Street Roots • July î - 7 , 2016
Let’s give everyone a safe place to call home
w
ith the endorsement of the City
Council, Portland will see a $258
affordable housing bond on the
ballot in November. It’s a historic m oment
The campaign is called Yes for Affordable
Homes!
The council also voted to support a‘l
percent construction
excise tax on all new -
residential and
commercial
development giving
Portland millions of
MBECTOSTS
rasK
By Israel Bayer
Israel Bayer is the
executive director o f
Street Roots. You can
reach him at
israel@streetroots.org
or follow him on
Twitter @israelbayer.
support affordable
housing. It’s about time.
These policy decisions
come the same year that the city voted to tax
short-term rentals and create tenants
protections (We need motel). And
inclusionary zoning policies are expected to
pass in the fall.
At the same time, the city and county have
dedicated millions of dollars annually to
support homeless services in our community.
It’s going to take a comprehensive strategy
to curb homelessness in our community and
to provide all Portlanders with a chance at
fair housing. And that’s exactly what’s ,
beginning to unfold.
People ask me, “Why should Portlanders
vote for an affordable housing bond?”
Here’s the thing. Possibly you’re a
bleeding-heart liberal and voting for an
affordable housing bond simply fits in line
with your values. Maybe you’re a fiscal
conservative and you want government to
save money over time by investing wisely in
housing. Maybe you’re simply mad about tent
camping. At the end of the day, regardless of
political ideologies, or why you want people
experiencing homelessness off the streets -
we can all agree that we need to invest in
more affordable housing stock.
Will the affordable housing bond solve all
of our problems? No. But it will provide
housing for thousands of people. Families.
Elders, Veterans. It’s also a part of a larger
strategy as outlined above.
Page 3
E d ito r ia l
It’s also going to take a banner year in
Salem next year where we are looking for the
governor and state legislators to deliver big
on housing.
Does that mean our work is done, hardly,
it’s just beginning.
The harsh reality is that people are still
dying homeless cm our streets. More than 50
individuals die on our streets every year.
That’s simply unacceptable.
Moreover, the lack of affordable housing
and homelessness isn’t simply a Portland
problem.
Thousands of people in central Oregon are
under water. Communities up and down the
coast can’t provide enough adequate housing
for their own workforce. Beaverton,
Gresham, Ashland, Eugene, Bend - the list
goes on and on. The housing crisis is real.
It’s not a fictitious slogan made up by some
newspaper editor or politician.
Just this week I talked to the mother of ;
James who died homeless in 2015 in
Portland’s Union Station. “Keep fighting,”
she said. “There’s not a day that goes by I
don’t think of my son and the work we still
have to do.”
Yes, we do.
“I’m feeling a lot better than I was on the
streets,” says Wayne Moore, a Street Roots
vendor.
, It’s that simple. Housing makes all the
difference in.the world when it comes to
having the opportunity of living a healthy life.
Affordable housing is an investment in our
community, much like fire and police, our
highways and bike infrastructure. We have to
think of it as such.
So, cheers to all of you for being a part of
a collective effort to stand up for the city we
love, to not become San Francisco. To give
people a safe place to call home. Now let’s go
win our city a housing bond and bring ih a
pew day in o u r community.
Let’s give people an opportunity for a
better tomorrow. Let’s give thousands of
Portlanders a safe place to call home. Let’s
stand up and fight for our city. It’s the least
we can do.
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