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About Street roots. (Portland, OR) 1998-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 20, 2017)
Street Roots • Jan. 20-26, 2017 E d it o r ia l Page 3 Write In ( ' if youwould like to have / - - / \ -A something that you’ve written published in » p a g e s , or would' . \ \ \ Â J like to get involved as a member of our reporting staff, contact Managing Editor Joanne Zuhl at 503-228-5657, joanne@streetroots.org, We ask that all submissions include the author’s name and contact information, if available. / Street Roots 211 NW Davis St. Portland, O R 97209 503-228-5657 Fax; 503-227-3117 www.streetroofs.org www.news.streetroots.org Hours: 7:30 a.m.3 p.nt. Mon.-Fri., 730 a.m.-2 pm. Sat. and 7:30-1 p.m. Sun. PHO TO BY JOE GLODE Talking housing and the streets with Ted Wheeler had the opportunity to sit down with Mayor Ted Wheeler last week in the midst of the ■ snowstorm to talk about housing and homelessness. Here is our conversation. fiX Ä sSC rli Ö Ä Israel Bayer is the executive director o f. Street Roots. You can reach him at israel@streetroots.org or follow him on Twitter @israelbayer. Israel Bayer: We have had an unprecedented cold right in front of our very eyes. That is unacceptable. I don’t need to lecture you on it. You live it. I.B.: So you decided to keep the Portland H ousing Bureau in yo u r portfolio; it’s the first time, I think, in my tenure - I ’ve been in Portland on a nd o ff fo r , spellthis winter, creating a nightmare reality for people experiencing homelessness. H aving fo u r individuals By Israel Bayer freeze to death on the streets is devastating. Talk to us about your team ’s response to both the cold weather and ju st the harsh realities you’re facing around homelessness right off the bat. that u nder their wing. I guess w h a t’s y o u r reasoning a nd w hat’s your vision fo r the bureau? T.W.: The reasoning is that when I ran for mayor, housing affordability was the single No. 1 issue that this community was concerned about People áre experiencing high levels of anxiety about being priced out of our community. The Housing Bureau isn’t the only bureau that addresses the problem of affordability, but it’s the Ted Wheeler: This has been a record-breaking key bureau. The Housing Bureau is at the nexus severe weather event, and obviously it’s been the for all the other bureaus that have a role to play in top priority for my team. We’ve done a lot of housing affordability - whether it’s the Bureau of things that haven’t been done before. First and Development Services or the Bureau of Planning foremost, this administration pledged that and Sustainability or some of the other bureaus anybody who was sleeping on the streets who involved in permitting, like fire. The Housing wanted to come inside, we would make space at a Bureau is the bureau that sets the agenda. I felt as shelter. If that meant we had to find additional mayor it was incumbent upon me tó be the leader facilities, we’d find additional facilities. We opened of that bureau. There really was no debate about the Portland building, which is the city’s main administrative building. It was initially opened as a it. People understood that if I was elected mayor, I was going to take the Housing Bureau. That was day shelter. As conditions worsened, we made it a the reason, now the vision. It’s twofold. 24/7 shelter. No. 1 ,1 want to enhance and protect the rights In addition, along with the joint office at of people who are tenants, and this is more Multnomah County and community-based specific to renters. I want to make sure that fewer providers, 600 new beds have been opened just people find themselves forced out of their housing for this weather emergency. I was over at St. situation and find themselves on the street by Francis (a homeless center and dining hall). I protecting their rights first and foremost and went over this morning to talk to the folks at the implementing a just-cause eviction process here in American Legion Post where they opened up a the city of Portland - which I hope to do in shelter. We further directed first responders to tandem with Commissioner (Chloe) Eudaly soon. check in on people and do welfare checks. The Second of all, I want to make sure we’re doing police and fire bureau have been out every night. everything we can to increase the supply of They actually went out and got two vans that are affordable and workforce housing in this city. being specifically deployed to take people to We’ve already got a pretty good plan in place. The shelter and to take shelter workers to the shelter housing bond has been passed; that’s one great because the roads have been pretty rough. I th ink the community response has gone great, resource for us. There’s more the city can do in improving its but let’s talk about what hasn’t gone great Four own procedures and policies around housing. people dying on our streets is unconscionable. I Specifically we can greatly reduce the cost and the cannot understand why, in a community that is this economically vibrant - a progressive See WHEELER, page 7 community - why people are freezing to death Advertising Interested in advertising in Street Roots? Contact Israel Bayer at israel^treetroots.org S taff Executive Director Israel Bayer israd@streetn50ts.0rg Managing Editor Joanne Zuhl joanne@5treetroots.org , Vender Program Director Cole Merkel cole@streetrodts.org “ ' *' Operations Director Sarah Beecroft Development Director Sarah Cloud Program Assistant Meghann Van Pelt, Jesuit Volunteer Development Assistant Patricia Romero Emily Green, Suzanne Zalokar, Sarah Hansell, Leonora Ko, Jared Paben, Amanda Waldroupe, Stephen Quirke Photographers Diego Diaz, Joe Glode Editorial Assistant Monica Kwasnik Canvasser Desmond Hardison Reporters Board of Directors Chairman Brad Taylor Vice-Chairman Rachel Langford Treasurer Heather Stadick Secretary Dan Jones Directors Rich Rodgers, Michael Anderson, Leo Rhodes, Sandra Hahn, John Brown, Marcus Swift Volunteers Jan Bayer, John Barker, Stacey Heath, Anjali Rathore, Zoe Kltngmann, Dan Jones, Dennis Hogan, Monica McKune, Susan Wolfe, Lucas Hawthorne, Thomas Buell Jr., Jeanie Lunsford, Yasmin Amirsoleymani, Jason Cohen, Tom Ray, Doug Spangle, Susannah Kamala, Jon Raymond, Diana Richardson, Cherie Manning, Paul and Madeline Gefroh, Mary Anne Joyce, Anne Reif, Gillian Floren, Mark Ôldani, Meg Holden, Bridget Brown, Cody Travels, Bianca Butler, Robb Hengerer, AlexCherin, Tom Vandel and Grace Gallagher. If you're interested in volunteering with Street Roots, please submit a volunteer application at streetroots.org/volunteer. Or you can call for more information at 503-228-5657.
