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About Street roots. (Portland, OR) 1998-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 12, 2016)
Street Roots • August 12-18, 2016 The murky future of Terminal 1 n June, I wrote about a new proposal by truly commit to curbing homelessness, developers Homer Williams and Dike developers would have much more of an impact Dame. The original idea was a $100 million with $100 million to build affordable housing plan to build space for 700 new shelter beds throughout the city. and create 700 beds in dormitory-style housing Much of the business community is at a — $60 million of which they had agreed to crossroads when it comes to the issue of the raise. The other $40 housing crisis. It’s a new era in Portland, and million would need to be many people are being left behind. It’s real. raised by government. The scale of people suffering or being The location that was displaced is enormous. People’s wages are identified by the lagging and the cost of housing is skyrocketing. developers is Terminal 1, We need radical housing reform in Oregon, By Israel Bayer an industrial warehouse in including tenant protections, rent control and Northwest Portland next to other methods to protect residents who are the Willamette River. simply struggling to survive. The need for In the short time since, more affordable housing is a given at this point. the plan has changed significantly. Now it’s Several questions arise from the current unknown how much money will be raised and if proposal. any government money will go toward the How do two wealthy developers walk into proposal. The number of beds planned for the City Hall and begin to drive public policy in a shelter has been scaled back from 1,400 to 400 way that has zero accountability? I total. suppose money does talk. Still, I Let’s be clear. We aren’t talking can’t think of a time when so much about a shelter in a traditional I can't think of political capital was spent on an sense. We’re talking about an a time when so idea without a clear strategy or industrial warehouse that would be much political plan on how to accomplish the potentially outfitted with porta- goals set forth. capital was potties and propane heaters. Moreover, it’s unclear what the It’s been speculated that anyone spent on an idea project’s goals actually are. Some from Right 2 Survive (the without a clear advocates have argued it’s the best organization behind the Right 2 strategy or plan we’re going to get given the Dream Too rest stop), to other circumstances. Politicos argue it’s on how to homeless advocates, to a traditional a housing emergency and accomplish the shelter provider would actually run everything must be on the table. g o als set fo rth . the facility. Nobody really knows. There’s no question we have a The details are murky. humanitarian crisis with thousands That’s why it came as somewhat of people on the streets. of a surprise that City On one hand we have a system Commissioner Dan Saltzman and that is increasing enforcement and the Portland Housing Bureau decided to come criminalization efforts. On the other hand we forward with a proposal and vote to transfer have a system that is screaming “uncle” and the industrial land from the Bureau of saying they care about the people and the Environmental Services to the Housing Bureau answer is now to put those people into a mass with the purpose of using it as a temporary shelter. shelter. We do need organized camps in our city. It’s The proposal is half-baked at best. not that it’s ideal - it’s simply a reality. Having The site poses several problems, including a mass shelter on industrial land isn’t an environmental concerns, transportation issues organized camp. It’s an attempt to centralize and the zoning permits that it would require to the problem and move people out of sight, turn the land from industrial use to essentially especially from along the Springwater Corridor mass residential. and a gentrifying Old Town. It’s also unclear how one might go about It would be easy to go along with the wave of managing a site of 400 vulnerable individuals political support to create shelter by any means and families on the streets. That’s a big lift. necessary. Some traditional social services have balked at Fortunately, Street Roots learned a long time the idea, saying that any investment by wealthy ago that getting swept away in the moment or developers should go directly to increasing the being influenced by money isn’t the answer to affordable housing stock that’s necessary to solving homelessness. All that matters to move people off the streets. Street Roots is supporting the best outcomes A loose band of homeless advocates have for people on the streets. come together to determine the best way Saying all that, if, after overcoming the many forward given the circumstances. hurdles the project faces, including raising I talked with Homer Williams and money free of tax dollars and legal challenges, consultants for more than an hour last month the project is still standing, it’s Right 2 Survive about the project Seeing a major contribution that can make it happen. I believe with all my from the business community like this is heart that Right 2 Survive has the best fantastic. Obviously, having someone like interests of people on the streets in mind. Homer come forward to motivate people to They live it, every single day. take action is amazing. Saying that, the devil is It’s a tall mountain to climb, no question, in the details. under the microscope of the media and Building a massive shelter with one-time entangled in a political environment that is private investments is one thing, but with no explosive. Whether the project is successful or long-term plan, short of hanging it around the not, we’ll still find ourselves in the same city’s neck as another ongoing funding situation. It’s housing and housing alone that obligation and resource liability, it’s reckless. will end people’s homelessness. We’ve got our Street Roots’ recommendation at the time work cut out for us. was that if the business community wanted to I DESK Israel Bayer is the executive director o f Street Roots. You can reach him. a t israel@streetroots. org o r follow h im on Twitter @israelbayer. Page 3 Editorial Write in If you wouldtfke Io have something that you've written published in our pages, or would like to get involved as a member of our reporting staff, contact Managing EcBtor Joanne Zuhl at 503-228-5657, joanne@streetroots.org. We ask that all submissions include the author’s name and contact information. I 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. M on,-Fit, 7:30 a.m.-2 p.m. Sat. and 7:30-11 a.m. Sun. Advertising Interested in advertising in Street Roots? Contact Israel Bayer at israel@streetroots.org Staff Executive Director Israel Bayer israel@streetxoots.org Managing Editor loanne Zuhl joanne@streetroots.org Vendor Program Director Cole Merkel .cole@strefitroQts.org «r « Operations Director Sarah Beecroft Development Director Sarah Cloud Program Assistant Scott Jackson, Jesuit Volunteer Development Assistant Patricia Romero Reporters Emily Green, Suzanne Zalokar, Sarah Hansell, Leonora Ko, Jared Paben, Amanda Waldroupe, Stephen Quirke Photographers Diego Diaz, Joe Glode, Ben Brink Editorial Assistant Monica Kwasnik Canvasser Desmond Hardison Board of Directors Chairman Brad Taylor Vice-Chairman Rachel Langford Treasurer Heather Stadick Secretary Marcus Swift Directors Rich Rodgers, Michael Anderson, Leo Rhodes, Sandra Hahn, John Brown, Dan Jones Volunteers Jan Bayer, John Barker, Stacey Heath, Stephanie Holum, Anjali Rathore, Zoe Klingmann, Haven Herrin, Dan Jones, Rob Shyrock, Dennis Hogan, Tom Wright, Eileen Deerdock, Vince Waldman, Judy Taylor, Karen Allen, Monica McKune, Susan Wolfe, Lucas Hawthorne, Thomas Buell Jr., Jeanie Lunsford, Yasmin Amirsoleymani, Jason Cohen, Tom Ray, Doug Spangle, Susannah Kamala, Jon Raymond, Hilary Smith, Diana Richardson, Cherie Manning, Paul and Madeline Gefroh. 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