted to the notion that downtown Portland’s livability is at risk unless we act how. Right now. We’ve heard it time and again, year aftet'year. The British are coming. Damn the torpedoes. Rush the gates. The Road Warriors and homeless people are coming to town and will have a stranglehold on our city. One of the constant messages to leverage a mOre robust sidewalk and other quality of ” life laws has been the skateboard attack at the Outdoor Store downtown this summer. A elderly employee was injured badly by a young man who was presumed to be homeless. It’s a very tragic story, and at this point, I would like to find; the kid and throw him in jail for all the trouble he’s caused. But let’s be real, it was one incident. That’s not to say something bad won’t happenagain. It trill. We live in a city with more than half a million people. Of course, We should constantly be Working to deter violence downtown. What we shouldn’t be doing is making homeless people Public Enemy Number One. Now, if I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a million dines. Downtown Portland is thriving. Tourism is at an all-time high, 1 thriving neighborhoods have risen in the Pearl and South Waterfront, and crime is down — way down. We are a city on a hill. When Chief Reese unveiled his proposal about Portland Prosper, my first thought was,' that man is going to run for mayor. My second thought was, did Mayor Charlie Hales, his direct supervisor, know about this? My third thought was, does h e actually have enough gas in the tank to pull it off? The plan itself has some interesting aspects that Street Roots" has advocated for, such as more police officers walking the streets and coordinated approaches to housing. It also has elements that felt like it was drafted by the same interest groups wanting stricter so-called “quality of life”' .laws. _ I decided to do an afternoon’s worth of •research and talk to sources around the city. Many of the people I talked with thought that the mayor probably didn’t know about Portland Prosper. What difference would it make if he did or he didn’t? It might just be the right amount of leverage to pursue a more aggressive public safety agenda downtown. Something Hales has highlighted in pubic speeches. Then there was th e Thetus Corp., a downtown tech firm that has volunteered to work with the police bureau to do a free analytics for services and strategies on downtown homelessness. Thetus Corp., received funding from In-Q-Tel, a venture fund set up by the CIA. That’s interesting. I wonder who its other clients are. Reese recently had a meeting on his ' schedule with the Thetus Corp., along with police officer Jeff Myers, a controversial figure among the homeless and their advocates. Myers is known on the homeless front for being a renegade of sorts., His philosophies include targeting people experiencing homelessness through the criminal justice system. He worked closely with former City Commissioner Randy Leonard on a range of projects. His approach to public safety and housing has been a Criticized by some and lauded by ■others. So here we have a police chief, unveiling a program to target downtown homelessness, out of the blue, at a time when many believe there’s a leadership gap at City Hall on the homeless front. How would the mayor and the rest of City Hall respond? Is it smart politics? Will someone emerge from City Hall to champion the plan? Where will the money come from? Will other bureaus and nonprofits be asked to take part? Will Jeff Myers be overseeing the plan? How will the Thetus Corp, actually play a role? Does it mean passing stricter ordinances affecting the homeless? There are more questions about Portland Prosper at this point than there are answers. Stay tuned. We’ll find out soon. Developers pitch ftinds toward R2DToo’s future S T A F F RE P O R TS earl District developers want Right 2 Dream Too out of their neighborhood, so much so that they’re willing to pony up more than $846,000 toward the homeless 1 * ■ ■ ■ I 8 groups future home. 1 This week, Portland City Council postponed a vote on whether to accept the money, and is expected to take up the proposal again Feb. H 19. ' . \ ‘ 1» Under the terms of the proposed agreement, Pearl Hotel Investors LLC, fronted by developers Homer Williams and Dike Dame, would pay the city just over $1 million total for multiple uses. Of that amount, $142,000 will be used to purchase Lot 7, a parking lot under the Broadway Bridge once proposed as new home for Right 2 Dream Too; The Portland Development Commission currently owns the lo t Another cut of the payment, $50,000, goes to offset parking needs to the nonprofit REACH, which had an agreement with the city organization for violatingcity code. By December 2012, the Right 2 Dream Too for the space. sudd the city for relief from the fines. Nearly a The remainder is dedicated to finding a year later, lawyers for both parties reached a suitable alternative site for'the homeless rest settlement agreement City Commissioner area. Amanda Fritz, as the freshly anointed ; “It’s a step forward,” Fritz says. “No one’s commissioner with the Bureau of going to say it’s a solution.” ‘ Development Services, signed the agreement As part of the proposal^ the city agrees to facilitate the sale of the current Right 2 Dream that would aüow R2DTóo to move to a parking lot, known as Lot 7, under the Northwest ? Tod site the high profile lot under the Lovejoy Street off-ramp. Chinese Gate — to the PDC. Even with that That met with considerable blowback from sale, Right 2 Dream Too would still be allowed the Pearl District neighborhood, which rallied to stay on the site until a suitable alternative against such a move and was reinforced by an was found, according to the proposal. offer from developer Homer Williams to find The agreement also waives the existing another location. All sides agreed to a 60-day fines, and puts a halt on any future fines, window to air out ideas. assessed by the city for R2DToo’s occupation What followed was an announcement on at Fourth'Avenue and Burnside. Dec. 4 from Mayor Charlie Hales that he had For the developers, it takes Lot 7 off the reached an agreement with the-owners of an table for R2Dtoo. According to the City empty warehouse at 320 Hoyt Street to lease Assessor’s office, that property has a real the property for 15 months to the-homeless