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About Street roots. (Portland, OR) 1998-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 25, 2015)
Street Roots • Sept. 25-Oct. 1,2015 Editorial Bold actions needed on housing emergency treet Roots was glad to hear that Mayor community — Street Roots recommends the Charlie Hales declared a state of emergency following actions: on housing and homelessness in our • A sustained, annual $20 million investment community this week. The question now by the city and county to support services and becomes: Does the mayor and other elected build new housing, in addition to fortified budget officials have the capacity and political will to investments seize the moment? • A significant increase in funding at a local The declaration is a valuable and important and statewide level for mental health services statement. It provides an opportunity to shed and housing formerly tried and true policies — and in fact is • A demolition tax to support housing and tantamount to a statement that those tried and neighborhood preservation true methods aren’t enough any longer. It means • A fee on short-term rentals such as Airbnb to the gloves come off, and the shirt sleeves get support rent assistance and eviction prevention rolled up. But it is only the • An aggressive land banking strategy to first step in what has to be support future affordable housing developments many bold actions to •Increasing the Urban Renewal Set Aside for change the status quo. The need for housing and affordable housing from 30 percent to 50 percent • Lift statewide preemptions and support for people implementing, along with state government, rent experiencing "homelessness and extreme poverty control, inclusionary zoning and access to other has been well documented by Street Roots. The revenue tools currently banned at reality is, there’s been an the state level to support housmg emergency happening in our • Require developer impact fees community for 30 years. with every new development of Unfortunately, elected leaders Scaling up have chosen to manage the crisis market rate housing instead of actually tackling the investments in • Suspend no-cause evictions for problem. housing, standing one-year Mayor Hales is proposing to • Increase the notice period of up to powerful expedite emergency housing interest groups that rent increases over 5 percent from optiofts by waiving cumbersome the current 30 days to one year have squashed zoning codes and converting city- • Encourage private investors revenue options in owned buildings into shelters. The and regional foundations to play the past and having more of a role in ending declaration also restates the ongoing objective of the city and the political will to homelessness in Portland Multnomah County to house all •Waive zoning codes and make a heavy lift on homeless veterans by the end of these issues simply support more shelter beds for the year. women and tent cities hasn't been a top The mayor also pledges to * • Reallocate resources for the priority. Times are provide supportive housing for criminal justice system directly changing. people with mental illnesses after into housing they are discharged from the • Challenge Metro to convene a planned Unity Center. The Unity regional taskforce of mayors to Center is a joint project of the city, tackle the problem and encourage the state, Multnomah and housing investments in neighboring cities and Washington counties and area hospitals to towns Consolidate immediate mental health care. The • Challenge Metro to invest in affordable center is expected to open late next year. housmg around the »region But this is an emergency. •Demand our elected officials make a personal Scaling up investments in housing, standing up investment to create smart housing policies at a to powerful interest groups that have squashed statewide and federal level, rather than simply revenue options in the past and having the relying on housing coalitions and government political will to make a heavy lift on these issues lobbyists to get the job done simply hasn’t been a top priority. Times are The announcement of a state of emergency changing. from Mayor Hales comes on the heels of Los We believe residents have significant concerns Angeles, who earlier in the week, also declared a and clearly understand that Portland and state of emergency on homelessness and Multnomah County are experiencing a housing housing. In the case of Los Angeles, they also crisis. Being able to respond to the current housmg announced a $100 million allocation to be crisis will take a menu of options, including new invested in homeless services and housing. regulations, incentives for building affordable That’s a significant amount more than what housing and a large ongoing investment in Portland is proposing. The reality is, if we’re going to call the housmg permanent housing. It’s not new news that there are thousands of crisis a state of emergency - and that’s exactly people experiencing homelessness and what it is - than Portland’s has to implement an thousands more threatened with the prospect of expansive plan that does more simply give lip homelessness and displacement from Portland service to the problem. and Multnomah County. . There’«s no question that all of the The Welcome Home Coalition estimates that it recommendations Street Roots outlines above are would take an additional $50 million annually to a heavy lift. It’s also true the problem isn’t going actually begin to tackle the problem. Res^h • to get any better unless we act boldly. After all, shows that we currently have a 23,000 affordable we are talking about an emergency. housing shortage in Multnomah County and It’s going to take real leadership to get the job 40,000 units region-wide. We’re not keeping up. done and Street Roots is challenging area leaders In order to legitimately respond to a state of to do just that Lead. The people will follow. emergency for housing and homelessness in our S EDITORIAL Page 3 . Write in / If you would ice totwe something / \ —A that you’ve written published . t \ , in our pages, or would like to get involved as a member of our reporting staff, contact Managing Editor Joanne Zuhl at 503-228-5657. joanne@slreetroots.org. We ask that all submissions include the author's name and contact information, if available. Street Roots 211 NW Davis St Portland, OR 97209 503-228-5657 Fax:503-227-3117 www.streetroots.org www.news.streetroots.org Hours: 7:30 a.m.-3 p.m. Mon-FrL 7:30 a.m.-2 p.m., Sat and 7:30-11 am. Sun. Advertising • Interested in advertising in Street Roots? Contact Israel Bayer at israel@streetroots.org Staff • '77 ' ^7--: Executive Director Israel Bayer israel@streetroots.org Managing Editor Joanne Zuhl joanne@streetroots.org Vendor Coordinator Cole Merkel cole@streetroots.org Operations Director Sarah Beecroft Development Director Sarah Cloud Program Assistant Scott Jackson, Jesuit Volunteer Development Assistant Ann-Derrick Gaillot Reporters Emily Green, Sue Zalokar, Ann-Derrick Gaillot, Sarah Hansell, Lenora Ko, Sam Bouman, Jared Paben Photographers Diego Diaz, Joe Glode Canvasser Desmond Hardison Board of Directors Chairman Bruce Anderson Vice-Chairman Brad Taylor Treasurer Heather Stadick Secretary Amber Bielman Directors Rich Rodgers, Michael Anderson, Leo Rhodes, Nora Coon, Darren Alexander, Eddie Barbosa, Rachel Langford, Marcus Swift Volunteers Jan Bayer, John Barker, Stacey Heath, Brian Ritchie, Anders Frederickson, Stephanie Holum, Anjali Rathore, Sam Bouman, Joanna Chase, Zoe Klingmann, Haven Herrin, Eliese Baker, Dan Jones, Rob Shyrock, Tom Ray, Doug Spangle, Susannah Kamala, Jessica Pollard, Lee Ko, Diana Richardson, Cherie \ Manning ' 77.' If you are interested in volunteering with Street Roots, please submit a volunteer application at streetroots.org/volunteer. Or - call our volunteer coordinator for more information at 503-228-5657.