market value of nearly $1.4 million, and is organization. The announcement came as a assessed at $172,000. surprise to both Right 2 Dream Too and Fritz, The past two years have been a series of who had brokered the earlier arrangement for false sta rts betw een Right 2 D ream T ooand the city. Lot 7 I It wasn’t to bé. Right 2 Dream Too wasn’t The organization - a fluctuating group of about 70 homeless individuals, governed by a keen on the site, particularly having been left board of directors — has been on the lot at out of the negotiations to secure it, and it was Fourth Avenue and Burnside since Oct. 10, later dismissed as an option because of the 2011. They have a lease with the property high cost to make it habitable and due to owners, but Right 2 Dream Too has to previous city agreements with the, - relocate: the property isfor sale, and the city neighborhood. has been piling monthly fines on the “This whole processhas been two steps J. B forward and one step back,” Fritz says. “It’s a complicated situation.” R2DToo members say a suitable alternative site would be one that is close to social services and public transportation, with open space for tents and connections to water and' electric service. And they say they want the proximity to he within 1. 5 miles of the city fe center, a sticking point that prompted the City Council’s delay in making a decision. Mubarak said he is hearing increasing reports from people on the streets of police moving campers out of the downtown core. He said R2DToo hashad to turn away increasing numbers of visitors to tfifeir rest area. Wednesday night, Mubarak said they had to turn away about 75 people who came looking for a place to stay. “With the present sweeps going on in the city, we need to keep being a place where people chn go,” Mubarak, says. “They’re sweeping people who don’t haveanywhere else to go,” : Despite its tenuous relationship with Cite Hall and downtown businesses, R2DToo has operated a low-cost, peaceful shelter area for more than two years without any tax dollar support. It has become ad e facto resource within the homeless service Continuum. Fritz acknowledged that the services offered by R2DToo are vital for the community. “I think it’s here to stay,” Fritz says. City Hall surplus draws pitch from Housing Bureau BY JAKE THOMAS . 'STAFF w r iter fter years of austere budgets, City Hall has scraped up some extra cash for the upcoming budget cycle. Some of it could go to building affordable housing, aiding homeless individuals, helping distressed renters and other initiatives In December, the Office of Management and Finance announced that revenue streams for; the city were pickinglip, generating $6 million in ongoing program funding and $3,3 million in one-time spending. With extra cash on hand, Portland Mayor Charlie Hales told bureaus that, unlike past years, they wouldn’t,- have to make cuts. Hales also announced that bureaus could even get extra money if it was to< be directed toward the mayor’s three priority areas: complete neighborhoods; homelessness and hunger; and emergency preparedness. Seeking to get some of this extra money, the Portland Housing Bureau has. submitted a package of proposals asking for $1,85 million in ongoing funding in addition to $3 million in one-time funding for programs aimed at Portland’s neediest. Perhaps the most significant request in the package is for $3 million in one-time funding to, build affordable housing in Portland. If approved, this funding would come just, as another source of cash for the bureau is tapering off. The bureau’s largest source of direct funding, tax increment financing - a ■ method of public financing used to subsidize infrastructure and redevelopment — is projectedlo drop by half in coming years. PHB spokesperson Jaymee Cuti says that federal funds often have strings attached and money from urban renewal areas restricts where housing can be built. However, this fund, she says, could be used to make, capital investments in affordable housing virtually anywhere in the city, particularly near jobs, schools or natural areas. Commissioner Dan Saltzman, who oversees the PHB, says that the money, if approved, will be used to create or rehabilitate housing for people making 60 percent of the region’s median income or lower. He says that the bureau would prioritize the rehabilitation of existinghousing.The funds will also likely target neighborhoods in Northeast and Southeast Portland, he says. “Idon’t have a specific neighborhood or two in mind, but it’s a huge need throughout the city,” says Saltzman. 1 ' John Miller, the executive director of the Oregon Opportunity Network, supports the PHB’s funding package, which he says is particularly welcome after years of budget cuts ushered in-by the recession. His organization will be advocating for the PHB’s funding package during the budget process, he says. While he supports th e request for more money for affordable housing, he is concerned that it might be used in expensive areas, which could eat up the funds more quickly.^ • As part of the package, the PHB is asking for $100,000 in one-time funds to support a series of clinics to be held in North, Northeast and East Portland operated by renters’ rights The PHB is also asking for $1 million in ongomg funding for housing-placement services and rent assistance to help homeless individuals move from the street and shelters into permanent housing. In total, the bureau hopes that the funding will help 250 individuals. Additionally the PHB is asking for $350,000 in ongoing funding to increase capacity at homeless shelters, particularly those that need more capacity in the winter. Part of this mohey would go to 211Info system, which refers individuals to social services and would help coordinate response in the event of a natural disaster — to expand its capacity. The requested funding package from the PHB also includes an ask for $500,000 in ongoing funding to reinstate programs to transition homeless youth to housing programs. The PHB expects that 70 youths will'be served per year with case management and support. It expects 80 percent of served youths to move to permanent housing. However, these are still just requests and could easily be modified or dropped during the budget process. “I would be pleasantly surprised if we got the whole package through in tact,” says ' Saltzman.
